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THE 



FAMILY BOOK OF HISTORY 



COMPRISING 



A CONCISE VIEW 



OF THE MOST 



INTERESTING AND IMPORTANT EVENTS 

IN THE 

HISTORY OF ALL THE CIVILIZED 

NATIONS OF THE EARTH. 

COMPILED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCES, 
AND ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED. 



BY J.' OLNEY, A. M. 

Author of a Practical System of Geography, tk History of the United States, t^r. J^c. 

AND JOHN Wt barber, 

Author vf Connecticut and Massachusetts Historical Collections, Elements of General History, ifC. ^c. 



PHILADELPHIA: 
PUBLISHED BY G. N. LOOMIS 

NEW HAVEN: 
DURRIE AND PECK. 



s 



HITCHCOCK AND STAFFORD, FRI.NTKRH 



ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1839, 

BY DURRIE AND PECK, 

IN THE clerk's office OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF CONNECTICUT. 






3<? 



V3 



^9 



PREFACE. C^ 2^ 



History has been defined by a celebrated writer as " Philosophy teaching by 
example." Its value to mankind is now so obvious, that it is generally regarded 
as indispensable to the enlightened progress of human society. It adds to our own 
experience, the immense treasure of the experience of those who have gone before 
us ; some of whom, probably, have been placed in circumstances similar in some 
respects to our own. The great lesson apparent on the page of History, is, that 
virtuous principles and practices are the chief cause of the happiness, and true 
glory of nations. By its faithful delineations, vice appears odious, when stripped 
of its mask, with which for a time it deceived mankind. It is a truth which will 
apply to every age, that there is a difficulty in forming an impartial estimate- of 
cotemporary characters and events : but when time has calmed the turbulent pas- 
sions of the moment, the intervening mist between us and truth, will be in a 
measure dispelled. 

To an American citizen some knowledge of History seems almost indispensable 
to the enlightened performance of his political duties. By it we learn to profit by 
the successes and failures of others ; " It makes us acquainted with human nature, 
and enables us to judge how men will act in given circumstances, and to trace the 
connexion between cause and effect in human affairs. It serves to free the mind 
from many narrow and hurtful prejudices ; to teach us how to admire what is 
praiseworthy, wherever it may be found ; and to compare, on enlarged and 
liberal principles, other countries with our own." " A knowledge of history has a 
tendency to render us contented with our condition in life, by the views which it 
exhibits of the instability of human aflfairs. It teaches us that the highest stations 
are not exempt from severe trials, that riches and power afford no assurance of 
happiness ; and that the greatest sovereigns have not unfrequently been more 
miserable than their meanest subjects." 

If the attention of the mind, especially that of the rising generation, can be 
brought to take an interest in the study of History, a point of very great importance 
is gained. The human mind is of such a nature, that it must be, of necessity, 
occupied in the pursuit of some object ; if it has no taste for those subjects which 
tend to elevate man in the scale of being, it will seek its gratification in those 
pleasures which tend to degrade and brutalize. History, considered merely as an 
amusement, possesses superior advantages over novels and romances. A large 
proportion of these performances are little else than distorted views of human life, 



6 PREFACE. 

debilitating the mind by inflaming the imagination ; often corrupting the heart, 
either by direct moral poison, or by a low and meager standard of morality. The 
study of genuine History opens a vast field for the attention and contemplation of 
the human mind. The rise and fall of empires ; the connexion of virtuous princi- 
ples with public happiness ; the varied history of man in all the situations he has 
been placed ; the causes which have produced his degradation, or elevation, all 
aflx)rd interesting subjects for study and contemplation every way worthy of a 
being destined for immortality. 

In giving the history of the various countries, care has been taken to collect the 
materials from the most authentic and approved sources. Great use has been 
made of the New Edinburgh Encyclopedia, the most valuable work of the kind 
which has yet appeared, but which owing to its nature and extent, is altogether too 
expensive and unwieldy for general circulation. The history of England, Great 
Britain, France, and some other countries, is mostly taken from the British Cyclo- 
p(Bdia, a valuable work recently published in London. 

In some instances, historical works have their usefulness impaired by the 
introduction of too many names, dates, and other dry details, the multiplicity of 
which is apt to confuse the mind ; in some measure, an attempt has been made 
to avoid this evil, and insert those facts which would generally be retained in the 
mind. 

The compilers Avould state, that they do not consider themselves as responsible 
for eveiy sentiment introduced into this work. As a general rule, when copying 
from respectable writers, it is a matter of justice to let them give their opinions in 
their own words, and let them stand for what they are worth. It is no mark of 
wisdom to reject truth on account of the medium through which it passes. In 
order to form a correct judgment, it is oftentimes useful to know the opinions, and 
hear the testimony of those who differ from us in their religious and political 
sentiments. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 



Acre, siege of, by Bonaparte 


639 


Alfred defeats the Danes, 


163 


Alexander the Great, 


426 


Algiers, ...... 


21 


Alps passed by Hannibal, 


94 


A^vn. duke of, oppresses the Netherlands . 


4S6 


.-i.raj, . (sec Chili). 




Armada, invincible .... 


217 


Arabia, 


29 


Assassins, empire of . 


658 


AssyuiA, 


45 


Athens, ...... 


bO 


Austerlitz, battle of .... 


304 


Austria 


51 


Babylon, 


62 


Bajazet, defeated by Timur . . 632 


,637 


Bank of England suspends payment, 


384 


Bannockburn, Scots victory at 


581 


Barbarossa, king of Algiers, 


22 


Barcelona, siege of ... . 


598 


Becket, archbishop, murder of 


176 


Belgium, (see Netherlands). 




Belgium, revolution in ... 


498 


Beresina, passage by the French 


576 


Beziers, stormmg and massacre of . 


235 


Birmah, 


71 


Birmans defeated by the British, 


74 


Boleyn, Anne, execution of . . . 


204 


Bonaparte, Napoleon .... 


299 


Bonaparte crowned emperor, . 


310 


Boyne, battle of the . 


462 


Boridino, battle of ... . 


313 


Brazil, ...... 


66 


Bruce, Robert 


579 


Buccaneers, 


660 


Buckingham, assassination of the Duke of 


344 


Buenos Ayres, British attack on 


80 


Buenos Ayres, .... 


75 


Calais, siege of .... . 


240 


Canada, . • | • 

Carnatic war in India, .... 


82 


450 


Carbonari sect excommunicated, . 


477 


Caraccas or Venezuela, History of . 


115 


Caroline, queen, trial of . . . 


400 


Carthage, 


85 


Celts, 


666 


Caesar, assassination of . 


552 


Charles I, execution of . . . 


352 


Charles II, restored by general Monk, 


357 


Charles V, resigns his dominions . 


597 


Charles XII, of Sweden, killed, . 


611 


Charles, son of the Pretender, defeated . 


375 


Charlemagne crowned emperor, . 


230 



Page 

Charlotte Corday kills Marat, . . . 295 

Chili, 97 

China, 105 

Christians, ancient, persecution of the . 561 
Cleopatria, death of . . . .141 

Colombia, 114 

Constantinople taken by the Turks, . 638 

Crecy, battle of 187 

Cromwell, Oliver 349 

Crusades, 669 

Curfew bell, origin of ... . 170 

Licioiou tlie French revolutionist, . . 287 

Danes invade England, . . . 162 

Denmark, ...... 119 

Domesday-book, origin of . . . 170 

Druids, account of . . . . . 667 

Duels, origin of .... . 255 

Dublin insurrection, 1803, . . . 386 

Egypt, 131 

Egypt invaded by the French, . . 152 

England, 158 

Episcopacy abolished in Scotland, . 587 

Essex, earl of, executed, . . . 222 

Exmouth, Lord, attack on Algiers, . 25 

France, cause of the revolution in . . 276 

France, 223 

Franks, 673 

French defeated near Poictiers, . . 244 

Gauls ...... 675 

Georgia conquered by the Persians, . 515 

Germans, ancient account of . . 329 

Germany, 329 

German confederation, notice of the . 337 

Gibraltar, siege of, in 1780 . . . 600 

GoTHs, ...... 679 

Granada, conquered by the Spaniards . 594 

Great Britain, ..... 338 

Greece, 404 

Greece, ancient, arts, sciences, &c, of . 408 

Greece invaded by Xerxes, . . . 412 

Gun Powder plot, .... 340 

Hannibal the Carthagenian, ... . 93 

Hastings, battle of . . .' . 169 

Henry VIII, divorces his queen, . . 200 
Hindostan, (see India) 
Holland, (see Netherlands) 

Hunns, 683 

Henry IV, of Germany, deposed, . . 332 

India, ...... 441 

Inundation in Mexico, .... 479 



CONTENTS. 



Insurrection of Jack Cade, . 
Insurrection of Wat Tyler, 
Insurrection of Thomas Wyatt, 
Ireland, .... 

Irish rebellion in 1797, 
Ispahan, dreadful siege of 
Italy, .... 

Jenghis Khan, account of 
Jews, .... 

Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans 
Jugurtha, the usurper of Numidia 
Julian the apostate, 

Knox, John, the Scotch Reformer, 
Koran, doctrines of the 
Kosciusko, the Polish Patriot, 

Lamballe, princess, murder of 
Leon, kingdom of, in Spain, 
Library of Alexandria, 
Leonidas at Thermopylae, 
Lodi, battle of . 
Lombards, .... 
Louis XVI, execution of 
Luther, Martin, the reformer, . 

Magna Charta, . 
Mahmood, example of justice, 
Mahomet, the Arabian prophet, 
Mahomet, death of 
Mamelukes, origin of . 
Mameluke Beys murdered 
Marat, the French revolutionist, 
Maria Theresa, of Austria 
Mary, queen of Scots, 
Mary, execution of . 
Massacre of St. Bartholomews, 
Mauritians, .... 
Mexico, .... 
Mirabeau, the French revolutionist 
Mississippi scheme in France, 
Moore, sir John, retreat of 
Moors defeat the Spaniards, 
Moors driven from Spain, 
Morea, revolution in the 
Moscow, burning of 
Murat, execution of . 

Nadir Shah, tyrant of Persia, . 

Naples, {see Italy) 

Netherlands 

Norway conquered by the Danes, 

Notables, assembly at Paris, . 

Numantine war in Spain 

Orange, Prince of, assassinated, 
Ostrogoths, .... 



Parliament dissolved by Cromwell, 
Paris, revolution in, 1830, 

Persia, 

Persians defeated at Salamis, . 
Peter the Great of Russia, . 
Peter the Hermit, . 



Page 
193 
189 
209 
456 
465 
511 
468 

623 

686 
247 
548 
559 

584 

35 

522 

289 

594 

38 

413 

692 
293 
335 

181 
507 

32 

37 
147 
155 
287 

57 
211 
216 
257 
700 
478 
281 
263 
391 

42 
595 
429 
574 
474 

513 

484 
124 
271 
591 

489 
702 

355 
324 
498 
415 
568 
670 



Poland, . . . . . 
Polish revolution in 1830, 
Pompey, death of . . . 
Portugal, ..... 
Porto Bello taken by the Buccaneers 
Portuguese government, removal of the 
Prussia, {see Austria and Germany) 
Punic Wars, . . . . . 



Quebec, battle of 



Regulus, death of, at Carthage 

Robespierre, denounced and executed 

Rome, ..... 

Rome under the Consuls, 

Rome under the Decemvirs, 

Roman Commonwealth, corruption of 

Roman Republic, fall of 

Rome under the Emperor«!, -rt 

Russia 



Saladin, the sultan of Egypt, 
Siragussa, defence of, in 1808 
Saxons subdue the Britons, 
Scotland, . . . , 

Scotland, reformation in 
Scotland, rebellion in, 1715, 
Sesostris king of Egypt, 
Sobieski of Poland . 
South Sea Company, . 
Spain, .... 
Strafford, trial for treason, 
Struensee, count, execution of 
Superstition in France, 
Sweden, 
Swedes defeated at Pultowa, 
Switzerland, 



Tamerlane or Timur crowned emperor, 
Tartary, ..... 
Tell, William, of Switzerland^ . 
Troy, taking of ... . 
Tilsit, treaty of ". 
Turkey, ..... 



Vandals, . . . • . 
Venezuela, or Caraccas, 

Venice, 

Virginia, the Roman maiden, death of 



Wagram, battle of . 
Wahabees, sect in Arabia, 
Wallace, William . 
Wales, conquest of 
Waterloo, battle of . 
Wolsey, Cardinal . 



Ximenes, Cardinal, regent of Spain 
Zuinglius, the Swiss reformer, 



Page 
517 
524 
550 
529 
664 



85 

91 

298 
538 
541 
543 
548 
550 
'553 
564 

144 
604 
161 
578 
583 
371 
132 
519 
373 
590 



242 
608 
610 
612 

624 
622 
613 
406 
309 
635 



Unigenitus, a bull against the Jansenists 264 

United Irishmen, association of . . 464 

United States, . . • . 643 

Utrecht, treaty of 369 



711 
115 
653 
544 

312 

44 

579 

181 

317, 491 

. 200 



595 
619 



THE 



FAMILY BOOK OF HISTORY. 



ABYSSINIA, 



In regard to all ancient nations which 
had no immediate intercourse with the 
Hebrews, the Greeks, or the Romans, 
the historical notices are extremely ob- 
scure, or altogether fabulous. On this 
account, we remain in comparative igno- 
rance of every thing which respects the 
origin and settlement of the kingdom 
whose annals we are now about to trace. 
Abyssinia was known among the Jews 
by the name of Cush, or Ethiopia ; an 
appellation which applied likewise to the 
Peninsula of Arabia, or to the region adja- 
cent to Egypt on the coast of the Red 
sea, as well as to the country watered 
by the Araxes. The Abyssinians them- 
selves although perfectly ignorant of the 
time and circumstances which marked 
the settlement of their ancestors, have 
insisted upon connecting their original 
faith, their civil polity, as well as the 
pedigree of their royal house, with the 
visit of the Queen of Sheba to King 
Solomon at Jerusalem. They tell us 
that Makeda, their queen having heard 
from Tameran, an Ethiopian merchant, 
of the surprising opulence and wisdom 
of Solomon, she resolved to ascertain in 
person the truth of his report. Though 
she had been a pagan before imdertaking 
this journey, she was so struck with the 
grandeur of the Jewish monarch, and the 
extensive knowledge he displayed, that 
she immediately became a convert to the 
true religion. It is added that on return- 
ing to her own country she had a son, 



to whom she gave the name of Menilek, 
another self. Some years after, Menilek 
was sent to his father's court, where he 
was carefully instructed in the learning 
and institutions of the Jews, and crowned 
king of Ethiopia, in the temple of Jeru- 
salem, receiving from Solomon at his in- 
auguration, the name of David. After 
remaining for some time in Judea, he 
was accompanied to Ethiopia by many 
Israelites of distinction, and particularly 
by twelve doctors of the law, chosen 
from the twelve tribes, among whom was 
Azariah the son of Zadok, the high priest. 
These introduced into Abyssinia the re- 
ligion of Moses, and framed after Jewish 
models the civil and sacred institutions 
of the country. Mr. Bruce supposes, 
with great probability, that this princess 
was queen of the territory named Saba 
or Azab ; an opinion which coincides 
more exactly than any other with the 
description which our Saviour has given 
of her, "as queen of the south, coming 
from the uttermost parts of the earth." 
She enjoyed the sovereignty for forty 
years, and before her death, she bound 
her subjects by three remarkable laws : 
1st, that the crown should be hereditary 
in the family of Solomon : 2dly, that, after 
her, no woman should be allowed to in- 
herit the crown, or to reign as queen, but 
that it should descend to the heirs-male, 
however distant, to the exclusion of all fe- 
male heirs, however near; and that these 
two articles should be considered as the 
2 



10 



ABYSSINIA. 



fundamental and unalterable laws of the 
kingdom : Lastly, she enacted, that the 
heirs-male of the royal family should be 
imprisoned on a high mountain, where 
they were to continue till death, or till 
the course of succession should call them 
to the throne. 

Having established these regulations 
in a manner not to be revoked, Makeda 
died in the 986th year before the birth 
of Christ, leaving her son Menilek to suc- 
ceed her, whose descendants, if we may 
believe the Abyssinian annals, have ever 
since continued to occupy the throne. 
In the reign of Menilek, the empire was 
invaded by Shishak, king of Egypt, who 
plundered the temple of Jerusalem, under 
Rehoboam. A rich temple, which had 
been erected at Saba, the capital of the 
Ethiopian empire, underwent a similar 
fate : and it was probably on this occa- 
sion that Menilek removed the seat of 
government to Tigre. Many circumstan- 
ces concur to prove, that Shishak was no 
other than the celebrated Sesostris, and 
was the first Egyptian monarch who had 
made conquests in Ethiopia. Scripture 
indirectly ascribes to Shishak the sove- 
reignty of this country ; and Herodotus 
explicitly asserts, that Sesostris was mas- 
ter of Ethiopia ; though neither in sacred 
nor profane history is it elsewhere rela- 
ted, that this empire was ever subject to 
any other Egyptian. 

From the death of Shishak till the 
days of Cyrus the Great, there is a chasm 
in the history of Abyssinia which can 
only be filled up by theory and conjecture. 
That conquerer is said ^to have subdued 
Ethiopia ; but the inhabitants having re- 
volted after his death, Cambyscs, his suc- 
cessor attempted in vain to reduce them 
to submission. Before he undertook this 
expedition, he sent ambassadors to the 
king of the Macrobii, under pretence of 
soliciting his alliance, though in reality 
he only wished to ascertain the strength 
of the country. The Ethiopian monarch, 
aware of his design, disdained the rich 
presents which Cambyses had sent him ; 
reproached the ambassadors with the in- 
justice and ambition of their sovereign, 
and delivered to them a bow, with these 
remarkable words : " Carry this bow to 
your master, and till he can find a man 



able to bend it, let him not talk to us of 
submission." This resolute answer so 
exasperated Cambyses, that he instantly j 
began his march, without taking time 
even to procure the necessary provisions 
for his army. A famine of consequence 
ensued among them, which at last became 
so dreadful, that the soldiers were com- 
pelled to devour one another : and Cam- 
byses finding himself in imminent danger, 
marched back his army with prodigious 
loss. 

In the reign of Augustus, when the 
Roman forces were drawn out of Egypt, 
for the purpose of invading Arabia, Can- 
dace, queen of Meroe, took advantage of 
their absence, to make an irruption into 
the province of Thebasis. As she met 
with no force to oppose her, she pro- 
ceeded, for some time, with great suc- 
cess : but being at length apprised that 
Petronius, governor of Egypt, was hasten- 
ing towards her with a powerful army, 
she retired with precipitation into her 
own dominions. Petronius overtook her at 
Pselcha, where, with not more than one- 
third of the number of men which com- 
posed the Ethiopian army, he gained an 
easy victory over those undisciplined sav- 
ages, who were armed only with poles, 
hatchets, or bludgeons. He reduced the 
most important fortresses in the country ; 
but notwithstanding his success, was 
obliged, soon after, to withdraw his sol- 
diers, who were unable to sustain the 
excessive heat of the climate. Candace 
afterwards sent ambassadors to Rome, 
who gratified Augustus with such mag- 
nificent presents, that he was induced to 
grant their queen a peace on terms of her 
own proposing. The Romans, from that 
time, accounted themselves masters of 
Ethiopia ; and Augustus was congratu- 
lated on having completed the conquest 
of Africa, by reducing a country till that 
time unknown. The conquest, however, 
was merely nominal, for Meroe continu- 
ed under the government of its wonted 
sovereign. Queens, who were distin- 
guished by the general title of Candace, 
as the Roman emperors by that of Caesar, 
had reigned in that country for many 
generations ; and we learn, from the story 
of the Ethiopian eunuch, in the eighth 
chapter of the Acts, that it still continued, 



ABYSSINIA. 



11 



in the reign of Tiberius, to be governed 
by a princess of the same name. 

During the reign of Abreha and 'Atzbe- 
ha, translated by Mr. Bruce, Abraham the 
blessed, who ascended the throne about 
327 years after the Christian era, Mero- 
pius, a philosopher of Tyre, by nation 
and religion a Greek, set sail for India 
from a port on the Red sea, taking along 
with him Frumentius and CEdesius, two 
young men on whom he had bestowed a 
very liberal education. Their vessel was 
cast away on the rocks of the Abyssinian 
coast, and Meropius was slain by the 
barbarous natives, while acting bravely 
in his own defence. The youths were 
conveyed to Axum, then the capital of 
the kingdom and the residence of the 
court, where they soon displayed the 
superiority of a cultivated mind. The 
Abyssinians regarded them as prodigies : 
CEdesius was set over the king's house- 
hold and wardrobe, an office which has 
always been held by a stranger ; and 
Frumentius was intrusted by the Iteghe, 
or queen dowager, with the charge of the 
young prince's education, to which he 
devoted himself with the most faithful as- 
siduity. Having imbued the mind of his 
pupil with all the learning of the times, 
he inspired him with a love and venera- 
tion for the Christian religion. 

After this he visited Athanasius, who 
had been recently elected Patriarch of 
Alexandria, related to him the progress 
he had made towards the conversion of 
the young monarch, and the sanguine 
hopes which he entertained of seeing- the 
Christian religion established in Ethi- 
opia. Athanasius, delighted with the 
prospect of such an accession of prose- 
lytes, consecrated Frumentius bishop or 
abunaof Axuma; who, returning imme- 
diately to enter on his new office, found 
his royal pupil completely disposed to 
favor his pious design. He made an 
open avowal of the Christian faith ; his 
example was followed by the greater part 
of his subjects ; and, amidst the numerous 
heresies which then prevailed in the 
East, the church of Ethiopia remained 
uncontaminated, so long as it was super- 
intended by its first bishop and apostle. 

It is' said, that after the death of Abre- 
ha, the court, and principal people of 



Abyssinia, relapsed into idolatry, which 
continued to prevail till the year 521, 
when they were again converted by their 
king Adad, or Aidog. That monarch was 
engaged in war with the Homerites, or 
Sabasans, in Arabia Felix, and, having 
defeated their armies, and subverted their 
kingdom, he embraced the Christian re- 
ligion, in token of gratitude to its author, 
to whom he ascribed his success. 

When Mahomet promulgated his pre- 
tended revelation, the Ethiopian gov- 
ernor of Yemen became a convert to his 
doctrines ; but there seems to be no truth 
in the story so eagerly propagated by 
the Arabian historians, that the king of 
Abyssinia himself embraced the new re- 
ligion. From this time the Abyssinians 
lost all the power which they had for- 
merly enjoyed in Arabia. The governors 
were expelled by Mahomet and his suc- 
cessors, and, taking refuge in Africa with 
great numbers of their subjects, estab- 
lished there the kingdoms of Adel, Wy- 
po, Mara, Tarshish, Hadea, Aussa, and 
several others, which soon rose to im- 
portance for power and opulence. 

The successors of Mahomet, in the 
progress of their victories, had expelled 
the Jews by violence or oppression from 
their dominions in Palestine, Arabia, and 
Egypt. Abyssinia, unsubdued by these 
fierce enthusiasts, afforded an asylum to 
the fugitives, the more inviting, as their 
countrymen had already a powerful es- 
tablishment in that empire. There was 
one Jewish family which had always pre- 
served on the mountain of Samen an inde- 
pendent sovereignty, and the royal resi- 
dence was on the summitof a high pointed 
cliiT, called from that circumstance, the 
Jew's Rock. Several other rugged and 
inaccessible mountains were occupied by 
that people as natural fortresses ; and 
their strength was so much increased by 
the numbers of their countrymen who fled 
before the conquering Mahometans, that 
they began to meditate a revolution in 
Abyssinia, in favour of their own religion. 
Many circumstances concurred to facili- 
tate their desig-n. The Abyssinians, dis- 
tracted by various heresies were more 
inclined to embrace any other religion, 
than to yield one disputed point to their 
Christian adversaries ; the country, de- 



12 



ABYSSINIA. 



solated by pestilence and war, suffered, 
moreover, all the multiplied evils which 
usually prevail under the government of 
a minor ; and Judith, the daughter of the 
Jewish king, a woman of unbounded am- 
bition, and of singular talents for intrigue, 
had lately been married to the governor 
of Bugna, a small district in the neigh- 
bourhood of Lasta, both which countries 
were strongly prejudiced in favor of Ju- 
daism. This artful and aspiring woman 
had formed so powerful a faction, that 
she resolved to usurp the throne of Abys- 
sinia, and to extirpate the family of Solo- 
mon, who had continued, since the days 
of Makeda, to reign in uninterrupted suc- 
cession. With this design she surprised 
the almost inaccessible mountain of Da- 
mo, where the royal princes were at that 
time confined, and massacred every one 
of them, with the exception of an infant, 
who was conveyed by the nobles of Am- 
hara into the loyal province of Shoa ; and 
thus the line of Solomon was preserved, 
and, at length, after an interval of some 
ages, restored. Judith immediately took 
possession of the throne, and removed 
the seat of government to Lasta ; where, 
after enjoying supreme power in her 
own person, not less than forty years, 
she transmitted it to her descendants, who 
continued to rule over the greater part of 
Abyssinia about the space of three cen- 
turies. But as they were not of the line 
of Solomon, and, of consequence, were 
accounted usurpers, the history of none 
of them is recorded in the annals of the 
nation, excepting that of Lalibala, who 
was revered as a saint, and who reigned 
with great splendor, about the beginning 
of the thirteenth century. 

At that time, the Saracens, having con- 
quered Egypt, persecuted the Christians 
in that country with great rigor, and 
particularly the masons and hewers of 
stone, whom they detested as the pro- 
moters of idolatry, by the ornaments 
with which they embellished their works. 
Lalibala opened an asylum for those 
Egyptians, of whom prodigious numbers 
resorted to his dominions ; and resolved 
to render them useful to the country from 
which they received protection. He had 
long admired the caverns of the ancient 
Troglodytes ; and the first work in which 



he employed the Egyptians, was to hew 
churches, after these specimens, out of 
the rocks of his native country Lasta. 
These churches still remain entire, hav- 
ing large columns formed out of the solid 
adamant, with every species of ornament 
that can be executed in buildings above 
ground. 

From the time of lialibala, little is 
known respecting the affairs of the coun- 
try, imtil A. D. 1255, when Icon Amlac, 
of the line of Solomon, was restored to 
the throne. The events that occurred 
during his, and the five subsequent reigns, 
are entirely xmknown to us : and indeed, 
we have no account of the transactions 
of the empire till the days of Amda Sion, 
who began his reig-n in the year 1312. 
He Avas the son of Wedem Araad, who 
was the youngest brother of Icon Amlac, 
Amda Sion was his inauguration name, 
by which he is generally known ; his 
Christian name was Guebra Mascal. 
The first actions of his reign were dis- 
graceful to humanity, and very different 
from the character which he ever after- 
wards maintained. Not content with 
living publicly with his father's concu- 
bine, he soon after committed incest with 
his two sisters. Honorius, a monk, who 
was afterwards canonized for his sanc- 
tity, first exhorted him to repentance, and 
then publicly excommunicated him for 
these infamous crimes. The refractory 
monarch, instead of sinking under this 
sentence, ordered Honorius to be whip- 
ped through the streets of his capital. 
That very night the town was reduced to 
ashes by fire, arising, through the just 
vengeance of Heaven, from the blood of 
the outraged saint. Such, at least, was 
the account which the clergy gave of 
this catastrophe ; but the king, convin- 
ced that they themselves were the incen- 
diaries, banished them into those pro- 
vinces, of which the inhabitants were 
chiefly Pagans or Jews, where they 
were extremely successful in propaga- 
ting the Christian religion. 

The licentious conduct of Amda Sion 
had produced, in the neighboring na- 
tions, such a contempt for his govern- 
ment, that, while he himself was em- 
broiled with Honorius and the monks, 
one of his factors, who had been charged 



ABYSSINIA. 



13 



with his commercial interests, was rob- 
bed and assassinated by the Moors, in the 
province of Ifat. Impatient to revenge 
this outrage, he suddenly assembled his 
troops, and ordered them to rendezvous 
at Shugura, upon the frontiers ; while, 
attended by only seven horsemen, he fell 
upon the nearest Mahometan settlements, 
putting all he met with to the sword. 
He then placed himself at the head of 
his army, and desolated the whole coun- 
try, carrying off a prodigious booty. 

The Moors astonished by the unex- 
pected activity of this monarch, whom 
they had despised as an effeminate vo- 
luptuary, assembled in great numbers to 
oppose him ; and hearing that he was 
left with scarcely a sufficient number of 
soldiers to guard the camp, they resolved 
to attack him before break of day, ima- 
gining that he could not possibly make 
any effectual resistance. Fortunately 
two detachments of his army had joined 
him the night before : these he drew up 
in battle array, and, when the Moors 
presented themselves, he attacked them 
with resistless fury, slew their general 
with his own hand, and animating his 
troops by his example, obtained a deci- 
sive victory. He then commanded his 
soldiers to build huts for themselves, and 
to sow the adjacent lands, as if he in- 
tended to continue during the rainy sea- 
son in the enemy's country. Terrified 
at the prospect of being totally extir- 
pated, the Moors readily submitted to 
the tribute which he imposed ; and the 
king, already admired for his valor, 
conciliated still further the affections of 
his subjects, by distributing among them 
his own share of the plunder. Even the 
priests, whom he had so much offended, 
now extolled his munificence to the 
churches, and his zeal against the ene- 
mies of the cross. 

Scarcely had the Abyssinians returned 
to their own country, when the Moors 
prepared for another revolt. Amda Sion 
having completely succeeded in quelling 
the rebels, was preparing to return with 
his victorious forces, when he was in- 
formed that the kings of Adel and Mara 
had resolved to give him battle. Exas- 
perated by this intelligence, he prepared 
to pursue his enemies with the most sig- 



nal vengence. To give greater solemni- 
ty to his resolution, he assembled the 
principal officers of his army, and, sur- 
rounded by his soldiers, pronounced be- 
fore a monk of noted sanctity, and array- 
ed in his sacerdotal habit, a long invective 
against the Mahometans ; recounted the 
unprovoked injuries which, at the insti- 
gation of the kings of Adel and Mara, 
they had committed against him ; enu- 
merated the atrocities of which they had 
been guilty ; disclaimed all avaricious 
motives in undertaking the war, declar- 
ing that he would appropriate no part of 
the spoil which was stained with the 
blood of his subjects, more valuable to 
him than all the riches of Adel ; and 
concluded with swearing on the holy 
eucharist, that, though but twenty of his 
army should join him, he would not turn 
his back upon Adel or Mara, till he had 
either forced them to submit as tributa- 
ries, or had utterly extirpated them, and 
annihilated their religion. The soldiers 
were fired by his enthusiasm ; and, to 
show themselves as disinterested as their 
sovereign, took lighted torches in their 
hands, and set fire to all the rich spoil 
which they had acquired in the province 
of Fatigar. Having thus satisfied their 
consciences that they were the true sol- 
diers of Christ, they set out on their 
march, thirsting, not for the wealth, but 
the blood of the infidels. 

Their ardent impetuosity was checked 
by the obstacles to which their own su- 
perstition gave rise. The Abyssinians 
believe, that the world is possessed, 
during the night, by certain genii un- 
friendly to mankind, disturbed by the 
slightest motion, and implacable in their 
revenge. To such a degree does the 
dread of these spirits prevail, that an 
Abyssinian will not venture, at night, 
even to throw a little water out of a 
basin, lest it should violate the dignity 
of some vindictive elf. The Moors 
deride these superstitious fears, and fre- 
quently turn them to their own advantage. 
Protected by a verse of the Koran, sewed 
up in leather, and worn round their neck 
or arms, they bid defiance to the power 
of the most malignant genii, and engage 
without scruple in any nocturnal enter- 
prise. In their wars with the Abyssin- 



14 



ABYSSINIA. 



ians, night is their favorite season of 
attack ; and, in the present campaign, 
they resolved to avoid a pitched battle, 
and to harrass the king's army in the 
dark. The troops of Amda Sion, though 
they had always the advantage, were 
soon wearied out by these nightly skir- 
mishes ; and, on the commencement of 
the rainy season, insisted on being al- 
lowed to return. A prince of such a 
martial disposition, naturally resented a 
proposal which betrayed their deficiency 
in steadiness and discipline. He there- 
fore desired his officers to acquaint them, 
that, if they were afraid of rains, he 
would conduct them to Adel, where there 
were none ; and that, for his own part, 
he had resolved not to quit the field, 
while there was one village in his do- 
minions that did not acknowledge him 
as sovereign. On hearing this remon- 
strance, the army again set forward ; 
but, being still harrassed by the nightly 
attacks of the Moors, the spirit of mutiny 
began once more to prevail. The elo- 
quence of the king brought them back 
to a sense of their duty ; but immediatelj'' 
afterwards he was seized with a violent 
fever, which seemed to threaten his life. 
While, in consequence of his illness, 
the soldiers expected every moment an 
order to return, they accidentally receiv- 
ed intelligence that an army of 40,000 
Moors was advancing towards them, 
and was then at no great distance from 
the camp. The king, though now free 
from fever, was so excessively feeble, 
that he fainted while his servant was 
employed in putting on his armour. His 
resolution, however, vv^as unalterable ; 
and, after recovering from his swoon, he 
addressed his soldiers in a speech full of 
enthusiasm, exhorting them to confide in 
the righteousness of their cause, and in 
the continuance of that favor which they 
had hitherto experienced from heaven. 
Animated by this address, his soldiers 
were now only solicitous, that, in his 
present feeble state, he should not ex- 
pose his person in battle ; and he pro- 
mised to comply with their request. But 
the whole army was soon thrown into 
consternation, by a report that the Moors 
had poisoned the wells, and enchanted 
all the streams in front of the camp. 



Though a priest of great sanctity was 
employed to disenchant the waters, and 
a river was consecrated by the name of 
Jordan, the soldiers not only refused to 
advance, but resolved immediately to re- 
turn home. The king rode through the 
ranks in the most violent agitation, and 
conjured them to remember their former 
valor, and the solemn oaths by which 
they had repeatedly bound themselves to 
remain true to the cause of their sove- 
reign and their religion. Finding that 
his arguments produced no effect, he 
begged that those who were unwilling to 
fight, would only stand in their places as 
spectators of the bravery of their com- 
rades. He then ordered the master of 
the horse, with only five of the others, to 
attack the left wing of the enemy ; while 
he himself, with a small party of his 
servants, made a furious onset on the 
right. His valor was crowned with suc- 
cess. Weak as he then was, he slew 
with his own hand the two leaders of the 
right wing ; his son, who fought on the 
left, despatched another officer of rank ; 
and the soldiers, ashamed of their con- 
duct, and alarmed for the safety of their 
valiant monarch, rushed furiously to his 
rescue. The centre and left wing of the 
enemy was entirely defeated ; the right 
wing, consisting chiefly of Arabians, re- 
treated in a body ; but, ignorant of the 
country, entered a deep valley, surround- 
ed by perpendicular rocks, which were 
thickly covered with wood. Amda Sion, 
perceiving their situation, attacked them 
with a few of his troops in front, while 
others rolled great stones upon them from 
the top of the rocks ; and thus, being 
unable either to resist or escape, they all 
perished to a man. Another division of 
the army was sent, under the command 
of the master of the horse, in pursuit of 
the rest of the Moors. They found these 
unhappy people, exhausted by the fa- 
tigues of the combat and of flight, lying 
by the side of a water, which they lapped 
like dogs ; and, in this helpless situation, 
they were slaughtered without resistance 
by the relentless conquerors. Wearied 
at length with murder, they made pri- 
soners of the few who survived. Among 
these were Salek king of Mara, and his 
queen ; the former of whom was hanged 



ABYSSINIA. 



15 




Battle between the Abyssinians and the Moors. 



by the order of Amda Sion, the latter 
hewn to pieces by the soldiers, and her 
body given to the dogs. 

Pursuing his advantages, the Abys- 
sinian monarch advanced still further 
into the Mahometan territories, till he 
reached the dominions of the king of 
Adel. That prince, rendered desperate 
by the devastation of his country, and the 
prospects of its total ruin, resolved to 
make one last effort for its preservation. 
He therefore took the field against the 
Abyssinians, but conducted himself with 
less prudence than his own situation and 
the character of his adversary required. 
Victory again declared in favor of Amda 
Sion ; the king of Adel fell in the en- 
gagement , and his troops, dispersed in 
all directions, were intercepted by de- 
tachments of the Abyssinian army, which 
had been placed in ambush to prevent 
their escape. 

During the remainder of the campaign, 
the Abyssinians were engaged in de- 
stroying the towns and villages, and lay- 
ing waste the country of the Mahometans ; 
exercising against these unhappy people 
every species of cruelty, on pretence of 
retaliating their injuries against the 



Christians. Weary at length of con- 
quest and bloodshed, the king returned 
in triumph to Tegulut, where he died a 
natural death, after a reign of thirty 
years ; during which, though almost con- 
stantly engaged in war, he never sustain- 
ed a defeat. 

Theodoras, who occupied the throne 
from the year 1409 to 1412, was so re- 
vered by his subjects, for the sanctity of 
his character, that it is still a prevailing 
opinion in Abyssinia, that he is to rise 
again from the grave, and reign in his 
ancient kingdom for a thousand years ; 
during which period the arms of the 
warrior are to be hung up in the hall, 
and joy and peace are universally to 
prevail. 

Nothing important occurs in the his- 
tory of Abyssinia, from the death of 
Theodoras in 1412, till Zara Jacob as- 
cended the throne in 1434. The par- 
tiality of his historians has represented 
this monarch as another Solomon, an 
exact model of what a sovereign should 
be. He was remarkable for his curiosity 
with regard to the politics, manners, and 
religion of other countries ; and, by his 
desire, an embassy, consisting of priests 



16 



ABYSSINIA. 



from the Abyssinian convent of Jerusa- 
lem, was sent to the council of Florence. 
The Roman pontiff, pleased with an 
event which seemed to promise the in- 
troduction of his spiritual sovereignty 
into the most important kingdom of Afri- 
ca, ordered a painting to be taken of the 
embassy, which is still to be seen in the 
Vatican. A convent was obtained for 
the Abyssinians at Rome, which, though 
still preserved, is seldom visited Ijy those 
to whom it is appropriated. A party was 
henceforth formed in Abyssinia in favor 
of the church of Rome ; and during this 
reign, those religious disputes began, 
which rendered the name of Franks, or 
Frangi, so odious and dangerous. 

This perfect sovereign, this model for 
future princes, was the first who intro- 
duced religious persecution into his do- 
minions. The established religion was 
that of the Greek church ; but it was 
corrupted, in many places, by Mahome- 
tan, and even Pagan superstitions. Some 
families, accused of worshipping the cow 
and the serpent, were dragged before this 
zealous monarch, who immediately sen- 
tenced them to death. Their execution 
was followed by a proclamation, that 
whoever did not wear on his right hand 
an amulet, with this inscription, " 1 re- 
nounce the devil for Christ our Lord," 
should forfeit his property, and be liable, 
besides, to corporeal punishment. This 
persecution, which soon became general 
throughout the kingdom, was committed 
to Amda Sion, the Arab Saat, a person 
whose affected austerity had procured 
him the confidence of the king, by whom 
he was so highly distinguished, that, 
when he appeared abroad, he was at- 
tended by a number of soldiers with 
drums, trumpets, and other ensigns of 
military dignity. The cruelty of this 
odious inquisitor was severely repri- 
manded in a public assembly, by certain 
priests from Jerusalem ; the persecution 
was suppressed, and the king now turned 
his thoughts from religion to the civil 
improvement of his dominions. 

About this time the Portuguese were 
extending their discoveries along the 
coast of Africa, and had already formed 
the project of opening a passage to India 
by doubling the Cape. A plan was like- 



wise concerted for penetrating through 
the interior of the African continent, that, 
if the former project should fail, the 
merchandise of the East Indies might 
be conveyed to Portugal by land. The 
success of such a scheme was rendered 
probable by the report of some monks, 
who had been seen at Jerusalem and 
Alexandria, the subjects, as they said, 
of a Christian prince in Africa, whose 
dominions extended from the eastern to 
the western ocean. Of the truth of their 
reports, the Portuguese navigators had 
been so strongly assured by Bemoy, a 
king of the Jaloffs, that Henry, the scien- 
tific and enterprising prince under whose 
auspices these plans of discovery were 
conducted, resolved to send ambassadors 
to this unknown sovereign. Peter de 
Covillan, and Alphonso de Paiva, were 
appointed to this important embassy, with 
directions to explore the sources of the 
Indian trade, and the principal markets 
for spices ; and, above all, to ascertain 
the possibility of reaching the East Indies 
by sailing round the southern extremity 
of Africa. Thus instructed, they pro- 
ceeded to Alexandria, thence to Cairo, 
next to Suez, and afterM'ards to Aden, a 
rich commercial town beyond the Straits 
of Babelmandel. They sailed from this 
city in separate directions ; Covillan for 
India, and De Paiva for Suakem. De 
Paiva soon lost his life ; but Covillan, 
after visiting Calicut and Goa, recrossed 
the Indian ocean, inspected the mines of 
Sofala, and returned by Aden to Cairo, 
where he heard of the death of his com- 
panion. At Cairo he was met by two 
Jews with letters from the king of Abys- 
sinia ; one of whom he sent back with 
letters to that monarch in return, and, 
with the other, proceeded to the island 
of Ormus, in the Persian gulf. Here 
the Jew left him ; and Covillan returned 
to Aden, whence he passed into the 
Abyssinian dominions. 

On his arrival in that country, he was 
kindly received by Alexander the reign- 
ing prince, and exalted to the most 
honorable , offices in the state ; though, 
according to Abyssinian policy, he was 
never allowed to return to Europe. He 
found means, however, to convey, from 
time to time, important intelligence to 



ABYSSINIA. 



17 



the king of Portugal. He described the 
several ports in India which he had 
seen ; the disposition of the princes ; 
the situation and riches of the mines of 
Sofala. He exhorted the king to pursue, 
with unremitting diligence, the discovery 
of the passage round Africa ; declaring, 
that the Cape was well known in India, 
and that the voyage was attended with 
little danger. To these descriptions he 
added a chart or map, which he had re- 
ceived from a Moor in India, and in 
which the Cape, and the cities round the 
coast, were accurately represented. 

The reign of Alexander was disturbed 
by frequent rebellions, and he fell a vic- 
tim to the perfidy of his minister. Naad, 
his younger brother, was then called to 
the throne. After reigning thirteen years, 
he was succeeded by his son David III. 
Maffudi, prince of Arar, having recov- 
ered from a defeat which he had suffered 
from Naad, and increased his power by 
alliances with the Turks in Arabia, had 
renewed his annual incursions into Abys- 
sinia with greater success than before. 
In return for the multitude of slaves 
which he had sent to Mecca, he was 
made sheyhk of Zeyla, which may be 
considered the key to the Abyssinian 
dominions ; and the king of Adel had 
been induced, by his success, to enter 
into a league with him against that em- 
pire, which he had always regarded with 
a very unfriendly eye. Accordingly, 
they invaded Abyssinia with their united 
forces, and committed such devastation 
as spread terror through the whole coun- 
try. To revenge these injuries, David, 
then, a youth of sixteen, levied a power- 
ful army, by a judicious disposition of 
which, he hemmed in the Moors among 
some narrow defiles, where they could 
not hazard an engagement without cer- 
! tain destruction. To add to their con- 
, sternation, Maffudi came to the king of 

I Adel, and assured him that his time was 
' now come ; that he had been warned 
long before, by a prophecy, that if in this 
year, 1516, he should encounter the king 
of Abyssinia in person, he should cer- 
I tainly die. He therefore advised him to 

I to retreat as speedily as possible, over 
■ the least difficult part of the mountain, 
I before the battle should commence. The 
3 



Adelian, already dismayed by the situa- 
tion of his army Avillingly followed his 
advice ; and Maffudi, as soon as he sup- 
posed his ally beyond the reach of danger, 
sent a message to the Abyssinian camp, 
challenging any man of quality to fight 
him in single combat, on condition that 
the party of the victorious champion 
should be accounted conquerors, and that 
both armies should immediately separate 
without further bloodshed. A monk, 
named Gabriel Andreas, instantly ac- 
cepted the challenge ; and, when the 
combatants met, Maffudi received from 
his antagonist such a violent stroke with 
a two-handled sword, as almost severed 
his body in two. Andreas cut off his 
head ; and, throwing it at the king's feet, 
exclaimed, " There is the GoUah of the 
Infidels !" Notwithstanding the terms 
stipulated before the combat, a general 
engagement ensued, in which the Moors 
were completely discomfited. 

On the same day (in the month of 
July, 1516) Zeyla was taken, and its 
town burnt by the Portuguese fleet, under 
Lopes Suarez de Alberguiera. On 
board this fleet was Matthew, the Abys- 
sinian ambassador, who was accompanied 
by Edward Galvan, ambassador, from 
the court of Lisbon to the king of Abys- 
sinia. The latter died soon after, and 
Don Roderigo de Lima was appointed 
in his place. Nothing of importance was 
accomplished by this mission. Instead 
of having an interview with the king, 
he was not allowed to reside within 
three miles of his royal presence ; and it 
was not till three years afterwards that 
he obtained leave to depart. After that 
long interval, David determined to send 
an embassy to Portugal, and dismissed 
Roderigo with an Abyssinian monk, 
named Zaga Zaab, whom he appointed 
his own ambassador. 

Meanwhile, the Mahometans were 
alarmed by this long intercourse between 
two such distant nations, to both of which 
they were equally inimical. An alliance 
was formed between the king of Adel 
and the Turks in Arabia ; and the Ade- 
lians, thus reinforced, and being trained 
by their new allies to the use of fire- 
arms, then unknown to the Abyssinians, 
defeated David in every engagement, 



18 



ABYSSINIA. 



and hunted him, like a wild beast, from 
place to place. Mahomet, surnamed 
Gragne, or left-handed, who commanded 
the Turkish army, sent a message to the 
king, exhorting him to desist from fight- 
ing against God, to make peace while it 
was yet in his power, and to give him 
his daughter in marriage, otherwise he 
would reduce his kindom to such a state 
as to be capable of producing nothing but 
grass. The spirited monarch, yet un- 
subdued by his misfortunes, would listen 
to no terms proposed by an infidel and a 
blasphemer. Frequent encounters suc- 
ceeded, in which David was constantly 
worsted ; in one engagement his eldest 
son was killed ; in another his youngest 
Avas taken prisoner ; and he himself, 
destitute and forlorn, was forced to wan- 
der about on foot, skulking among the 
bushes on the mountains. Struck with 
admiration of his heroism, and with com- 
passion for his misfortunes, many of his 
veteran soldiers sought him out in his 
retreat, and with these he gained some 
slight advantages, which served to revive 
the spirits of laimself and his followers. 
But his enemies were too powerful to be 
resisted with any probability of final suc- 
cess, and the king, in this hopeless situ- 
ation, began to turn his thoughts seriously 
towards Portugal. 

John Bermudes, one of Roderigo's at- 
tendants, who had been detained in Abys- 
sinia, was chosen as ambassador to his 
native monarch. On his arrival at I^is- 
bon, Bermudes ordered Zaga Zaab to be 
put in irons for neglecting the interests of 
his master ; and represented so strongly 
the distresses of the Abyssinians, that 
he soon obtained an order for 400 mus- 
keteers to be sent to their relief. These 
after a delay of many months, arrived at 
the port of Masuah, under the command 
of Don Stephen de Gama. In the mean- 
time, a new monarch had ascended the 
throne of that kingdom. During the wars 
which David carried on with the Moors, 
a Mahometan chief, named Vizir Mugdid, 
had attacked the rock of Geshen, the 
state prison of the royal family, and, as- 
cending it without opposition, put all the 
princes to the sword. The heart of this 
heroic monarch could not stand this dis- 
aster, and he died in the same year, 



1540. His son Claudius, who succeed- 
ed him, though then only 18 years of 
age, possessed all the great qualities 
necessary in the dreadful exigencies of 
his kingdom ; and, before the arrival of 
the Portuguese, had already made con- 
siderable progress against his enemies. 
He frustrated a league which they had 
formed against him in the beginning of 
his reign ; obliged them to desist from 
pillage ; defeated them in a general en- 
gagement ; and, having intelligence of a 
design formed against his life by one of 
his own governors, decoyed the traitor 
into an ambush, and slew the greater 
part of his army. 

Such was the situation of affairs when 
Don Stephen de Gama came to the as- 
sistance of the Abyssinians. The num- 
ber of men whom the king of Portugal 
had allotted to his service, amounted to 
400 ; but the officers were men of the 
first rank, by whose retinue the army 
was considerably increased. A general 
ardor for this enterprise prevailed in the 
fleet ; and the bay where they were moor- 
ed has received from the murmurs of 
those who were detained on board, the 
name of Bahia dos Agravados — the Bay 
of the Injured. 

This small but gallant army set out 
without delay under the command of 
Don Christopher de Gama, youngest bro- 
ther of the admiral. They were met on 
their march by the qvieen, attended by 
her two sisters, and many others of both 
sexes ; and, after a mutual exchange of 
civilities, the queen returned, escorted 
by 100 musketeers, whom the general 
had appointed as her guard. After march- 
ing eight days through a very rugged 
country, Don Christopher received from 
Gragne a very insulting defiance, which 
he returned in a similar tone. A battle 
was fought, in which the Moor, though 
greatly superior in horse, got such a con- 
vincing specimen of Portuguese valor, 
that he did not choose, on that occasion, 
to venture a second engagement. 

The Portuguese, owing to the advanc- 
ed state of the season, had now retired 
into winter quarters ; while Gragne, hav- 
ing received powerful reinforcements to 
his army, wished to bring them to action 
before they should be joined by the king. 



ABYSSINIA. 



19 



Hurried away by his natural impetuosity, 
Don Christopher resolved, in opposition 
to the remonstrances of his most skilful 
officers, to venture an engagement, though 
at prodigious disadvantage. The supe- 
riority of the Portuguese, however, was 
still so great, that they seemed likely to 
obtain the victory, till their general, rash- 
ly exposing himself, was wounded in the 
arm by a musket ball. Confusion and 
defeat ensued ; and the barbarians, ob- 
taining possession of the camp, began to 
violate the women, who had all retired 
into the general's tent. On this, an 
Abyssinian lady, who had married one 
of the Portuguese, set fire to some bar- 
rels of gimpowder which stood in the 
tent, and thus perished with the ravishers. 

Don Christopher, disdaining to fly, 
was forced into a litter, and carried oft' 
the field. At the approach of night, he 
entered a cave to have his wound dress- 
ed, but obstinately refused to proceed 
further. Betrayed by a woman whom 
he loved, he was seized next day by a 
party of the enemy, and carried in tri- 
umph to Gragne, who after many mutual 
insults, struck of his head, which was 
sent to Constantinople, while his body 
was cut to pieces, and dispersed through 
Abyssinia. 

The cruelty of this barbarian proved 
more detrimental to his cause, than if he 
had been completely defeated. The 
Portuguese, exasperated by the loss of 
their general, were ready to undergo any 
danger to revenge his death ; while the 
Turks, irritated by an action which de- 
prived them of Don Christopher's ransom, 
abandoned their leader, and returned to 
their own country. Gragne, thus desert- 
ed, was easily defeated by Claudius ; 
and in a subsequent battle, fought on the 
10th of February, 1543, his army was 
routed, and he himself slain by a Portu- 
guese, named Peter Lyon, who had been 
Don Christopher's valet de chambre. 
Gragnt^'s wife and son, with Nur, the 
son of Mugdid, who destroyed the royal 
family, fell into the hands of Claudius ; 
and happy had it been for that monarch 
if he had immediately ordered them to 
execution. 

Relieved from all fear of external 
enemies, the attention of Claudius was 



now occupied by affairs of religion. 
Bermudes, a turbulent bigot, insisted 
that the king should embrace the doc- 
trines of the Roman church, and estabhsh 
that religion throughout his dominions. 
Claudius rejected with indignation such 
an insolent request, and a violent alter- 
cation ensued between the Abuna and 
the sovereign. After a struggle of seve- 
ral years, he succeeded in ridding him- 
self of this turbulent ecclesiastic. From 
that time few events of any importance 
occurred, till 1538, when the king was 
occupied in appointing his successor to 
his throne. He had no son, and his 
younger brother had been taken by the 
Moors, during his father's reign, and im- 
prisoned on a high mountain in Adel. 
His ransom appeared difficult, and would 
perhaps have been found impossible, had 
not a son of the famous Gragne been at 
the same time a prisoner in Abyssinia ; 
by releasing whom, and paying besides 
four thousand ounces of gold, Claudius at 
length procured the restoration of his 
brother. 

Nur, the son of Mugdid, had become 
passionately enamoured of the widow of 
Gragne ; but she refused to give him her 
hand, till he should present her with the 
head of Claudius, the murderer of her 
former husband. The lover willingly 
undertook the task, and challenged the 
Abyssiiuan monarch while marching to- 
wards Adel. Claudius was not of a dis- 
position to decline the combat, though it 
had been prophesied that he should die 
in this campaign. His soldiers, more 
alarmed by the prediction, abandoned 
their monarch in the commencement of 
the battle ; while, attended by only 18 
Portuguese and 20 horsemen of Abys- 
sinia, he fought with the most heroic 
bravery, till at last he fell, completely 
covered with wounds. His head was 
cut off, and brought by Nur to his mis- 
tress, who hung it up on a tree before 
her door, where it remained for three 
years. 

After this fatal engagement, which 
took place on the 22d of March, 1559, 
Menas ascended the throne without op- 
position. During the greater part of his 
reign he was engaged in war with his 
own subjects, who were instigated to 



20 



ABYSSINIA. 



rebellion by the popish missionaries. The 
insolence of these ecclesiastics at last 
provoked the king to banish them to a 
barren and solitary mountain, including 
in their sentence all the rest of the Euro- 
peans ; an insult which they resented so 
highly, that they immediately went over 
to the rebels. Their united forces were 
defeated by Menas, but the victory was 
by no means so decisive as to put an end 
to the rebellion. 

After a turbulent reign of four years, 
Menas was succeeded by his son, Sertza 
Denghel, a boy of 12 years of age. This 
prince was engaged in almost perpetual 
conflicts with the Galla,* the Falasha,! 
and the Moors, in which he was gene- 
rally victorious. During his reign the Ro- 
man Catholics were vmmolested, though 
such a strong prejudice had been excited 
against them in the minds both of the 
king and his subjects, that they never 
ventured to appear at court, nor were 
permitted to serve in the army. His last 
expedition was against some rebels who 
had begun to excite commotions in the 
province of Damot. A priest, revered for 
his sanctity and skill in divination, had 
warned him, in A'ain, not to proceed in 
this enterprise ; and, when he found the 
warlike monarch obstinate in his purpose, 
he only requested him not to eat of the 
fish of a certain river : this advice also 
was despised ; and Sertza Denghel died 
in consequence of eating these fish, 
which were of a poisonous quality. 

After a violent dispute about the right 
of succession, the infant Jacob was ele- 
vated to the throne, but was soon after 
deposed and Za Denghel invested with 
the sovereign power. Few events of 
importance occurred till the reign of 
Focilidas, when the Roman Catholics 
were expelled, and every hope of esta- 
blishing that religion in the empire, ef- 
fectually removed. From that time the 
history of Abyssinia is confined to a 
narrative of insurrections and petty wars, 
till 1729, when Yasous II, ascended the 
throne. 



* Galla, a warlike mountain people, in the 
southern and western parts of Abyssinia. 

t Falasha, that is, exiles, — an independent go- 
vernment of Jews, in the western part of Abys- 



Soon after this, he invaded the king- 
dom of Sennaar, without the least provo- 
cation, and allowed his soldiers to exer- 
cise the most dreadful cruelties. He had 
not long returned from this ruinous ex- 
pedition, when he was obliged again to 
take the field against Suhul Michael, 
governor of Tigre. The rebel, unable 
to cope with his sovereign in open war, 
fled to a high mountain for refuge ; but 
all his posts being taken by storm, ex- 
cepting one, which must likewise have 
been carried by the royal army, he re- 
quested a capitulation ; consigned into 
the hands of Yasous a great quantity of 
treasure ; and descended with a stone 
upon his head, (indicating that he had 
been guilty of a capital crime,) to submit 
to the clemency of the king. A promise 
was reluctantly extorted from Yasous to 
spare his life ; but, as soon as the rebel 
appeared in his presence, his indignation 
returned, and, retracting his promise, he 
ordered him to be carried out and execu- 
ted at his tent door. At the intercession 
of all his officers, the king again pardoned 
him ; but with these remarkable words, 
that he M'ashed his hands of all the blood 
which should be shed by Michael, before 
he effected the destruction of his coimtry, 
which he had long been meditating. Mi- 
chael, after continuing sometime in pri- 
son, was restored to his government of 
Tigre ; and, by his dutiful behavior, so 
gained upon the king, that he was made 
governor of Enderta and Sire, as well 
as of Tigre, thus becoming master of one 
half of Abyssinia. But this increase of 
power did not tempt him to any new re- 
bellion during the reign of Yasous, who 
died in June, 1753, in the twenty-fourth 
year of his reign. 

Joas the successor of Yasous, was as- 
sassinated at the instigation of Michael, 
who by his intrigues became master of 
Abyssinia ; he placed on the throne 
Hannes, brother to the late king BacuflTa, 
an old man, Avho had spent all his days 
on the mountains of Wechne, and was 
of course totally unacquainted with politi- 
cal aftairs. Hannes had been maimed 
by the loss of one hand, to prevent him 
from aspiring to the throne ; for, by the 
law of Abyssinia, the king must be free 
from every personal defect. Michael 



ALGIERS. 



21 



laughed at this objection ; but, on finding 
him totally averse to business, he carried 
him off by poison, and made his son, 
Tecla Haimanout, his successor on the 
throne. He now marched against Fasil 
without delay, and defeated him after an 
obstinate engagement. Woosheka was 
taken prisoner, and that unhappy man 
was flayed alive, and his skin was form- 
ed into a bottle. 

From that time to the present, war and 
bloodshed have almost constantly pre- 
vailed ; and the history is made up of 
insurrections, and petty wars, either 
against the general government, or among 
the subordinate chiefs themselves. In 
June, 1818, Itsa Yoas was proclaimed 
king. Soon after this event, Subegadis, 
an enterprising chieftain, made an attempt 



to raise himself to supreme power ; and 
the last accounts obtained from Abys- 
sinia, left him preparing for a march to 
Gondar, to establish his power in that 
quarter. It is more than probable that 
he accomplished his purpose, and placed 
himself on the imperial throne. 

Such is a sketch of the history of 
Abyssinia, a country sunk in the lowest 
state of barbarity, and afflicted — even 
without the hope of improvement — with 
all the calamities which result from an 
ill constituted government. Yet Abys- 
sinia, in extent, in situation, and natural 
advantages, is the most important country 
in Africa ; and from this kingdom, more 
conveniently than from any other quarter, 
might the blessings of civilization be dif- 
fused through that unfortunate continent. 



ALGIERS. 



After the fall of Carthage, B. C. 144, 
the greater part of northern Africa came 
under the dominion of the Romans, and 
continued under their power till about, 
A. D. 428. The Vandals and after them 
the Mahometan Arabs were the succes- 
sive conquerors and possessors. The 
tribes of the last mentioned people divi- 
ded the country between themselves, 
and formed different petty states, among 
which there were some free and inde- 
pendent cities. By this means the king- 
dom of Algiers was partitioned into four 
sovereignties ; Tenez, Algiers Proper, 
Bugeya, and Tremuen. The princes 
assumed the title of kings ; and continued 
for some centuries in mutual peace and 
amity with one another. But at length 
they began to disagree among themselves, 
and the king of Tenez made himself 
master of Bugeya and Tremuen. Al- 
giers Proper in the mean time had be- 
come a place of considerable celebrity, 
by the asylum it afforded to the Moors, 
who had been expelled out of the mari- 
time provinces of Spain. These exiles, 
rendered desperate by their expulsion, 
and being well acquainted with the Span- 
ish coast, issued from this retreat, and 



endeavored to compensate the losses they 
had sustained, by piracy at sea, and by 
predatory incursions on shore. 

To suppress these ravages, Ferdinand 
the fifth, king of Arragon, A. D. 1505, 
sent a powerful fleet and army under the 
command of the Count of Navarre, who 
made an irruption into Africa, took the 
important city of Oran, and laid siege to 
Algiers, which was the principal haunt 
of these pirates. In this difiiculty the 
Algerines invited to their assistance Se- 
lim Eutemy, a warlike Arabian prince, 
that possessed the neighboring territory, 
and put themselves under his protection 
and government. But, notwithstanding 
his efforts, the Spaniards carried on the 
siege with vigor, and at length Algiers 
was compelled to capitulate, and to be- 
come tributary to Spain ; nor could Selim 
prevent them from erecting a strong fort 
on a small island opposite to the city, 
which they supplied with a garrison and 
a numerous train of artillery. 

The Algerines were obliged to submit 
to this galling yoke till the death of Fer- 
dinand ; of which event they were no 
sooner apprised, than they determined to 
make every effort for regaining their 



22 



ALGIERS. 



liberty. With the consent and advice of 
Eutemy, they sent a deputation to the 
famous corsair Barbarossa, who had ren- 
dered himseh' formidable at sea from the 
age of thirteen ; requesting him to come 
and deliver them from the Spanish yoke, 
and promising a gratuity equal to his ser- 
vices. Barbarossa, highly gratified by 
this invitation, which offered him a fixed 
residence with a good port, of both of 
which he was then destitute, readily ac- 
cepted the proposal. He arrived, there- 
fore, with his brother Hairadin ; but did 
not communicate his real design to the 
Algerines, and appeared only in quality 
of auxiliary and ally. 

On his arrival in the neighborhood 
of Algiers, all the people of the city, 
with prince Eutemy at their head, went 
out to meet this illustrious warrior, whom 
they considered as their deliverer, and 
conducted him into that metropolis, with 
the greatest splendor, and amidst the ac- 
clamations of the populace. lie was re- 
ceived with every mark of distinction, 
and all ranks were anxious to provide ac- 
commodations for his troops. He him- 
self was lodged in one of the most splen- 
did apartments in the palace of the Ara- 
bian prince ; whilst his forces were treat- 
ed with such uncommon generosity, that 
he began to procure the necessary infor- 
mation, and to concert measures for exe- 
cuting the treacherous design of enslav- 
ing the Algerines and of making himself 
king of Algiers. He communicated his 
plan to the chief officers of his council, 
from whom he exacted a solemn oath of 
secrecy, and who applauded his intention, 
and promised to assist him with all their 
abilities. 

In the meantime, the better to deceive 
the Algerines, he caused a battery to be 
erected opposite to the Spanish fortress, 
which he bombarded for a month without 
producing any A'isible effect. On this 
occasion, however, he acted with such 
despotic authority as never to consult 
the Arabian prince relative to any mea- 
sures he intended to pursue; and the 
soldiers conducted themselves with such 
insolence and brutality, that the natives 
no longer doubted of his designs, but 
complained loudly of his perfidy and 
breach of faith. Barbarossa, fearing that 



they might endeavor to counteract his 
intentions, resolved to put Eutemy to 
death, and to have himself instantly pro- 
claimed by his troops, king of Algiers. 

Being lodged in the prince's palace, he 
had an opportunity of concerting proper 
measures for the destruction of the Ara- 
bian chief. Having observed that Eute- 
my was accustomed to repair to the bath 
every day at noon before prayers, Bar- 
barossa surprised him there in a naked 
and defenceless condition, and having 
strangled him with a napkin, immediately 
withdrew, without being observed by any 
person. He soon after returned, accom- 
panied by a considerable retinue, as if 
for the purpose of bathing ; and expressed 
equal surprise and affliction, on seeing 
the murdered prince. Though the inha- 
bitants suspected Barbarossa as the cause 
of this tragical occurrence, they had been 
so cruelly treated by the soldiers, that 
they dared not complain of the outrage. 
On the contrary, fearing that the slaugh- 
ter would be universal, many of the na- 
tives abandoned their city and country, 
and sought an asylum in the neighboring 
states ; whilst others shut themselves up 
in their houses, and left the Turks in 
possession of all their property. This 
desertion and dispirited conduct opened 
an easy access to the vacant throne, 
which Barbarossa ascended at the re- 
quest of his followers, without experien- 
cing the least opposition from the Alge- 
rines. He was accordingly proclaimed 
in the city with great splendor ; and rode 
through the streets on horseback, attend- 
ed by his Turks and Moors, who cried, 
" Long live Barbarossa, the invincible 
king of Algiers, chosen by God to deliver 
the people from the oppression of the 
Christians, and to devote all those to de- 
struction that shall oppose or disobey 
him, their lawful sovereign." 

The tyrant was then accompanied to 
the palace, where, seated under a stately 
canopy, he received the congratulations 
of the Turks ; and dispersed his troops 
through every part of the city, to invite 
the Algerines to come and swear alle- 
giance to their new monarch, with assu- 
rances that those who complied should 
be treated with particular regard, and 
entitled to the favor of the king. Accord- 



ALGIERS. 



23 



ingly, many did obeisance to him as their 
sovereign, signed the instrument of his 
coronation, and were dismissed with to- 
kens of esteem. Barbarossa, however, 
reigned rather by the terror he inspired, 
than by the affection and regard of the 
people. He suffered his ambition and 
avarice to hurry him beyond the bounds 
of prudence ; a circumstance that nearly 
proved fatal to his interest. The Alge- 
rines became exasperated by his cruelty, 
and the insolence and brutality of his 
soldiers. By his rapacious exactions he 
alienated the affections of the warlike 
Arabs, whose esteem he had been at 
great pains to conciliate ; and he dis- 
banded a great part of his Moorish troops, 
who returned in discontent to the pro- 
vince from whence they had been prin- 
cipally raised. 

The Algerine chieftains, apprised of 
these circumstances, found means to send 
deputies to the Arabians, to exhort them 
to abolish the Turkish tyranny, to re- 
venge the murder of their Prince Eu- 
temy, and to restore his son to the throne 
and dominions of his father. They also 
carried on a secret correspondence with 
the Spanish governor, and it was agreed 
to assassinate Barbarossa and the Turks, 
and to put themselves under the protec- 
tion and government of Spain. The day 
was appointed for executing this im- 
portant project, when it was resolved 
that the Algerines should bring their 
fruits and herbs to the market as usual, 
and conceal arms under their gowns. 
But the persons engaged in this design 
were too numerous to prevent its being 
divulged to Barbarossa, who was ex- 
tremely vigilant and attentive, and soon 
discovered the whole matter. Most of 
the Algerine chiefs, Avho had been con- 
cerned in the conspiracy, were put to 
death, and their estates confiscated, and 
the rest had a heavy fine imposed on 
them. This punishment so terrified the 
natives, that they never afterwards at- 
tempted any thing against him or his 
successors. 

But though Barbarossa was thus freed 
from domestic, he was assailed by fo- 
reign enemies. The Spaniards sent 
against Algiers a numerous and power- 
ful fleet, with ten thousand land forces 



on board, intended to expel the Turks 
out of the city, and to restore the son of 
Eutemy to the throne of his father. This 
armament, however, had no sooner ar- 
rived in sight of the place of its destina- 
tion, than it was attacked by a storm, and 
driven against the rocks, and almost 
every soul on board perished. This dis- 
aster tended to confirm Barbarossa in 
his usurpation, and contributed to in- 
crease his pride and insolence to such a 
degree, that he became more cruel and 
oppressive towards the inhabitants of 
both the city and country. Several tribes 
of Arabians were so much alarmed at 
his exorbitant power and tyrannical con- 
duct, that they entered into an alliance 
with the king of Tenez, who marched a 
body of forces into the dominions of Al- 
giers. This numerous army, however, 
was totally defeated by Barbarossa, who 
pursued the fugitive and unfortunate 
prince to the very gates of his capital, 
of which he made himself master, and 
obliged the inhabitants to acknowledge 
him as their sovereign. 

Not long after, he conquered the king- 
dom of Tremuen ; but the Spaniards 
uniting with the Arabs in reinstating the 
prince on his throne, Barbarossa was at- 
tacked by a numerous and powerful army ; 
and though the Turks fought with great 
valor and intrepidity, they were defeated 
by the enemy, and all cut to pieces. 

Thus fell Barbarossa in the forty-fourth 
year of his age, 1517. He raised his 
kingdom to a degree of splendor which 
it had never before known, and caused 
himself to be acknowledged as sove- 
reign of Algiers by many foreign as 
well as neighboring nations. His troops 
were principally composed of Turkish 
soldiers ; and it was chiefly under the 
banners of the crescent that he had dis- 
tinguished himself in his maritime ex- 
ploits. He preserved his independence ; 
but, at the same time, kept up an intimate 
connection with the Porte ; whither he 
sent presents, and from whence he ob- 
tained recruits. In short, he gave to the 
kingdom of Algiers almost the whole of 
that power and extent which it possesses 
at present. 

Barbarossa was succeeded by his 
brother Hairadin, who, having held the 



24 



ALGIERS. 



reins of government about two years, 
dreaded an immediate and universal in- 
surrection among the people. The more 
eflectually, therefore, to secure himself 
in the kingdom, he applied to Selim the 
first, emperor of Constantinople, and 
offered to submit himself and his do- 
minions to that prince, and to pay him 
an annual ti-ibute, provided the grand 
seignior would assist him with a suf- 
ficient number of forces for maintaining 
him in his station. Selim, who by the 
conquest of Egypt had abolished the 
usurpation of the Mamelukes, was highly 
pleased with the proposal, received Hai- 
radin under his protection, and appointed 
him bashaw or viceroy over the kingdom 
of Algiers. In a little time, also, he sent 
a body of ten thousand janisaries, that 
enabled Hairadin to become absolute 
master both of the Arabs and Moors, who 
were obliged to submit to the most abject 
slavery, without daring to utter the least 
complaint against his government. He 
increased daily in power and wealth by 
the number of his corsairs, and their 
successful depredations at sea. . The 
Porte also sent him every year a con- 
stant supply of recruits, with money for 
the payment of his troops ; and, in a 
little time, Algiers became a formidable 
kingdom. 

In this manner was this state reduced 
under the dominion of the Turkish em- 
pire ; but we have already had occasion 
to observe, that in the course of time, the 
authority of the Ottoman court declined 
in that kingdom. Its influence was first 
greatly contracted in regard to the no- 
mination of the dey ; and, at length, was 
left only in the possession of honoring 
him with a patent, which it could not 
refuse. The grand seignior constantly 
kept a pacha, who was considered as 
the successor of Barbarossa and his de- 
scendants ; but, at length, the oflice of 
pacha entirely disappeared, being eclipsed 
by that of dey. At present, Algiers is 
a power absolutely sovereign and inde- 
pendent, and is rather allied than subject 
to the Turks. It keeps up with the 
grand seignior a connexion only of de- 
cency and respect, founded on an iden- 
tity of religion. 

Since the foundation of this Idngdom 



by the two Barbarossas, the events which 
have occurred in Algiers are nothing 
else than the jealousies and intrigues of 
the principal men, in order to ruin and 
supplant one another ; consisting of acts 
of cruelty, depositions, and other ca- ' 
tastrophes of a similar nature. If we 
should attempt to delineate a picture of 
them, an uninterrupted series of the most 
horrid acts of tyranny and brutality would 
be exhibited to view. Nothing would 
be seen but massacres among the rich 
and powerful ; wretchedness and op- 
pression among the poor ; with instances 
innumerable of the most inhuman ven- 
geance and cruelty against the relatives 
and partisans of the princes assassinated. 
Confiscations, imprisonment, and per- 
secution, are extremely frequent ; and 
often, at the end of a month, and even of 
a week, the reigning prince has suffered 
a fate similar to that of his predecessor, 
and exchanged his throne for a prison or 
a grave ; insomuch that a new revolution 
has often brought back the same scenes 
of madness and cruelty. Such, added 
to the piratical expeditions at sea, would 
form the principal part of the history of 
each prince's reign. 

With respect to these expeditions, all 
Europe and the world may rest assured, 
that these pirates will never cease their 
depredations, so long as they are per- 
mitted to exist. To the injury and dis- 
grace of all christian powers, they suf- 
fered them to establish themselves and 
to become emboldened by success, and 
now find them formidable to all European 
nations, who are compelled to purchase 
an exemption from their ravages, and are, 
in effect, tributary to this piratical state. 
These acts of violence are now become 
natural to them. It was not without 
truth, that one of the deys humorously 
said : " The Algerines are robbers, and 
I am their captain-general." Those, 
therefore, who navigate the seas, must 
expect to be exposed to their attacks. If 
they be reproached for this shameful pi- 
racy, they only answer by the following 
proverb : " They vi^ho are afraid of the 
sparrows ought never to sow." 

Since the commencement of the pre- 
sent century, the United States of Ame- 
rica have led the way in humbling the 



ALGIERS. 



25 



piratical states of Barbary. Soon after the 
ratification of peace with Great Britain, 
in February, 1815, Congress, in conse- 
quence of the hostile conduct of the Re- 
gency of Algiers, declared war against 
that power. A squadron was immediately 
sent out under the command of Com. 
Decatur, (who had formerly highly dis- 
tinguished himself in the Tripolitan war,) 
consisting of three frigates, two sloops of 
war, and four schooners. With this force 
Com. Decatur sailed from New- York, 
May 20th, 1815, and arrived in the bay 
of Gibraltar in twenty-five days. On the 
17lh of June, off Cape de Gatt, he cap- 
tured the Algerine frigate Mazouda, after 
a nmning fight of twenty-five minutes. 
After the second broadside, the Algerines 
ran below. In this affair the famous Al- 
gerine Admiral, or Rais, Hammida, who 
had long been the terror of this sea, was 
cut in two by a cannon shot. On the 
19th of June, off Cape Palos, the squadron 
captured an Algerine brig of twenty-two 
guns. From Cape Palos the American 
squadron proceeded to Algiers, where it 
arrived on the 28th of June. Decatur 
immediately despatched a letter from the 
President of the United States to the 
Dey, in order to afford him a fair op- 
portunity for negotiation. The Captain of 
the port was immediately sent to the 
squadron on receipt of this letter, ac- 
companied by the Swedish Consul ; and 
Com. Decatur, who, with Mr. Shaler, 
had been empowered to negotiate a treaty, 
proposed a basis, on which alone he 
would consent to enter into a treaty. 
This was the absolute and unqualified 
relinquishment of any demand of Tribute, 
on the part of the regency. To this the 
captain demurred. But being informed 
of the capture of the frigate and brig, and 
the death of Hammida, he was unnerved, 
and agreed to negotiate on the proposed 
basis. The model of the treaty was sent 
to the Dey, who signed it. The prin- 
cipal articles in this treaty were, that no 
tribute, under any circumstances what- 
ever, should be required by Algiers from 
the United States of America ; that all 
Americans in slavery should be given 
up without ransom ; that compensation 
should be made for American vessels or 
property, seized or detained at Algiers ; 



that the persons and property of Ame- 
ricans, found on board of an enemy's 
vessel, should be sacred ; vessels of 
either party putting into port should be 
supplied at market price ; that if a ves- 
sel of either party should be cast on 
shore, she should not be plundered, &c. 
The rights of American citizens on the 
ocean, and the land, were generally fully 
provided for, in every instance ; and it 
was particularly stipulated, that all citizens 
of the United Stales, taken in war, should 
be treated as prisoners of war are treated 
by other nations ; held subject to an ex- 
change without ransom. After conclu- 
ding his treaty, so highly honorable and 
advantageous to our country, the com- 
missioners gave up the frigate and brig, 
which had been captured, to their former 
owners. 

After this. Com. Decatur visited Tunis 
and Tripoli, and demanded and obtained 
compensation for the injuries done Ame- 
rican citizens by those powers. 

In consequence of the massacre in 
Bona of persons under the protection of 
the British flag, Lord Exmouth was sent 
with a squadron to Algiers, to demand 
reparation. He was joined at Gibraltar 
by a Dutch squadron of five frigates and 
a corvette, under the command of Vice- 
Admiral Von Capellan. The following 
account is given by an oflicer engaged in 
the expedition : 

" On Sunday, the 25th of August, the 
expedition had a fine breeze, and made 
great progress with a flowing sheet ; di- 
vine service was performed, and on that 
occasion, when offering up prayers to 
the Almighty, by many for the last time, 
at public worship, feelings of the most 
satisfactory nature originated, which can 
never be forgotten by those who felt 
them ; they gave a cool confidence when 
going into action, which the stranger to 
religious sentiments can never possess. 

" The coast of Africa was seen on 
Monday, and as the day dawned on 
Tuesday, the 27th, Algiers appeared 
about ten miles off. The morning was 
beautifully fine, with a haze which fore- 
told the coming heat : as the morning 
advanced, the breeze failed us, but at 
nine o'clock we had neared the town to 
within about five miles ; the long line of 
4 



ALGIERS. 



batteries were distinctly seen, with the 
red flag flying in all directions, and the 
masts of the shipping showing above the 
walls of the mole. The Severn, with a 
flag of truce flying, was detached with the 
terms of the Prince Regent, and this was 
a most anxious period, for we were in 
the dark as to the feelings of the Dey, 
whether the off*ered terms were such as 
he could consistently accept, or that left 
him no alternative but resistance. Du- 
ring this state of suspense, our people 
were as usual exercised at the guns, the 
boats hoisted out, and prepared for ser- 
vice by signal, and at noon we were 
ready for action. 

"The ship's company were piped to 
dinner, and at one o'clock the captain and 
officers sat down to theirs in the gun- 
room, the principal dish of which was a 
substantial sea pie ; wine was pledged 
in a bumper to a successful attack, and a 
general expression of hope for an unsuc- 
cessful negotiation. At this time, the 
officer of the watch reported to the cap- 
tain, that the admiral had made the gen- 
eral telegraph, ' Are you ready V Che- 
tham immediately directed that our an- 
swer ' ready' should be shown, and at 
the same moment the like signal was 
flying at the mast-heads of the entire 
squadron. The mess now broke up, each 
individual of it quietly making arrange- 
ments with the other in the event of ac- 
cident, and we had scarcely reached the 
deck, when the signal to ' bear up' was 
out, the commander-in-chief leading the 
way, with a fine steady breeze blowing 
on the land. We ran in on the admiral's 
larboard-beam, keeping within two ca- 
bles' length of him ; the long guns were 
loaded with round and grape, the car- 
ronades with grape only : our sail was 
reduced to the topsails and top-gallant 
sails, the mainsail furled, and the boats 
dropped astern in tow. The ships were 
now steering to their appointed stations, 
and the gun-boats showing their eager- 
ness, by a crowd of sail, to get alongside 
the batteries. As we drew towards the 
shore, the Algerines were observed load- 
ing their guns, and a vast number of spec- 
tators were assembled on the beach, idly 
gazing at the approach of the squadron, 
seemingly quite unconscious of what was 



about to happen. Far different were ap- 
pearances at the mouth of the mole as it 
opened ; the row-boats, fully manned, 
were lying on their oars, quite prepared 
for the attack, and we fully expected 
they would attempt to board should an 
opportunity oflfer ; each boat had a flag 
hanging over her stern. A frigate was 
moored across the mouth of the mole, 
and a small brig was at anchor outside 
of her. 

" At fifteen minutes before three P. M. 
the Queen Charlotte came to an anchor 
by the stern, at the distance of sixty yards 
from the beach, and, as was ascertained 
by measurement, ninety yards from the 
muzzles of the guns of the mole bat- 
teries, unmolested, and with all the qui- 
etude of a friendly harbor ; her flag 
flew at the main, and the colors at the 
peak ; her starboard broadside flanked 
the whole range of batteries from the 
mole head to the lighthouse ; her topsail 
yards (as were those of the whole squad- 
ron) remained aloft, to be more secure 
from fire, and the sails brought snugly to 
the yards by headlines preAdously fitted ; 
the "top-gallant sails and small sails only 
were furled, so that we had no man un- 
necessarily exposed aloft. 

" The Leander, following the motions 
of the Admiral, was brought up with two 
anchors by the stern, let go on his lar- 
board beam, veered away, until she ob- 
tained a position nearly ahead of him, 
then let go an anchor under foot, open 
by this to a battery on the starboard side 
at the bottom of the mole, and to the 
fish-market battery on the larboard side. 
At this moment Lord Exmouth was seen 
waving his hat on the poop to the idlers 
on the beach to get out of the way, then 
a loud cheer was heard, and the whole 
of the Queen Charlotte's tremendous 
broadside was thrown into the batteries 
abreast of her; this measure was promptly 
taken, as the smoke of a gam was ob- 
served to issue from some part of the 
enemy's work, so that the sound of the 
British guns was heard almost in the 
same instant Avith that to which the smoke 
belonged. The cheers of the Queen 
Charlotte were loudly echoed by those 
of the Leander, and the contents of her 
starboard broadside as quickly followed, 



ALGIERS. 



27 




Bombardment of Algiers. 



carrying destruction into the groups of 
row-boats ; as the smoke opened, the 
fragments of boats were seen floating, 
their crews swimming and scrambling, as 
many as escaped the shot, to the shore ; 
another broadside annihilated them. The 
enemy was not slack in returning this 
warm salute, for almost before the shot 
escaped from our guns, a man standing 
on the forecastle bits, hauling on the top- 
sail buntlines, received a musket bullet 
in his left arm, which broke the bone, 
and commenced the labors in the cock- 
pit. The action became general as soon 
as the ships had occupied their positions, 
and we were engaged with the batteries 
on either side ; so close were we, that 
the enemy were distinctly seen loading 
their giuis al)Ove us. After a few broad- 
sides, we brought our starboard broadside 
to bear on the fish-market, and our lar- 
board side then looked to seaward. The 
rocket-boats were now throwing rockets 
over our ships into the mole, the effects 
of which were occasionally seen on oin- 
larboard bow. The Dutch flag Avas to 
be seen flying at the fore of the Dutch 
Admiral, Avho, with his squadron, were 
engaging the batteries to the eastward 
of the mole. The fresh breeze which 



brought us in was. gradually driven away 
by the cannonade, and the smoke of our 
guns so hung about us, that we were 
obliged to wait until it cleared ; for the 
men took deliberate and certain aims, 
training their guns until they were fully 
satisfied of their precision. But our en- 
emies gave us no reason to suppose that 
they were idle ; so great was the havoc 
which they made amongst us, that the 
surgeon in his report stated, that sixty- 
five men Avere brought to him Avounded 
after the first and second broadsides. 

'' About four o'clock, a boat, with an 
officer, came Avith orders from the Ad- 
miral to cease firing, as an attempt to 
destroy the Algerine frigates was about 
to be made. Accordingly, three boats 
pushed into the mole, running the gantlet 
in gallant style ; they boarded the outer- 
most frigate, Avhich was found deserted 
by her crew, and in a iew minutes she 
was in a blaze ; in doing this the boats' 
crcAV suflered severely. The smoke of 
our last broadside had scarcely left us, 
when the Algerines renewed their fire 
of musketry upon our decks ; fortunately 
the men Avere lying down by the guns, 
and the ofliicers alone were marks for 
them ; but one midshipman was their only 



28 



ALGIERS. 



victim at this time. The masts began 
to suffer in all parts, splinters were falling 
from them, and shreds of canvass from 
the sails came down upon us in great 
quantities ; bow-lines, and other running 
gear, suffered equally ; the shrouds, fore 
and aft, got cut up so quickly, that the 
rigging men attempted in vain to knot 
them, and were at last forced to leave 
the rigging to its fate. 

" When the boats returned, we recom- 
menced our fire with renewed vigor ; 
occasionally a flag-staff was knocked 
down, a fact which was always an- 
nounced with a cheer, each captain of a 
gun believing himself to be the faithful 
marksman. The Algcrine squadron now 
began, as it were, to follow the motions 
of the outer frigate ; the rockets had 
taken efiect, and they all burned merrily 
together. 

" Through the intervals of smoke, the 
sad devastation in the enemy's works 
Avas made visible ; the whole of the mole 
head, near the Queen Charlotte, was a 
ruin, and the gams were consequently 
silenced ; but we were not so fortunate 
with the fish-market ; the guns there still 
annoyed us, and ours seemed to make no 
impression. A battery in the upper an- 
gle of the town was also untouched, and 
we were so much under it, that the shot 
actually came through our decks, without 
touching the bulwarks, and we could not 
elevate our guns sufficiently to check 
them. 

" As the sun was setting behind the 
town, the whole of the shipping in the 
mole were in flames ; their cables, burned 
through, left them at the mercy of every 
breeze ; the outermost frigate threatened 
the Queen Charlotte with a similar fate, 
but a breeze sent her clear on towards 
the Leander ; a most intense heat came 
from her, and we expected every moment 
to be in contact ; the flames were burn- 
ing with great power at the mast heads, 
and the loose fire was flying about in 
such away that there seemed little chance 
of our escaping, but we checked her pro- 
gress towards us, by firing into her, and 
in the act of hauling out, we were re- 
joiced to see a welcome Seabreeze alter 
the direction of the flames aloft, the same 
Seabreeze soon reached her hull, and 



we had the satisfaction in a few minutes 
to see her touch the shore to which she 
belonged. 

" When the Algerines saw us retiring, 
they returned to the guns which they 
had previously abandoned, and again 
commenced a fire on the boats, which 
made the water literally in a foam ; this 
fire was returned by our quarter guns, 
but with very little effect. As we left the 
land, the breeze increased, the Severn 
cast off her tow, and our boats returned 
on board ; at 25 minutes past eleven we 
fired our last gam, and the cannonade 
was succeeded by a storm of thunder 
and lightning. 

" Soon after daylight we mustered at 
our quarters, and found that 16 officers 
and men were killed, and 120 wounded ; 
the three lower masts badly wounded ; 
every spar wounded, except the spanker- 
boom ; shrouds cut in all parts, leaving 
the masts unsupported, which would 
have fallen had there been the least 
motion ; the running gear entirely cut to 
pieces ; the boats all shot through ; the 
bulwarks riddled with grape and mus- 
ketry ; 96 round-shot in the starboard 
side, some of them between wind and 
water ; the guns were all uninjured to 
any extent, and remained, the only part 
of the Leander, efficient. 

" At nine o'clock, Capt. Mitchell came 
on board from Lord Exmouth, to thank 
Capt. Chetham for the position taken up 
by the Leander, and for the able support 
she had given him throughout the day. 

" The town had a very different ap- 
pearance this morning to that which it 
presented the day before. Instead of 
clean white walls, decorated with flags, 
and a mole well filled with shipping, 
there was but the ruins of a town ; a few 
houses in the upper part remained un- 
touched, but lower down it was one un- 
distingaiishable mass ; smoke rising from 
the fragments of the ships destroyed was 
seen in many directions, and the wrecks 
of boats and larger vessels were drifting 
about unclaimed by either party. 

" The ship's company were again at 
work, clearing decks, unbending sails, 
and making every preparation to renew 
the action ; but at noon we had the sa- 
tisfaction to hear that the Dey had ac- 



ARABIA. 



29 



cepted the terms which were offered him 
the day before ; at the same time that 
this information was conveyed to the 
squadron, a general order was issued to 
offer up " public thanksgiving to Al- 
mighty God for the signal victory ob- 
tained by the arms of England. 

In 1830 difficulties having arisen 
between the French and Algerines, a 



French army consisting of 37,577 in- 
fantry and 4000 horse, embarked at Tou- 
lon, and the fleet consisting of 97 vessels, 
of which 1 1 were ships of the line and 
24 frigates, set sail with the army, which 
landed near Algiers, on the 14th of June, 
under the command of Coimt Bourmont. 
Algiers was taken July 5th, and the 
French still hold possession of the city. 



ARABIA. 



Little is known of the ancient history 
of Arabia. The partial information which 
we receive respecting the early transac- 
tions of its inhabitants, is derived chiefly 
from their own historians, whose disa- 
greement in many important points, ren- 
ders their authenticity very questionable. 
Indeed, until the time of Mahomet,* their 
history seems to be completely im^olved 
in obscurity. 

From its proximity to the original 
station assigned to man by his Creator, 
Arabia must have been peopled at a very 
early period of the world. We are told, 
that soon after the deluge, the descen- 
dants of Shem, the son of Noah, leaving 
the banks of the Euphrates and the 
Tigris, and proceeding along the western 
coasts of the Persian Gulf, in the course 
of time founded several small kingdoms 
in the southern parts of this peninsula. 

The oriental historians also deduce the 
origin of the Arabs from Kahtan, or Jok- 
tan, a descendant of Shem; and Ishmael, 
the son of Abraham and Hagar. The 
posterity of the former they denominate, 
al Arab ol Ariba, " the genuine Arabs ;" 
but the Ishmaelites they call, al Arab ol 
Mostareba, ^^insititious Arabs;" because 
the Ishmaelites settled in Arabia many 
centuries after the Beni-Joktan had pos- 
session of that country, and, consequently, 
must have been considered as strangers, 
until they had become naturalized by in- 
intermarrying with the original inhabi- 



* Mahomet. This name is usually written by 
late writers, Mohammed. 



Kahtan, the father of the Arabians, was 
succeeded by Yarab in the government 
of Yemen ; and Jorham, another of his 
sons, founded the kingdom of Hedjas. 
But to follow the transactions and revo- 
lutions of these kingdoms, from their first 
institution to their extinction, would in- 
volve us in a labyrinth of darkness, and 
lead us into discussions incompatible 
with the limits of this work. A few of 
the most prominent occurrences, however, 
that mark their history, may not only be 
interesting, but may serve to illustrate 
some of the peculiar manners of the 
people ; and enable us to trace the pro- 
gress of science and civilization in the 
early ages of the world. 

Saba, the fourth king of Yemen, de- 
ploring the distresses to which his sub- 
jects were exposed by the repeated 
droughts of this parched country, built 
a stupendous mound between two hills, 
for receiving and preserving the waters 
which descended from the mountains. 
This building stood, like a mountain, 
above the city of Mareb, or Saba ; and 
was composed of such strong and solid 
materials, that many of the inhabitants 
built their houses upon the top of it. 
The water was carried by aqueducts 
into the city, and distributed among the 
inhabitants. But a more important and 
political purpose, it would seem, was 
intended by this capacious reservoir. 
Saba was a great warrior, and had sub- 
dued in battle many of the neighboring 
tribes. By making himself master of 
the water, he ensured their submission ; 
as he cotild at pleasure greatly distress 



30 



ARABIA. 



them by cutting off all communication 
with it. This prince is also said to have 
been the first who introduced into Arabia 
the worship of the heavenly luminaries ; 
whence, he received the surname of Abd. 
Shems, i. e. " Servant of the Sun " 

Saba was succeeded by his son Ham- 
yar, who gave his name to the kingdom 
ofHamyar; and whose descendants were 
called Hamyarites, the same with the | 
Homerites of Ptolemy and other Greek 
authors. After Ilamyar, we have a se- 
ries of twenty princes of the same family; 
but of whom nothing remarkable is re- 
corded. The last of these was succeeded 
by Amran, of the posterity of CaJdan, the 
brother of Hamyar, to whose family the 
throne of Hamyar was now translated, 
and whose descendants contirmed to sway 
the sceptre, in an uninterrupted succes- 
sion, till about forty-four years before 
Mahomet. It was during the reigns of 
some of these monarchs, that the famous 
reservoir of Saba was broken down by a 
mighty flood, which swept away the 
whole city, with the neighboring towns. 
This terrible inundation is styled, in the 
Koran, " the inundation of Al Arem," 
and is supposed to have happened about 
the time of Alexander the Great. The 
destruction occasioned by the flood was 
so dreadful, that no less than eight tribes 
were compelled to abandon their habita- 
tions, and seek for other settlements ; 
and it became a proverbial saying among 
the Arabs, to express a total dispersion, 
that " they were scattered like Saba." 

The last prince of the Hamyaritic line, 
who reigned in regular succession, was 
the impious Yusof, surnamed Dhu No- 
was, from his flowing curls. He was a 
bigotted Jew, and treated his Christian 
subjects with the greatest barbarity. 
Elesbaan, king of Abyssinia, having de- 
clared war against him, for massacring 
certain Christian merchants, overthrew 
him in battle, stripped him of his domin- 
ions, and placed a Chi'istian prince upon 
the throne of Hamyar. But Dhu Nowas, 
upon the death of this prince, found 
means of again seizing upon the crown ; 
and began his reign with a violent per- 
secution of the Christians. He exercised 
upon them the most exquisite tortures, 
and caused such as would not renounce 



their faith, to be thrown into a fiery pit, 
whence he received the appellation of 
"the lord of the ph." To revenge such 
inhuman cruelty, the patriarch of Alex- 
andria besought the king of Abyssinia 
again to undertake the Christian cause. 
Elesbaan crossing the straits of Babel- 
mandel, with an army of 120,000 men, 
completely routed the forces of Dhu 
Nowas, who, being closely pursued, was 
reduced to such extremities, that he 
forced his horse into the sea, and lost at 
once his kingdom and his life, in the 
524th year of the Christian sera. After 
the death of Dhu Nowas, the Christian 
religion was established at Yemen, and 
an Abyssinian viceroy continued to wield 
the sceptre of Hamyar, nearly seventy- 
two years, when Seif, the son of Dhu 
Yazan, of the royal family of Ham- 
yar, with the assistance of Chosroes, 
idng of Persia, expelled the Abyssinians 
from Yemen, and recovered the kingdom 
of his ancestors. The reign, however, 
of this prince was but of short duration, 
as he fell a victim to the vengeance of 
the Abyssinians. His successors were 
appointed by the king of Persia, till Bad- 
han, the last of them, submitted to the 
authority and doctrines of Mahomet. 

The posterity of Jorham occupied the 
throne of Hedjas, till the accession of 
Kidar, the son of Ishmael, who, accord- 
ing to some authors, had the crown re- 
signed to him, by his uncles, the Jor- 
hamites. After the inundation of Al 
Arem, the tribe of Khozaatook refuge in 
Hedjas, and settled in the valley of 
Marri, near Mecca. Expelling the Ish- 
maelites, soon after, they seized upon 
the gover^mient, and assumed to them- 
selves the guardianship of the Caaba,* 
or round tower. The profound venera- 

* The temple, called the Caaba, or house of 
God, was held in the highest veneration by the 
Arabs; "for it was built," say they, "on the 
spot where Adam pitched his tent when driven 
from Paradise ; and contained the black stone ou 
which Jacob reposed his head when he saw the 
vision of the angels descending and ascending on 
the ladder that reached to heaven." It is said 
this stone was brought by the angel Gabriel, and 
to have been originally of a dazzling whiteness. 
It is generally supposed to be a meteoric stone. 
The grand ceremony through which the pilgrims 
pass, is that of going seven times round the 
Caaba, kissing each time the sacred stone. 



ARABIA. 



31 



tion in which this temple was held by 
the Arabs, rendered it a situation of great 
honor and authority. 

After many ages, Kosa, the chief of 
the Koreish, subdued the Khozaites and 
obtained possession of the Caaba; and 
notwithstanding the powerful attempts 
that were made by the latter to repossess 
themselves of this important temple, it 
remained in the power of the Koreish till 
the time of Mahomet. 

The war of the Elephant, a memorable 
aera in Arabian history, is said to have 
happened when Abdel Motalleb, the 
grandfather of Mahomet, was guardian 
of the Caaba. This temple had stood 
for about fourteen centuries, and was 
held in the highest veneration. The 
multitude of strangers, who resorted to 
this sacred place, from the surrounding 
nations, suggested the idea of rendering 
it the emporium of trade between India 
and Africa. Yemen was, at that time, 
in the possession of the Abyssinians ; 
and Abraha, the viceroy in that country, 
to divert the trade into a channel more 
convenient for his own dominions, built 
a large temple near the Indian Ocean, on 
which he bestowed all the privileges 
enjoyed by the temple of Mecca. The 
Koreish, alarmed at the prospect of hav- 
ing their city deserted, hastened to Ye- 
men, entered the temple of Abraha by 
night, and after burning as much of it as 
could be consumed, polluted the rest with 
every mark of indignity. To revenge 
this insult, Abraha marched against Mecca 
with a mighty army, determined to take 
vengeance upon the sacrilegious offend- 
ers, and level the rival temple with the 
dust. The Meccans, terrified at the 
strange appearance of the elephants, to 
which they were unaccustomed, retired 
from the city, and entrenched themselves 
on the neighboring mountains. Abraha 
having pillaged the surrounding country, 
advanced to the destruction of the holy 
city. A treaty being proposed, Abdel 
Motalleb presented himself before Abra- 
ha, and boldly demanded the restitution 
of his cattle ; " and why," said the Abys- 
sinian, "do you not rather implore the 
preservation of your Caaba ?" " The 
cattle are my own," replied the prince of 
the Koreish, "the Caaba belongs to the 



gods, and they will protect their house 
irom sacrilege and injustice." Abraha, 
astonished at the intrepidity of the Ara- 
bian chief, ordered his cattle to be re- 
stored. Disease, want of provisions, and 
the determined valor of the Koreish, soon 
after compelled him to abandon the en- 
terprise, and return with his debilitated 
army to Yemen. The retreat of the 
Abyssinians is attributed in the Koran, 
chap, cv, to the extraordinary interpo- 
sition of the Deity in favor of the Caaba; 
and, upon this event, the prophet of 
Islam has founded one of the most in- 
credible of his extravagant absurdities. 

The same year is remarkable for the 
birth of Mahomet, the legislator and 
apostle of the Arabs. He was bom at 
Mecca, about two months after the dis- 
comfiture of the Abyssinians, 569. His 
father, Abdallah, died wlule he was a 
child. As he left little property, Ma- 
homet was educated first by his grand- 
father, Abdel Motalleb, and after his 
death by his eldest uncle, Abu Taleb. 
This uncle, a merchant, destined Ma- 
homet for the same employment, and 
was accompanied by him on a commer- 
cial journey to Syria. On this occasion, 
he visited a Nestorian monastery, where 
he was especially distinguished by one 
of the monks, and received impressions 
which perhaps contributed to give the 
tone to his subsequent character. The 
Mahometan writers are very prolix in 
their descriptions of the wonderful quali- 
ties of mind and body, for which their 
prophet was eminent from his youth ; he 
shared, however, the general ignorance 
of his countrymen. Being sufficiently 
instructed in mercantile affairs, Mahomet 
was recommended by his uncle to Ca- 
diga, a rich and noble widow of Mecca, 
as her factor. In this capacity he con- 
tinued till he was twenty-five years of 
age, when Cadiga rewarded his integrity 
and serA'ices with her hand and fortune. 
Being thus raised from poverty to af- 
fluence, he was enabled to live as became 
the nephew of the guardian of the Caaba; 
and to vie in splendor with the richest in 
Mecca. Though nothing is recorded of 
him till he was forty years of age, it is 
probable that he still continued in the 
occupation of a merchant. 



32 



ARABIA, 



At this period Christianity had been 
converted, by endless controversies and 
contentions, into a heap of abstruse nice- 
lies and intricate distinctions. The wor- 
ship of saints and images, with the most 
scandalous and superstitious ceremonies, 
had led to the destruction of public mor- 
als, and that purity of doctrine which the 
gospel inculcates. A general depravity 
of manners prevailed, both among the 
priests and the people. The contests 
for the popedom were carried on with all 
the virulence and animosity which party 
spirit or interest could excite. They 
sometimes even proceeded to open vio- 
lence and murder; and the episcopal 
seat was often filled by the slaves of 
debauchery and intemperance. Harmo- 
ny, love, and charity, the mild virtues of 
the religion of Jesus, had given place to 
strife, hatred, and malice. 

During this period of anarchy and 
confusion, so favorable to the designs of 
an imposter, Mahomet first began to 
broach his opinions. Though illiterate, 
he was endowed with great natural parts 
— subtle, enterprising, and ambitious. 
His mind was enlarged by travelling ; 
and, in his journies to the neighboring 
nations, he became acquainted with the 
different religious controversies which 
then agitated the world. The infinite 
altercations which these controversies 
occasioned, and the hatred and rancor 
with which the different opinions were 
contested, no doubt gave him the first 
idea of a reformation. In order, there- 
fore, to conciliate all parties, and to make 
his opinions acceptable to every descrip- 
tion of religionists, he assumed, as the 
foundation of his system, those points 
concerning which most of them were 
agreed; and in his other doctrines and 
institutions, he addressed himself to the 
passions and prejudices of his country- 
men. The first grand article of his faith 
is, the unity of the divine nature, which, 
he maintained, had been violated by the 
Christians in their doctrine of the Trinity; 
and by the Jews, whom he accused in 
the Koran of taking Ezra for the son of 
God. The second article is, that he 
himself, the last and greatest of the pro- 
phets, was commissioned by Heaven, to 
reduce religion to its original purity, as 



it was professed by the ancient patriarchs 
and prophets. 

Whether Mahomet had long meditated 
the scheme of introducing a new religion 
among his countrymen, or whether it 
had occurred to him in a fit of enthusiasm, 
when advanced in life, cannot be ascer- 
tained. He seems to have had, from 
his youth, a propensity to religious con- 
templation. For he was every year ac- 
customed, in the month of Ramadan, to 
retire to a cave near Mecca, and dwell 
there in solitude. His retirement pre- 
pared him for the austere duties of his 
office. It was in this residence that he 
first disclosed to Cadiga the secret of his 
divine mission, repeating to her the lan- 
guage of the angel Gabriel, who, by the 
appointment of heaven, had constituted 
him the apostle of God. The conversion 
of his wife was succeeded by that of his 
cousin and pupil, the illustrious A li, and 
the faithful Zeid, (his servant and slave, 
to whom he gave his freedom, a rule 
which is strictly observed by his follow- 
ers.) The next proselyte to Islam was 
Abu Bekr, a man of considerable au- 
thority among the Korcish, and whose 
influence soon gained over five of the 
principal inhabitants of Mecca, to enter 
into the sentiments and views of the 
prophet. Unwilling, as yet, to expose 
his design to the prejudices and derision 
of the public, three years were spent in 
the painful exercise of private exhorta- 
tion and reproof; and in that time, no 
more than fourteen proselytes could be 
numbered among his numerous friends 
and relatives in the crowded city of 
Mecca. Though few in number, he was 
however induced, by the power and con- 
sequence of his followers, to risk the 
publication of his mission. For this pur- 
pose he invited the descendants of Abdel 
Motalleb to a simple entertainment, (a 
lamb, it is said, and a bowl- of milk,) and 
there disclosed to him his opinions and 
intentions. "Kinsmen," said the pro- 
phet, " I offer you, and I alone can offer 
you, the most precious, of gifts — happi- 
ness in this life, and in that which is to 
come. God hath commanded me to call 
you to his service. Who, therefore, 
among you will assist me herein ? Who 
will be my brother and my vizier ?" The 



ARABIA. 



33 



assembly were struck dumb with aston- 
ishment, and none deigned to give him 
an answer, till the impatient Ali, a j'outh 
of fourteen, rose up and declared, that he 
was the man. "I, O prophet, will be 
thy vizier. Whoever dares to oppose 
thee, I will beat out his teeth, tear out 
his eyes, cut ofl' his legs, and rip up his 
belly." Mahomet embraced the intrepid 
youth with every demonstration of aflec- 
tion ; and exhorted all who were present 
to respect and obey him as his deputy. 
The astonishment of the company was 
now changed into contempt at the pre- 
sumption of the orphan son of Abdallah ; 
and they ironically desired x\bu Taleb 
to pay obedience to his own son. Not 
discouraged by this repulse, Mahomet 
zealously persevered in his intention. 
In private and in public, he exhorted his 
countrymen to forsake the idolatrous wor- 
ship of their fathers. On solemn festivals, 
and on the days of pilgrimage, he took 
his station in the court of the Caaba, and 
undauntedly preached the belief and wor- 
ship of one God. He upbraided the pil- 
grims with the perverseness of their 
superstition, and reminded them of the 
pimishment inflicted upon the idolatrous 
tribes of Adand Thamud, whom the 
wrath of the Almighty had swept from 
the face of the earth. 

In his private admonitions the prophet 
was surrounded by his little congregation, 
who revered him as the messenger of 
heaven. To these he delivered in small 
portions the revealed wisdom of the 
Deity, and taught them to repeat the 
confession of their faith. " There is but 
one God, and Mahomet is his prophet." 
After the appearance of the Koran, his 
votaries daily increased, and his cause 
was greatly strengthened by the conver- 
sion of his uncle, the brave Hamza, and 
the resolute Omar, whose fierce opposi- 
tion had once endangered the life of the 
prophet. The voice of reason and per- 
suasion was, as yet, the only weapon 
which Mahomet used in the propagation 
of his religion ; and though he prosecuted 
his design with the zeal and enthusiasm 
of a fanatic, yet he still asserted the 
rights of conscience, and deprecated 
compulsion or religious violence. But, 
under the pretence of religion, the flame 
5 



of a violent persecution was lighted up 
by the Koreish against the followers of 
Islam. Mahomet was unable to defend 
himself against their united attacks, and 
fled for refuge to Taycf, a city about 60 
miles east of Mecca, where he expected 
a cordial reception from his uncle, Al 
Abbas. But the chiefs of the tribe of 
Thakif, who inhabited that city, received 
both him and his opinions with coldness 
and contempt, which induced him to 
shorten his exile. Upon his return to 
Mecca, he again began to preach with 
great vehemence against idolatry, parti- 
cularly against the worship of Al Lata 
and Al Uzza. His engaging person, and 
commanding eloquence, attracted the at- 
tention of the pilgrims; and many of them 
heard and embraced the religion of Islam. 

Mahomet had all along persuaded his 
followers, that he received his commis- 
sion and institutions in visions, through 
the ministry of the angel Gabriel. But 
now he determined to try the utmost 
stretch of their faith, and by a stroke of 
policy the most refined, to raise himself 
for the future above the fear of detection. 
He published an account of his night 
journey to heaven, (Koran, p. 53,) a fic- 
tion the most extravagant, but one of the 
most artful of the prophet's contrivances. 
In it, he pretends to have conversed face 
to face with the Almighty; and to have re- 
received a revelation of many hidden mys- 
teries, full instructions respecting his fu- 
ture conduct, and rules to he observed by 
his followers. The gross and palpable ab- 
surdities which this relation contains, had 
nearly ruined the cause of Islam. But 
Abu Bekr vouched for the veracity of the 
prophet, and declared, that he firmly be- 
lieved whatever Mahomet affirmed to be 
true. This fidelity of Abu Bekr procured 
for him the title of the Faithful Witness, 
and was of such signal service to the 
cause of the impostor, that, after the recep- 
tion of such a monstrous falsehood, he 
coidd make his disciples swallow what- 
ever he pleased to offer them. 

His opinions now began to spread 
among the Arabian tribes; the spiritual 
food of the Koran was diffused among 
his votaries; and every one read with 
rapture of the luxurious dainties, the 
costly garments, and the black-eyed vir- 



34 



ARABIA. 



gins of paradise, reserved for the eternal 
enjoyment of the faithful believers. The 
inhabitants of Medina received with joy 
a disciple of Islam, and 75 proselytes, 
comprehending some of the noblest citi- 
zens, repaired to Mecca, to swear alle- 
giance to their prophet. Mahomet held 
an interview with them on mount Akaba. 
They offered their protection to him and 
his disciples, and entered into an alliance 
offensive and defensive, in which they 
pledged their fidelity to the prophet, and 
swore enmity against every tribe who 
should dare to oppose the establishment 
of Islam. Mahomet, on his side, swore 
to be faithful to them, and promised the 
joys of paradise as a recompense for 
shedding their blood in his defence. 
Twelve of these he chose to be his 
apostles in the city of Medina, whom he 
detained awhile at Mecca, instructing 
them in his new religion, and then sent 
them back to propagate it among their 
fellow-citizens. " Ye are invested," said 
the prophet at their departure, "with the 
same power and authority as the apostles 
of Isa (Jesus) were, and I am the great 
apostle of all my people." To this they 
replied, " It is undoubtedly so." Ma- 
homet having, by this league, provided 
for his followers a retreat from the per- 
secutions of their enemies, directed them 
to repair to Medina, where he assured 
them of safetjrand protection, and whither 
he himself would soon repair. But the 
Koreish observing, with jealousy, the 
growing influence and authority of the 
impostor were alarmed at this new alli- 
ance. While it excited their envy it 
inflamed their rage ; and they saw, in its 
consequence, the prophet, in his retreat, 
svirrounded by his followers, screened 
from their wrath, and defying their ven- 
geance. They, therefore, determined to 
prevent his escape. A counsel was con- 
vened by Abu Sophian, a zealous votary 
of the idols, when, after various expe- 
dients had been offered and rejected, they 
at last came to the resolution of striking 
at the root of this mischief, by putting 
the impostor to death. Mahomet fled 
with a friend towards Mecca, and took 
refuge in the cave of Thur, about an 
hour's journey from Mecca, where pro- 
visions had been previously conveyed by 



the servant of Abu Bekr. Here they lay 
concealed for three days, to elude the 
search of their enemies, from whom they 
only escaped by a miracle. A party of 
the Koreish had been detached to re- 
connoitre the mouth of the cave. They 
found it covered Avith a spider's web, 
and, at the entrance, a pigeon's nest with 
two eggs, from which they concluded 
that the place was solitary and inviolate. 
The appearance of Mahomet at Mecca 
dispelled the doubts and fears which had 
been entertained for his safety. His for- 
tunate escape was ascribed to the inter- 
posing care of the Almighty; and his 
flight has fixed the memorable aera of the 
Hegira. Five hundred believers advan- 
ced to meet their apostle. He was 
hailed with the acclamations of piety 
and attachment; and conducted to his 
habitation amidst the shouts and rejoic- 
ings of his grateful and obedient disciples. 
In three days he was joined by Ali, on 
whom, for his eminent services, he be- 
stowed his daughter Fatima in marriage, 
whom he considered as the most perfect 
of women. He himself, about this time, 
married Agesha, the daughter of Abu 
Bekr. 

Medina was at that time distinguished 
as the city of the book; and was inhabi- 
ted chiefly by Jews and Christians, who 
had introduced into it a taste for litera- 
ture and science. But their continual 
feuds greatly aided the designs of the 
impostor. The Christians had embraced 
the heresy of Arius, and finding the doc- 
trines of Mahomet correspond in some 
measure with their own, they gave a cor- 
dial reception both to the prophet and 
the religion of Islam. To this friendly 
disposition may be attributed the great 
kindness which Mahomet showed to this 
sect in preference to the Jews, whom, 
on account of their first opposition to his 
religion, he persecuted with implacable 
hatred as long as he lived. 

In a short time the whole city of Me- 
dina was at the disposal of the prophet, 
and his first care was to unite his fol- 
lowers in the bonds of love and devotion. 
The Ansars and the Mohajerins, the 
auxiliaries of Medina, and the fugitives 
of Mecca, he coupled with the rights and 
obligations of brethren ; and the princi- 



ARABIA. 



35 



pie maxim of the fraternity was, " that 
they should cordially love, and mutually 
defend each other to the utmost of their 
power." Mahomet now saw himself at 
the head of a powerful band, who were 
eager to sacrifice their lives in his ser- 
vice ; and, with this favorable change of 
circumstances, he determined to alter his 
plan of operations. A revelation from 
heaven was produced, to show that the 
propagation of his religion now demanded 
more vigorous measures, and that, as the 
idolaters would not listen to his mild ad- 
monitions and gentle reproofs, but despi- 
sed and rejected his offers, he was 
commanded to convert them by the 
sword. He assumed the regal and sa- 
cerdotal office, promulgated laws, and 
decided the differences of his followers. 
A mosque was dedicated to the service 
of Islam, and, at the weekly assembly, 
Mahomet himself mounted on a pulpit of 
rough timber, inculcated upon his dis- 
ciples the ties of piety and devotion. 

Mahomet having established his au- 
thority in Medina, began to act upon the 
offensive, and to make reprisals upon the 
Koreish. His whole soul was bent on 
vengeance for the insults and injuries he 
had suffered. A spy informed him, that 
a wealthy caravan, of 1000 camels, had 
entered Hedjas, on its way to Mecca, and 
was protected by a guard of only 40 Ko- 
reish, under the command of Abu Sophian. 
Mahomet resolved to intercept it, but Abu 
Sophian having received intelligence of 
his intention, despatched a courier to 
Mecca, to demand immediate reinforce- 
ments, and Abie Jahl, with 850 foot and 
100 horse, was commanded to hasten by 
forced marches to his assistance. Three 
hundred and thirteen believers waited 
the commands of the prophet, and the 
white banner was unfurled before them 
by the brave Hamza. With these Ma- 
homet advanced into the plain of Beder, 
to wait the approach of the enemy. The 
Koreish soon appearing on the heights, 
the prophet consulted with his compan- 
ions whether they shovdd attack the car- 
avan or the reinforcements. The inter- 
ested Moslems thirsted for the riches of 
their enemies, but Mahomet sacrificed his 
avarice to glory and revenge. Ali, Ham- 
za and Obeidah, challenged to single 



combat an equal number of the Koreish. 
The challenge was accepted, and the 
Moslems were victorious. Mahomet tak- 
ing advantage of this lucky circumstance, 
encouraged his followers, and, as he led 
them on to the charge, he threw a hand- 
ful of dust towards the enemy, crying, 
" Let their faces be covered with confu- 
sion." The Koreish gave way, and fled 
before the bravery of the Moslems. Their 
general, with seventy of their companions, 
was left dead on the field of battle, and 
an equal number of prisoners graced the 
first triumph of the believers. During 
the engagement Abu Sophian retreated 
with the caravan, and conducted the 
greatest part of it in safety to Mecca. 
At this disappointment the Moslems were 
greatly chagrined, but the spoils of the 
field compensated in some degree for its 
escape. 

The victory of Beder was gained on the 
2d year of the Hegira, 623, and was of 
the utmost consequence to the cause of 
Islam. The disproportion of numbers 
established the confidence and unanimity 
of its disciples. They were led to be- 
lieve that 1 000 angels combatted on their 
side ; and they formed the presumptuous 
expectation that the assistance of heaven 
would be for ever afterwards vouchsafed 
to the faithful. The tenets and promises 
of the Koran raised their courage and 
confirmed their hopes. It inculcated the 
doctrine of absolute predestination ; that 
the hour of man's death is unalterably 
fixed, and that the warrior is equally safe 
amidst the darts of his enemies, and under 
the roof of his friend. The joys of par- 
adise were pointed out as the immediate 
rewards of the faithful martyrs; and to 
die in the propagation of the faith, was 
looked upon as the most pleasing sacri- 
fice in the sight of God. "A drop of 
blood shed in the cause of religion, a 
night spent in arms, is of more avail than 
two months of fasting and prayer : Who- 
ever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven ; 
at the day of judgment his wounds shall 
be resplendent as vermilion, and odori- 
ferous as musk ; and the loss of his 
limbs shall be supplied with the wings 
of angels and cherubims." The Mos- 
lems, encouraged by these imaginary 
prospects, were neither dismayed by 



36 



ARABIA 



numbers, nor appalled by dangers. They 
advanced to battle with a fearless confi- 
dence, and eagerly sought for death as 
their greatest glory. The infidels trem- 
bled at their approach, and shrunk from 
an enemy that courted destruction. 

Upon Mahomet's return to Medina, he 
made several excursions into the neigh- 
boring country, and carried on a kind of 
predatory warfare with tribes of the de- 
sert. The following year he expelled 
the Jews from Medina, and divided their 
goods among his disciples. The roving 
Arabs, allured by the hope of plunder, 
now flocked to his standard, and 1000 
warriors drew their swords at the com- 
mand of the apostle. 

A truce of ten years was concluded, 
in the 6th year of the Hegira, between 
Mahomet and the Koreish. The Mos- 
lems were admitted as pilgrims, to visit 
the holy temple of Mecca. Three days 
were allowed them to perform the so- 
lemn ceremony. Seven times the apos- 
tle, accompanied by his disciples, en- 
compassed the Caaba ; seven times they 
kissed the black stone ; and after a sa- 
crifice of 70 camels, they shaved their 
heads, according to custom and departed. 
The idolaters were awed by the holy 
fervor of the prophet ; and three of their 
bravest warriors, Caled, Amru, and 0th- 
man Ebn Telha, embraced the religion 
of Islam. 

Two years after, 629, Avas fought the 
famous battle of Muta. Mahomet des- 
patched an army of 3000 chosen war- 
riors, to revenge the death of his ambas- 
sador, who had been assassinated on his 
way to Borra, by a governor of the em- 
peror Heraclius. The command was 
entrusted to the faithful Zeid ; and such 
was the discipline and enthusiasm of the 
believers, that the noblest chiefs served 
without reluctance under the freedman 
of the apostle. The emperor's forces, 
consisting of Greeks and auxiliary Arabs, 
amounted to 1 00,000 men. The two ar- 
mies met at Muta. In the beginning of 
the action the Moslems were repulsed, 
and three generals successively fell in 
the foremost ranks. Consternation seiz- 
ing upon the believers, they turned their 
backs and fled. But the undaunted Caled, 
rallying the fugitives, returned with the 



bravest of them to the charge. His sword 
devoured the fainting Christians, whose 
superior numbers fell before his fury. 
The Moslems pressing on, broke through 
their ranks, and routed them with great 
slaughter. Caled returned with his vic- 
torious army, laden with the spoils of the 
Christian camp ; and as he approached 
the prophet, he received the glorious title 
of the Sword of God. 

Soon after this period, ambassadors 
poured in from all quarters of Arabia, to 
make submission, in the name of their 
diflerent tribes to the prophet of Islam. 
Their number is compared, in the Ara- 
bian proverb, to the dates that fall from 
the maturity of a palm-tree ; and the 
ninth of the Hegira is styled the year of 
embassies. Mahomet received them with 
great civility, and treated them with 
kindness and affection. A contribution 
of alms, for the service of religion, was 
imposed upon every believer, and the 
opprobrious name of tribute was abolish- 
ed among the Moslems. The weaker 
tribes were overawed by the power, and 
feared the resentment of the prophet, and 
in a short time the whole peninsula 
yielded to the religion and sceptre of 
Mahomet. The Christians alone were 
exempted from conforming to the laws 
of the Koran ; upon paying tribute, they 
were granted the security of their per- 
sons and property, and the free exercise 
of their religion. 

Mahomet's attention was now directed 
to the hostile preparations of the Roman 
emperor. War was solemnly proclaim- 
ed against Heraclius, and an army of 
30,000 men was marched to the borders 
of Syria. The Moslems,in this expedition, 
suffered all the extremities of hunger and 
thirst, and were exposed to the scorch- 
ing heats and pestilential winds of the 
desert ; but the shady fountains and palm- 
trees of Tabor, soon made them forget 
the fatigues of their march. The Greeks 
were terrified, and retired at their ap- 
proach, and Mahomet declared himself 
satisfied with the peaceful intentions of 
the emperor of the East. Upon his re- 
turn to Medina, he made great prepara- 
tions for performing the pilgrimage of 
valediction. On this occasion 114,000 
believers composed the train of the apos- 



ARABIA. 



37 



tie ; and the rites and ceremonies which 
he observed in this his last and most so- 
lemn pilgrimage, were intended as a 
model for the celebration of this great 
solemnity, to the Moslems of all suc- 
ceeding ages. The prophet did not long 
survive the journey. About two months 
after his return, he was seized with vio- 
lent pains, the effects, it is supposed, of 
poison, which had been administered to 
him at Chaibar, by the revenge of a Jew- 
ish female. The poison had been com- 
municated to a shoulder of mutton, of 
which the prophet was particularly fond, 
for the purpose, it is said, of trying his 
prophetic knowledge ; and one of his 
companions, Avho had eaten more hearti- 
ly of it, expired on the spot. For three 
years his health had visibly declined, and 
he often complained of the bit he had 
eaten at Chaibar. His pains were some- 
times so excruciating, that he cried out 
in agony, " Oh ! none of the prophets 
ever suffered such torments as I now 
feel ; but the greater my present affliction 
is, the more glorious will be my future 
reward !" Till the third day before his 
death, he regularly officiated in the mosque 
at public prayers ; and, when confined 
to his apartment, he edified his friends 
by religious instruction, and moderated 
their lamentations by pointing out to 
them his prospect of future glory. Worn 
out at length with the violence of his 
malady, he breathed his expiring accents 
on the bosom of his beloved Ayesha, in 
the 63d year of his age, and the eleventh 
of the Hegira, 632. 

The news of the prophet's death had 
no sooner been made public, than his 
habitation was surrounded by his faithful 
adherents ; who, in the mingled accents 
of confidence and grief, loudly exclaimed, 
" How can our apostle be dead ? Our 
intercessor, our mediator, has not en- 
tirely left us ; he is taken up to heaven, 
as was Isa ; therefore, he shall not be 
buried." The stern Omar, with his 
drawn sword, seconded their exclama- 
tions. " The apostle of God is not dead, 
but only gone for a season, as Moses, the 
son of Amram, was gone from the people 
of Israel for forty days, and then re- 
turned to them again. But the calm ex- 
postulations of the venerable Abu Bekr 



appeased the clamorous sorrow of the 
multitude, and restored reason to the 
mournful disciples of Islam : " Do you 
worship Mahomet or the God of Maho- 
met ? If the latter, he is immortal, and 
liveth forever ; but if the former, you are 
in a manifest error, as he is certainly 
dead." This assertion he confirmed by 
several quotations from the Koran, which 
satisfied Omar and calmed the tumult of 
the people. After a violent contention, 
Abu Bekr was appointed Caliph, or suc- 
cessor, and the moderation which he 
displayed, tended to reconcile the dis- 
cordant opinions that prevailed. 

A general revolt, with which Arabia 
was threatened upon the death of Maho- 
met, was soon quelled by the sanguinary 
Caled, whose severity in this enterprise 
drew down upon him the anger of Abu 
Bekr. But the intercession of Omar, 
and his eminent services in the field, 
restored him again to the favor of his 
master. 

The new caliph, freed from the ap- 
prehensions of domestic insurrection, 
now directed his arms against the em- 
peror Heraclius ; and seemed determined 
to carry into execution the sanguinary 
commands of his prophet. " To wage 
eternal war against the enemies of their 
faith." The Koran, the tribute, or the 
sword, were the only alternatives held 
out to the opposing nations ; and few 
were able to resist the ferocious courage 
and religious zeal of the faithful. 

Abu Bekr had no sooner established 
tranquillity in Arabia, than he despatched 
circular letters to the IMahometan chiefs, 
acquainting them, that he intended to 
take Syria out of the hands of the infi- 
dels ; at the same time, reminding them, 
that to fight for the true religion was an 
act of obedience to God. In a short 
time, Medina was surrounded with the 
tents of the believers, who were eager 
to prove their attachment to their reli- 
gion, and to their master. Abu Bekr, 
having reviewed his troops, put up a fer- 
vent prayer for their success ; and ac- 
companied them a part of their journey 
on foot. His instructions to the chiefs 
of the expedition, at their departure, de- 
serves to be recorded as an instance of 
the humanity and prudence of the faith- 



38 



ARABIA. 



fill friend of the prophet " You fight," 
said the venerable cahph, " in the ser- 
vice of God, and for the propagation of 
our faith. Treat your soldiers as breth- 
ren, and encourage them to attack the 
infidels with bravery and resolution ; 
but stain not your victories with the 
blood of the aged, of women, or of chil- 
dren. Destroy not the fruits of the 
earth, nor slay the cattle, unless what 
is necessary for your own subsistence. 
Let your oaths be sacred and inviolate, 
llespect the persons of the servants of 
God, and profane not their holy temples. 
But cleave the skulls of those vile mem- 
bers of the synagogue of Satan, who 
shave their crowns, and give them no 
quarter, unless they pay tribute, or em- 
brace the profession of Islam." 

Abu Bekr died the day his standard 
was planted upon the walls of Damas- 
cus, 634. He was succeeded by Omar, 
who was no sooner seated on the throne, 
than he prepared to prosecute with vigor 
the war which his predecessor had so 
successfully begun. Abu Obeidah was 
appointed to command the Syrian army 
instead of Caled, whose cruel and un- 
tractable temper had rendered him ob- 
noxious to the caliph. Caled submitted, 
to his disgrace with dig-nity ; and swore, 
that, though he had the utmost aversion 
for Omar, yet he would obey him as the 
lawful successor of the prophet. The 
principal fortresses of Syria soon yielded 
to the Moslem arms ; and the emperor 
Heraclius trembled for the safety of his 
eastern possessions. An army of 240,000 
men was sent to stop the cruel ravages 
of the ruthless Arabs, and to drive them 
from his dominions. The Moslem army, 
reinforced by 8000 believers, repaired to 
Vermouth, to wait the approach of the 
enemy ; and, Abu Obeidah, confiding in 
Caled's tried courage and superior skill 
in military affairs, resigned to him the 
chief command. Three times the Mos- 
lems were repulsed ; but, rallied by the 
women, they again returned to the 
charge. Caled flew along the lines, 
encouraging his soldiers. He assured 
them that paradise was under the shadow 
of their swords, and that the devil and 
hell-fire was behind them. The numbers 
of the Christians withstood, for a time, 



the obstinate fury of the Moslems ; but 
were at length compelled to retreat with 
precipitation, leaving 150,000 killed, and 
40,000 prisoners. This bloody encoun- 
ter determined the fate of Palestine and 
Syria. Jerusalem opened her gates to 
the conquerors ; and Aleppo, the strong- 
est fortress in Syria, was forced, after an 
obstinate resistance to receive a Moslem 
garrison. 

The fertile kingdom of Egypt now at- 
tracted the avarice, or the ambition, of 
Amru the lieutenant of Omar. With an 
army of only 4000 Arabs, he left the 
province of Palestine and hastened in 
search of new conquests. After a siege 
of 14 months, the standard of Omar was 
raised on the walls of Alexandria, in the 
20th year of the Hegira, 641. Amru 
describes, in his letter to the caliph, the 
riches and magnificence of the capital 
of Egypt. " 1 have taken the great city 
of the west. It contains 4000 palaces, 
4000 baths, 400 royal circi, or places 
of amusement ; 12,000 gardeners, and 
40,000 tributary Jews." The request of 
John, the grammarian, and the fanatical 
answer of Omar, are well known in the 
history of literature. Amru, at the desire 
of John, begged of the caliph, the philo- 
sophical books in the Alexandrian li- 
brary, * as a present to the Greeks. " If 
the books you mention," returned Omar, 
" agree with the book of God, they are 
superfluous ; if they are repugnant to the 



*The royal library of Ale.xandria contained 
700,000 volumes. About 400,000 of these 
were kept in a splendid edifice belonging to the 
academy and museum. The rest amounting to 
nearly 300,000 volumes were in the Serapion, 
the temple of Jupiter Serapis. The former were 
burned during the siege of Alexandria by Julius 
Caesar, but were afterwards replaced by the li- 
brary of Pergamus, which Antony presented to 
Cleopatra. The latter in the Serapion, were 
preserved to the time of Theodosius the Great. 
He caused all the heathen temples throughout 
the Roman empire to be destroyed, — and even 
the splendid temple of Jupiter Serapis was not 
spared. A crowd of fanatic Christians, headed 
by their archbishop, Theodosius, stormed and de- 
stroyed this temple in 391. At that time the 
library in it, was partly burned, partly dispersed ; 
and the historian Orosius, towards the close of 
the 4th century, saw only the empty shelves. 
Christian barbarians, and not x\rabs as is usually 
asserted, were the cause of this irreparable loss to 
science. Encyclopccdia Americanus. 



ARABIA. 



39 



doctrines and tenets of that book, they 
are pernicious, and ought to be destroy- 
ed." The sentence was rigorously ex- 
ecuted, and these precious volumes sup- 
plied the 4000 baths of the city with 
fuel for six months. The conquest of 
Egypt proved of great advantage to the 
Moslems. Independent of the 4,300,000 
pieces of gold, which the tributaries 
annually brought into the treasury of the 
caliph, the abundant fertility of this coun- 
try supplied the dearths of Arabia ; and 
a train of camels, laden with corn and 
provisions, covered the long road from 
Memphis to Medina. 

The arms of Omar were no less suc- 
cessful in Persia than in Egypt. The 
Persians made a final stand, for their re- 
ligion and liberties, at Nenavend ; and 
this decisive battle, which ended in their 
defeat, is styled b)?^ the Arabs, the victory 
of victories. Armenia and Mesopotamia 
had also yielded to the authority of the 
caliph. But while his arms were subju- 
gating the finest provinces of the East, 
Omar fell by the hand of an assassin, 
when performing his morning devotions 
in the mosque at Medina 

From the conquest of Egypt the con- 
tinent of Africa opened a wide field for 
the religion and courage of the Moslems. 
An army of 40,000 believers was en- 
trusted to Abdallah, by Othman the suc- 
cessor of Omar, to penetrate into that 
country, and to receive the conversion or 
the tribute of its natives. The deserts 
of Barca retarded not the march of their 
patient and hardy camels. The fortifi- 
cations of Tripoli and Sufetula fell be- 
fore the persevering bravery of the Arabs ; 
and the barbarians on all sides implored 
mercy and protection of the conquerors. 
Abdallah, however, was prevented from 
prosecuting his conquests. The pro- 
gress of an epidemical disease thinned 
his army, and compelled him to return, 
after a successful campaign of 15 months, 
to the confines of Egypt. 

Discontent now began to show itself 
in the empire ; and the feeble adminis- 
tration of Othman was unable to curb the 
haughty spirits of the Moslem chiefs, who 
were elated with power and flushed with 
victory He was killed in an insurrec- 
tion in 665. 



From a life of retirement and prayer, Ali 
was invited, by the voice of the people, 
to the throne of Arabia. He declined, 
however, a sceptre which had been so 
long, and so imjustly withheld from him, 
and declared, that he had now rather 
obey than command. But the good of 
his country overcame his reluctance ; 
and a tumultuous soldiery compelled him 
to accept of a throne and a mighty em- 
pire. His inauguration was attended by 
the Arabian chiefs, many of whom con- 
cealed their disaffection under the mask 
of a ready obedience. They had tasted 
the sweets of independence and revenge ; 
and as the accession of Ali had blasted 
their schemes and expectations, they 
offered him the fawning tribute of their 
lips, while their hearts were bent on his 
destruction. The widow of the prophet 
bore an implacable hatred against the 
husband and the family of Fatima. She 
provoked the Meccans to revenge the 
murder of the caliph, and represented 
the innocent Ali as an assassin and an 
usurper. Telha Ebn Obeid Allah, and 
Zobier Ebn Al Awam, two of her ac- 
complices in that horrid transaction, sup- 
ported her in her iniquitous designs. 
Escaping from Mecca, they planted their 
standard of rebellion in the province of 
Assyria ; and the artful Ayesha pretend- 
ed that her only object was to revenge 
the death of Othman. Ali marched a 
loyal band of 20,000 Arabs to Bassora, 
which had submitted to the regicides. 
On his march he Avas joined by 800 va- 
liant Cufans, to whom he expressed his 
unwillingness to shed the blood of the 
Moslems. " Ye men of Cufa, who have 
always distingiiished yourselves by your 
bravery, and have dispersed the forces of 
the kings of Persia, I have desired your 
interposition, to bring about a reconcilia- 
tion with my brethren of Bassora. No- 
thing shall be wanting on my part as 1 
shall always prefer the sweets of peace, 
to the miseries and desolations of war." 
Finding, however, that all attempts at an 
accommodation were fruitless, he left the 
dispute to the decision of the sword ; and 
charged Ayesha and her associates with 
the Moslem blood which should be shed 
in that Avar. Ali encountered the rebel 
army under the walls of Bassora. Aye- 



40 



ARABIA, 





,_ T] 




s 


^ 


^C/'I^^-^^^^''Wr.^^^^^^^^^ 


^M^^^^^^^™r — -jz!ir^^ ~ 


^K 



TAe ca.li'ph. AH engaging the SyriuTis. 



sha took her station in the hottest of the 
fight. Seventy men of the Banu Daba, 
who held the bridle of her camel, were 
successively slain ; and the litter in 
which she sat was so stuck with javelins 
and arrows, as to resemble the quills of 
a porcupine. After an obstinate resist- 
ance, the rebels were completely defeat- 
ed ; Telha, and Zobeir fell in the en- 
gagement, and Aye sha was taken priso- 
ner. All then marched his victorious 
troops against a more powerful rival, 
Moawiyah, the prefect of Syria, who, 
from a pretended declaration of 0th- 
man's in his favor, had assumed the 
thle of caliph. Moawiyah was the son 
of Abu Sophian, and chief of the family 
of Ommiyah, of whom the late caliph 
was also a descendant. Sixty thousand 
Syrians rallied under the bloody shirt of 
his murdered kinsman ; and his cause 
was strengthened by the attachment of 
Amru, the conqueror of Egypt, to whom, 
for his services, he promised the govern- 
ment of that country. The rival caliphs 
met on the plains of Seffien. Three 
months were spent in fruitless negotia- 
tions, and bloody skirmishes, in which 
twenty-six of the heroes of Beder were 



numbered among the slain. All at last 
proposed to decide their claim to the ca- 
liphate, and to spare the blood of his 
countrymen, by single combat. Amru 
seconded the proposal, and urged his 
colleague to accept the challenge ; but 
the trembling Moawiah refused to stake 
his life on such unequal odds, and shrunk 
from the invincible arm of his generous 
rival. Upon this refusal a general action 
ensued. The ponderous sword of All 
carried destruction and dismay through 
the ranks of the Syrians. Every time 
he smote a rebel, he shouted Allah Ac- 
bar, " God is victorious ;" and four hun- 
dred times the hero was heard to repeat, 
during the engagement, that dreadful ex- 
clamation. The Syi-ians were driven 
back upon their camp ; and Moawiyah 
meditated a shameful flight, when a 
stratagem of Amru saved his army from 
defeat, and checked the fury of the con- 
querors. Amru ordered his soldiers to 
advance, with the Koran fixed upon the 
points of their lances, and to exclaim, 
" This is the book of God between us 
and you, which ought to decide all differ- 
ences, and which forbids the effusion of 
Moslem blood. The troops of Ali Avere 



ARABIA, 



41 



awed by the solemn appeal. They threw 
down their arms ; and the Charejites, or 
enthusiasts, threatened to abandon him, 
unless he immediately sounded a retreat. 
Thus, in the moment of victory, was the 
prize snatched from the grasp of Ali, by 
an insidious adversary ; and he himself 
compelled, by the fanaticism of his troops, 
to submit to a disgraceful truce. Over- 
come with sorrow and indignation, he 
retired to Cufa ; and those very soldiers 
who betrayed him at Seffein, deserted his 
standard, and chose a leader of their 
own. While Ali was reducing these re- 
bels to obedience, his rival had subdued 
Egypt, and reduced Persia, while his 
forces had penetrated into the province 
of Hedjas, and filled the holy city with 
terror and alarm. 

After the death of Ali, who was mor- 
tally wounded by an assassin, Hassan 
succeeded to the throne of Medina. He 
inherited the piety, but not the martial 
genius, of his father ; and his excessive 
mildness of disposition rendered him in- 
caple of disputing the empire with the 
prince of Damascus. Having reigned 
six months, he resigned the government 
to Moawiyah. 

Moawiyah being now securely seated 
upon the throne of Arabia, transferred 
the seat of empire from Medina to Da- 
mascus, whither he wished also to con- 
vey the pulpit and walking-stick of the 
prophet. But an eclipse of the sun 
happening just as they were laying their 
hands upon these sacred relics, the trem- 
bling Moslems, dreading the divine dis- 
pleasure, refused to obey the sacrilegious 
command of their sovereign. 

The caliph having reduced the restless 
Charejites, sent a powerful army under 
his son Yezid, to besiege the capital of 
the Roman empire. The troops were 
animated by the tradition of their pro- 
phet, "That the sins of the first army 
which should take the city of Caesar 
were forgiven." They braved the fa- 
tigues and dangers of a long and labori- 
ous march ; yet, notwithstanding their 
zeal, they returned to Syria, without per- 
forming any services of importance. The 
consequences of this expedition were 
most disgracefid to the Moslems. A 
truce of thirty years was concluded with 
6 



the emperor ; in which the Arabs were 
allowed to retain the provinces they had 
seized, upon paying an annual tribute of 
3000 pounds weight of gold, fifty slaves, 
and as many choice horses. Their arms, 
however, were more successful in Tar- 
tary and Africa. 

Saad, the governor of Chorasan, cross- 
ed the Amu, (the Oxus of the ancients,) 
and took Samarcand, the capital of the 
(Jsbeck Tartars. 

With 10,000 Arabs, Akbar over-ran 
Numidia, and founded the city of Cai- 
roan, which, in after ages, became the 
seat of learning and of empire. He 
fearlessly traversed the deserts of Mau- 
ritania, and penetrated to the shores of 
the Atlantic ocean. The intrepid war- 
rior plunged his horse into the tide, and 
lamented, like the son of Philip, the 
boundary of his conquests. " Great 
God, were I not stopped by this sea, I 
would still go on to the unknown king- 
doms of the west, preaching the unity 
of thy holy name, and extirpating the 
rebellious nations who refuse to worship 
thee." The valor of Akbar was unable 
to preserve the fruits of his triumphs. A 
general revolt exposed him to the fury 
of the faithless Africans. The victori- 
ous Moslems Avere surrounded and slain, 
and Akbar fell, fighting valiantly, amidst 
the dead bodies of his followers. His 
successor, Zuheir, avenged the death of 
his countrymen, but was also overthrown 
by the Greeks before the walls of Car- 
thage. 

After this period the empire was torn 
by intestine quarrels, and the blood and 
treasures of the country were wasted, 
to minister to the ambition and jealous- 
ies of its rulers. A long and bloody 
warfare was maintained by the contend- 
ing caliphs ; and it was not till the 73d 
year of the Hegira, 692, when Abdal- 
malek found himself without a competi- 
tor, that internal peace was restored to 
the distracted empire. The Moslem 
arms, which had long been stained with 
the blood of their countrymen, were now 
directed to distant conquests. The 
southern shores of the Mediterranean 
were still in possession of the Christ- 
ians, and the blood of Akbar and Zuheir 
called aloud for vengeance. An army 



42 



ARABIA. 



of 40,000 Arabs was entrusted to Has- 
san, the governor of Egypt. The capi- 
tal of Africa was alternately won and 
lost by the Moslems, till the battle of 
Utica was decided in favor of Hassan, 
when Carthage was demolished and de- 
livered to the flames. The barbarous 
Moors of the interior provinces resist- 
ed for a time the power and the religion 
of the Arabs. Under their queen, Cahi- 
na, they issued from their savage de- 
serts, and Hassan Avas compelled to re- 
tire from certain defeat, to the confines 
of Egypt. After an absence of five 
years, he returned with reinforcements 
to the reconquest of Numidia. The 
wandering Moors were dispersed, and 
their queen Cahina slain in the first en- 
gagement. But while the Moslems were 
thus ravaging Africa, the Caliph Abdal- 
malek died at Damascus in the 85th year 
of the Hegira, 704. He left an exten- 
sive empire to his son Al Walid, who 
prosecuted with vigor the ambitious de- 
signs of his father. His troops penetra- 
ted on the east to the banks of the Gan- 
ges, and on the west to the pillars of 
Hercules. His general, Musa, having 
finally conquered and tranquillized the 
Africans, who submitted to the religion 
and the language of the Koran, was 
commanded to annex to the throne of 
the caliph the unknown kingdoms of the 
west. But his career was stopt by the 
walls of Ceuta. Count Julian, the go- 
vernor, bravely repelled his assaults, 
and the Saracen was forced to retire in 
perplexity and disgrace. Internal dis- 
cord, however, soon relieved him from 
his embarassment, and offered Spain as 
an easy conquest to his arms. Impelled 
by private revenge, Count Julian betray- 
ed his trust, and introduced the Saracens 
into the heart of his country. Tarik, 
the lieutenant of Musa, encountered the 
king of the Goths on the plains of Xeres. 
This unworthy successor of Alaric was 
lolling in gold and purple, on a car of 
ivory, drawn by two white mules. He 
encouraged his troops by representing 
to them the superiority of their num- 
bers, and the bravery of their ancestors, 
who overturned the Roman empire. The 
Saracens, on the other hand, were re- 
minded of their past conquests, and of 



the impossibility of their escaping by 
flight. " Follow your general," cried 
Tarik, " I am determined either to lose 
my life, or to trample on the prostrate 
king of the Romans." The Spaniards 
were scattered and destroyed. Their 
king, Roderigo, in his flight, perished in 
the waters of the Guadalquiver, " the 
deserved fate of those kings," says an 
Arab historian, " who withdraw them- 
selves from the field of battle." Tarik 
advanced to the reduction of Toledo ; 
over-ran with his victorious troops the 
kingdoms of Castile and Leon, passed 
the mountains of Asturias, and was stopt 
only by the waves of the Bay of Biscay. 
Musa having received intelligence of 
the good fortune of his lieutenant, re- 
pined at his success, and hastened, with 
10,000 Arabs, and 8000 African Mos- 
lems, to share the laurels and riches of 
the brave Tarik. He reduced the strong 
fortifications of Seville and Merida ; 
proceeded along the northern shores of 
the Mediterranean to the capitals of Ca- 
talonia and Arragon, and subjected the 
whole kingdom to conversion or tribute. 
Still unsated with conquest, he was pre- 
paring a mighty armament to cross the 
Pyrenees, and to plant the standard of 
Mahomet on the walls of the ancient 
capital of the Romans, when the com- 
mand of his sovereign recalled him to 
Damascus, to answer the secret accusa- 
tions of his enemies. While on his 
journey home, Soliman, upon the death 
of his brother Al Walid, had ascended 
the Moslem throne. Musa was recei- 
ved with coldness. His services were 
forgotten. His real or pretended crimes 
were punished with poverty and exile, 
and his immense wealth, the plunder of 
the Christian temples, swelled the trea- 
sures of the caliph. Soliman, and also' 
his successor Omar, were poisoned at 
the instigation of his brother Yezid, the 
governor of Persia, who assumed the 
sceptre of Arabia, but enjoyed his ill-ac- 
quired dignity only four years. He was 
succeeded by his brother Hashem in the 
105th year of the Hegira, 724. The 
Saracens, who, in the former reign, had 
penetrated into Gascony, and taken the 
city of Thoulouse, now extended their 
ravages as far as Tours, and rendered 



ARABIA. 



43 



that city a scene of blood and confusion, 
reducing to ashes its churches and pa- 
laces, and laying waste the surrounding 
country with fire and sword. Charles 
Martel, the general of the Franks, hear- 
ing of these unprovoked devastations, 
marched against them with a powerful 
army, determined to punish the haughty 
marauders. After an obstinate engage- 
ment of seven days, he routed them 
with dreadful slaughter ; stripped them 
of their baggage and plunder, and com- 
pelled them to retire to the Spanish 
frontiers, with the loss of their general, 
and 375,000 men. The caliph's arms, 
however, were more successful in the 
east. The Turks were driven from 
Aderhijan and Armenia, and confined 
within the Caspian gates. 

The reigns of the sensual and cruel 
Al Walid II, of his murderer Yezid, 
and of the imbecile Ibrahim, afford no 
events worthy of record. The last of 
these was deposed, and succeeded by 
Merwaii, the governor of Mesopotamia, 
whose usurpation occasioned new com- 
motions in the empire. The inhabitants 
of Hems and Damascus refused to ac- 
knowledge his authority, and Soliman 
Ebn Hesham was proclaimed caliph by 
the people of Bassora. These were no 
sooner reduced to obedience, than the 
Cufans declared their attachment to the 
house of Al Abbas, the uncle of the pro- 
phet, and swore allegiance to Al Safah, 
as the representative of that family. 
The new caliph immediately dispatched, 
against Merwan, his uncle Abdallah, 
who, coming up with him near Tubar, 
completely defeated him. Merwan, fly- 
ing into Egypt, was there slain, which 
entirely abolished the Ommiyan dynasty 
in Arabia. 

Al Saffah being now sole master of 
the Moslem throne, resolved to extin- 
guish the partizans of the rival house of 
Ommiyah, who still made considerable 
resistance both during this and the suc- 
ceeding reign, until Abdalrahman, after 
the entire ruin of his family in Asia, fled 
into Spain ; and being there acknow- 
ledged as the lawful commander of the 
faithful, founded an independent mo- 
narchy, which the eastern caliphs were 
never able to overthrow. 



Al Saffah died of the small-pox, in 
the 33d year of his age, and the 136th 
of the Hegira, 754. He was succeeded 
by his brother Al Mansor, — a name 
which every lover of literature will men- 
tion with gratitude and respect. To 
him Europe is indebted for the first 
dawnings of science, which broke upon 
the darkness of the age, and for the pre- 
servation of many valuable works of an- 
tiquity. In the fourth year of his reign, 
the empire was threatened with new 
commotions. He was so disgusted that 
he determined to remove the seat of em- 
pire from Damascus. He built the city 
of Bagdad upon the banks of the Tigris, 
764, whither he transferred his court, 
and this city continued to be the resi- 
dence of the Mahometan caliphs, till its 
destruction by Holagou, grand-son of 
Zinghis Khan, 1258. 

The most brilliant era of Arabian mag- 
nificence, was the reign of Haroun-Al- 
Raschid who ascended the throne in 786, 
and rendered Bagdad illustrious for the 
arts and sciences, to which he gave eve- 
ry encouragement. After his death, in 
809, the Arabian empire became a prey 
to intestine dissensions. Many chiefs 
of the interior provinces rose in arms to 
assert their independence, and withdrew 
themselves from the civil jurisdiction of 
the caliph, respecting him only as the 
head of their religion ; and even during 
the reign of Al Mansor, the Arabs of Al 
Thalabiya and Maad made several pre- 
datory irruptions into Assyria and Meso- 
potamia. 

In the 278th year of the Hegira, the 
Karmatians, a new sect of religionists, 
appeared in Arabia. They bore an in- 
veterate malice against the Mahometans, 
and occasioned great disturbance in the 
empire. They took Bassora and Ahraat, 
committed dreadful devastations and 
outrages in Arabia and Syria, and even 
carried their ravages to the walls of Da- 
mascus. During half a century this sect 
continued their depredations, increasing 
in power and numbers, till at length they 
established a considerable principality 
in the heart of Arabia, to the chiefs of 
which the caliphs were obliged to pay 
an annual tribute, that the pilgrimage to 
Mecca might be regularly performed. 



44 



ARABIA, 



After the abolition of the caliphate by 
the Tartars, 1258, the Arabs shook off 
all subjection to its destroyers, and resu- 
med their original government of inde- 
pendent chiefs. 

In the beginning of the 16th century, 
the Turks invaded this peninsula, and 
seized all the considerable towns upon 
the Arabic gulf. Some years after, they 
subdued Yemen, penetrated into the 
highland districts, and rendered almost 
the whole of Arabia a province of the 
Ottoman empire. This conquest, the 
Turks maintained for more than a cen- 
tury. They were, however, continually 
harassed by the independent princes and 
Shiecks of the mountains, who, under 
Khassem Abu Mahomed, at last compel- 
led them to evacuate Yemen, and retire 
from all the fortresses on the Red Sea. 
The services of Khassem obtained for 
him the dignity of a sovereign prince. 
He assumed the title of Sejid, and 
reigned nine years over the kingdom of 
Yemen. His son Metwokkel Allah, 
upon his accession to the throne, took 
the title of Imam, or " prince of the 
faithful," which still continues to distin- 
guish the monarchs of Sana. This 
prince is revered by the Arabs as a saint, 
an honor which he acquired by his fru- 
gality and temperance. So sparing was 
he of the public revenue, that he refused 
to be supported at the expense of his 
subjects, and earned his livelihood by 
his own labor, as a maker of caps. He 
lived to promote the happiness of his 
people, not to dissipate their substance 
in useless projects of ambition or mag- 
nificence. The petty quarrels in which 
his successors were engaged with the 
neighboring chiefs, and their disputes 
about the succession to the throne, de- 
serve not to be commemorated in histo- 
ry. The Arabs still remain an indepen- 
dent nation; and, in spite of the efforts 
of the Greeks, Romans, Persians, and 
Turks, they have maintained their cus- 
toms and manners pure and inviolable 
from the remotest ages. 

About the middle of the eighteenth 
century, the Wahabees, a new sect made 
their appearance in Arabia. The found- 
er of this sect was Sheik Mohammed, 
son of Abdel Wahab. He was bora in 



1729, in Ajen in the district of Al Ared. 
After studying the sciences in Arabia, 
he travelled through Persia, and resided 
for some time at Bassora, Bagdad, and 
Damascus. Having returned to his na- 
tive country, he proclaimed himself the 
reformer of its religion. He taught at 
first in Ajen, and soon made proselytes 
of the inhabitants of Al Ared. Claiming 
divine inspiration, he taught the exist- 
ence of one God, the Author of the 
world, the Rewarder of the good, and 
the Punisher of the had; — but he re- 
jected all the stories contained in the 
Koran, especially those concerning Ma- 
homet, whom he considered merely a 
man beloved of God, but branded the 
worship of him as a crime directly op- 
posed to the true adoration of the divini- 
ty. He reprobated the worship of saints, 
the use of ardent spirits, and intoxica- 
ting drugs ; and prohibited the wealth 
and splendor which are found in the 
mosques of the Mahometans. All who 
should oppose this new doctrine were 
to be destroyed by fire and sword. 

Mohammed first converted to his new 
doctrines, Ebn-Sehud, sovereign of De- 
rayeh and Lahsa, whom he proclaimed 
prince [emir) and protector of this new 
sect, and at the same time declared him- 
self high priest, — thus separating the 
spiritual and secular authorities, which 
were afterwards hereditary in the fami- 
lies of Ebn-Sehud and Sheik Moham- 
med. The principal seat of the Waha- 
bees was the city of Derayeh, in the 
province of Nedsjed and Jamama, 250 
miles west of Bassora. As the votaries 
of the new faith, were all inspired with 
the highest enthusiasm, prepared for all 
trials, indefatigable, brave, cruel,* their 
dominion spread with wonderful rapidi- 
ty, and in a short time embraced twenty- 
six Arab tribes, all filled with hatred of 
Mahometanism, and taught to delight in 
plundering the treasures of the mosques. 
Abd-Elaziz, Sehud's son and successor, 
could bring into the field 120,000 ca- 
valry. 

The disorders which prevailed in all 
parts of the dominions of the Porte, in- 

* The use of tobacco and coffee, as well as 
silk clothing, was forbidden bv their law. Their 
watchword was conversion or death. 



ASSYRIA. 



45 



eluding the Arabian countries under its 
protection, was especially favorable to 
the enterprises of the Wahabees, who 
from their seat between the Persian gulf 
and the Red sea, had reached several 
parts of Asiatic Turkey, before the 
slightest measures were taken to put 
a stop to their devastations and con- 
versions. In 1801, the pacha of Bag- 
dad sent an army against them, but 
by large presents the Wahabees bribed 
the generals of it to retreat, and then 
took and destroyed the town of Iman 
Hussein, and after acquiring much plun- 
der, fled back to their deserts. On this 
occasion, they pillaged the mosque of 
Ali, which was highly venerated by the 
Persians. Soon after they took the holy 
city of Mecca, without resistance, mur- 
dered many sheiks and Mohammedans, 
destroyed all the sacred monuments, and 
carried oft' immense treasures. Sehud 
next attempted in vain the conquest of 
Jidda and Medina, after which he re- 
turned to Derayeh, where, meanwhile 
his father had been murdered in 1803 by 
a Persian. Sehud was now prince of 
the Wahabees, and Hussein the blind, 
high priest. 

In 1806, the Wahabees appeared more 
numerous than ever. They plundered 
the caravans of pilgrims going to the 
holy sepulchre, — got possession of the 
Mahmel* — and conquered Mecca, Medi- 
na, and even Jidda, marking their path 
by bloodshed and conversions. The 



* Mahmel, a splendid box in which the Grand 
Seignior sends every year the presents destined 
for the tomb of Mahomet. 



fear of the Wahabees spread throughout 
the East. Several expeditions were un- 
dertaken against them by the Turks. 
The pacha of Acre defeated Jussuff" Pa- 
cha of Bagdad, and in 1811, Mohammed 
Ali, viceroy of Egypt made preparation 
for their entire annihilation. He con- 
quered Yamba and Nahala, and as the 
fruits of three victories, sent three sacks 
of Wahabees' ears to Constantinople. 
Mecca and Medina were soon afterward 
taken. The solemn delivery of the keys 
of these regained cities, was celebrated 
with great rejoicing throughout the Otto- 
man empire. In 1814, Sehudll, their 
sovereign died, and quarrels arose on 
the subject of succession, and they suf- 
fered several defeats. Mohammed Ali, 
in the beginning of 1815, obtained a de- 
cisive victory over them at Bassila, near 
the city of Tarabe. Ibraim, his son, 
finally succeeded in 1818, in inflicting a 
total defeat on the Wahabees under their 
sovereign Abdallah Ben Sund, and in 
blocking them up in their fortified camp 
four days' march from their capital De- 
rayeh. The camp was stormed, 80 pieces 
of artillery taken, and 20,000 soldiers 
put to death, and Abdallah himself made 
prisoner. He was sent to Constantino- 
ple in chains, and on the 17th Dec. 1818, 
was beheaded with his fellow prisoners. 
Ibraim soon after destroyed their princi- 
pal seat; and the inhabitants after the 
loss of their property were dispersed. 
Detached bands of Wahabees are still 
said to wander through the desert, and 
according to late accounts the sect is very 
numerous in Arabia. 



ASSYRIA, 



Assyria was a kingdom in Asia that 
derived its name from Ashur, the second 
son of Shem, and the grandson of Noah, 
who, either in obedience to the command, 
or dreading the tyranny of Nimrov, mi- 
grated from the land of Shinar, and took 
possession of that region. 

Amidst the variety of opinions which 
have been embraced, it is impossible to 
fix the precise period when the migra- 
tion of Ashur took place. We cannot, 



however, be far from the truth, if we 
make that event cotemporary with the 
dispersion of Babel, 2247 years before 
Christ, or at least, a few years after- 
wards. Short time however, was Ashur 
permitted to enjoy his new possessions. 
The ambition of Nimrod, a man who, by 
exercising the skill and courage of his 
followers against the beasts of the field, 
trained them to tyrannize over their 
brethren, in all probability excited him 



46 



ASSYRIA. 



to subjugate the colony of Ashur ; and 
his prudence and valor, seconded by the 
arms of his daring veterans, enabled him 
to accomplish his design. The sacred 
historian informs us, that after he had 
founded his kingdom at Babylon, he con- 
ducted his forces from that land into As- 
syria, and built Nineveh, to be the capital 
of that country. It is probable, however, 
that he did not retain the Assyrian 
sceptre in his own hand, but contenting 
himself with his Babylonian dominions, 
he delivered the kingdom into the hands 
of his son Ninus, in honor of whom the 
city was built, and from whose name it 
was called. Ninus seems to have in- 
herited the ambition and martial talents 
of his father. Not satisfied with the 
kingdom which he had thus received, he 
is said to have entered into a confederacy 
with Ariacus, who then governed Arabia, 
and, at the head of their united forces, 
overran the kingdom of Babylon ; carried 
into captivity its monarch, whom, with 
his children, he afterwards slew ; in- 
vaded Armenia, whose king Barzanes, 
by immense presents and an inglorious 
submission, was allowed to retain the 
nominal sovereignty of his country ; di- 
rected his ambition against Pharnus, 
king of Media, whom at the head of a 
mighty army, he conquered, and after- 
wards, with his wife and seven children, 
crucified ; and having filled the vacant 
throne with one of his dependents, ex- 
tended his conquests over the other pro- 
vinces of Asia, all which, except Bactria 
and India, he subdued during seventeen 
years of uninterrupted warfare. Return- 
ing home, he is said to have enlarged 
and adorned Nineveh with many mag- 
nificent buildings ; but still indignant at 
the Bactrians, who had formerly resisted 
his arms, at the head of 1,700,000 foot, 
2 1 0,000 horse, and 10,600 armed chariots, 
he overran all the country, in which, 
however, he once suffered a severe de- 
feat by the skill and valor of Oxyartes 
their king, and laid siege to Bactria, the 
capital of the kingdom. His power, 
perhaps, would have been unable to con- 
quer the strong fortifications of the city, 
and the warlike virtue of its garrison, 
had not his courage been excited by the 
beauty, and his power directed by the 



wisdom of Semiramis. This lady, of 
whose birth and education many fabulous 
stories are narrated, was born at Ascalon, 
and being married to Menon, one of the 
king's officers, she accompanied her hus- 
band in this expedition, and her martial 
genius overcame the diffidence of her 
own sex and the contempt of ours. 
By her direction the siege was con- 
ducted, the citadel was stormed, and the 
Bactrians conquered. The heart and 
the hand of the king were the reward of 
her conduct, after Menon, stung with 
jealousy, and dreading the power of his 
rival, had fallen by his own hand. Re- 
turning to his capital, Ninus had a son 
by Semiramis, called Ninyas, whom, at 
his death, which happened soon after, he 
left to the guardianship of his mother. 

Semiramis appointed regent, employed 
the first period of her administration in 
adding to the splendor of her capital. 
Lakes were dug, palaces were built, tem- 
ples were consecrated, and walls were 
raised ; and the city seemed to owe its 
magnificence to her alone. When she 
had finished these monuments of her 
power and grandeur, and visited the pro- 
vinces of her empire, she formed the de- 
sign of signalizing her reign by martial 
achievements. For this purpose she 
pushed her conquests over a great part 
of Ethiopia ; and not satisfied with that 
success, she collected all the forces of 
her empire at Bactria, and, at the head 
of a mighty army, directed her march to 
India. As the strength of Stabrobates, 
king of India, consisted chiefly in the 
number of his elephants, she endeavored 
to supply the want of them by camels, 
artfully dressed to resemble them in form 
and magnitude, and confiding in her 
stratagem and power, she invaded the 
territories of her enemies. Her success 
at first equalled her expectations ; her 
fleet triumphed over that of her enemies, 
in an obstinate and bloody battle upon 
the Indus. Her army gained equal glory, 
by taking the cities and islands of that 
river, making 100,000 captives, and dri- 
ving before her the army of Stabrobates. 
His flight, however, was more the effect 
of policy than fear. He thus decoyed 
Semiramis over the river, and led her 
into the heart of his kingdom. No sooner 



ASSYRIA, 



47 



was the ground proper for his designs, 
than Stabrobates commanded his army 
to stop, and immediately attacked the 
front of his enemies. His cavalry, how- 
ever, were at first thrown into disorder by 
the unexpected appearance of the coun- 
terfeit elephants, which were placed in 
front of the Assyrians, and communi- 
cating their fears to the rest of the army, 
a general rout would have been the con- 
sequence, had not Stabrobates, with sin- 
gular intrepidity, burst upon the left wing 
of his enemies, where Semiramis com- 
manded in person, and, after wounding 
her with his own hand, forced her to fly, 
and to lament the destruction of her 
mighty army. Returning home in dis- 
grace, a conspiracy was formed against 
her by her own son ; but when she was 
upon the point of falling a sacrifice, either 
to his ambition or justice, she discovered 
the plot, and proved that she was not un- 
worthy of the throne, by forgiving her 
son, and resigning into his hands, after a 
reign of forty years, that sceptre which 
he coveted. 

Ninyas inherited the dominions, but not 
the martial virtues of his parents. Averse 
to war, he wasted his time in indolence 
and pleasure, and shutting himself up in 
his palace with eunuchs and concubines, 
he was equally negligent of his people's 
happiness and his own fame. But con- 
vinced that effeminate pleasures could 
only be enjoyed in peace, and that peace 
could only be secured by a readiness for 
war, he raised an army from all the pro- 
vinces of his empire, which being trained 
under proper officers, continued at Nine- 
veh and the adjacent country during a 
year, at the expiration of which they re- 
turned home, and their place was sup- 
plied by a similar conscription. As he 
lived without glory, it is probable he died 
without being lamented ; but his example 
seems to have had powerful influence 
over his successors, who, for thirty gen- 
erations, slumbered in luxury, and did 
not leave behind them the remembrance 
of one action to transmit their names to 
posterity. 

At the end of this inglorious period, 
which continued at least 1200 years, Sar- 
danapalus assumed the government ; but 
not to vindicate the honor of his country. 



nor confiiTn the basis of his throne. When 
we are told that he laid aside the dress 
appropriated to his sex, we may easily 
believe that he did not retain one virtuous 
or manly principle. Imitating the voice 
and manners of the most abandoned of 
women, he sunk into the lowest depth of 
debauchery, and offered every outrage to 
reason and nature. The moment a king 
descends from the dignity of his cha- 
racter, he is ready to be tumbled from 
the dignity of his throne. Arbaces, a 
man brave, just and prudent, was gov- 
ernor of Media, and, indignant that a pow- 
erful kingdom should be subject to the 
will of such a monster as Sardanapalus, 
formed the design of freeing his country 
from inglorious servitude. Belesis, like- 
wise, viceroy of Babylon, whose coim- 
sels, from his exercising the office of 
priest and astrologer, were supported by 
the authority of heaven, perceiving a spi- 
rit of ambition in Arbaces, confirmed his 
resolution, and assured him, that, by the 
appointment of the gods, he was to 
ascend the throne. In this manner a 
conspiracy was formed and the standard 
of rebellion was raised. Sardanapalus, 
roused by danger, called forth the latent 
energies of his mind, and drawing to- 
gether liis forces, he triumphed over the 
conspirators in three pitched battles. 
Belesis, brave, sanguine and persevering, 
found his influence scarcely sufficient to 
confirm the wavering mind of Arbaces. 
His exhortations were, however, once 
more listened to, and the augmentation 
which the rebel army received, in a few 
days, of the whole power of the Bactrians, 
realized the hopes which he had raised. 
Twice was the army of Sardanapalus 
routed : He, with the remainder, was 
besieged in Nineveh ; and, at the end 
of two years, the Tigris, by throwing 
down twenty stadia (2^ miles) of the wall, 
fulfilled an ancient prophecy, that the 
city should never be taken till the river 
became its enemy. This event extin- 
guished the last hope which Sardanap- 
alus had formed ; retiring into the heart 
of his palace, where he had collected 
his treasures, his eunuchs, and his con- 
cubines, he set fire to the splendid pile, 
and was consumed in its ruins. The 
conspirators levelled the city with the 



48 



ASSYRIA. 



ground, and subverted the Assyrian em- 
pire, which had subsisted, according to 
Ctesias, 1400 years. 

The ancient empire of AssjTia, if it 
ever existed, being overturned in this 
manner, three kingdoms are said to have 
arisen out of its ruius. Aabaces as- 
cended the throne of Media ; Belesis 
was rewarded with the kingdom of Ba- 
bylon ; and Pul was acknowledged as 
monarch of Assyria. Without vouching 
for the truth of this division, we have no 
hesitation in asserting, that what remains 
of the Assyrian history is entitled to be- 
lief. Though dpubts may be entertained 
with respect to the manner in which Pul 
acquired the sceptre, yet we are certain 
that it was in his hand about 771 years 
before Christ. It is probable that he en- 
tered into an alliance with the Syrians, 
or reduced them to submission, as he 
must have marched through their coun- 
try to invade Israel, which he did under 
the usurpation of Menahem. Menahem 
was allowed to retain the nominal sove- 
reignty of Israel, by yielding to the inva- 
der 1000 talents of silver, and the inde- 
pendency of his kingdom. Pul return- 
ed to his own country, after extending 
his fame, and his dominions, by the sub- 
mission of several nations upon his march. 
It has been said, but without any certain 
foundation, that Jonah was sent to preach 
repentance to Nineveh under his reign. 
Having given the sovereignty of Babylon 
to liis youngest son Nabonassar, he died, 
and left his Assyrian dominions to his 
elder son Tiglath-pileser. 

Tiglath-pileser not only succeeded to 
his throne, but to his designs. He in- 
vaded the kingdom of Israel under the 
reign of Pekah, overran its northern pro- 
vinces, and carried captive to Assyria, 
the tribes of Naphtali aud Zebulon, with 
part of the descendants of Manasseh, 
Reuben, and Gad. Pekah afterwards 
joined in alliance with Rezin, king of 
Syria, and, at the head of the confede- 
rate army, invaded the territories of Ahaz, 
king of Judah. Ahaz, dreading the power 
of his enemies, pillaged the temple of its 
gold and silver, which, with the treasure 
of his palace he sent to purchase the aid 
of Tiglath-pileser. Induced by the pre- 
sents and submission of Ahaz, the Assy- 



rian king invaded the dominions of Rezin, 
took Damascus, carried its inhabitants to 
Kir, slew the vanquished monarch, and, 
fulfilling the predictions of Isaiah and 
Amos, put an end to that ancient king- 
dom. But in the midst of his victorious 
career he died, and was succeeded by 
Shalmaneser, his son. 

Shalmaneser prosecuted the war which 
his father had begun, invaded the terri- 
tories of Hoshea king of Israel, reduced 
Samaria, and imposed an annual tribute 
upon that kingdom. Hoshea, however, 
soon aspired at his former independence, 
and, for this purpose, entered into an al- 
liance with Sacabus, an Ethiopian, who 
in scripture is called So, and who had 
made himself master of Egypt. A re- 
fusal to pay the annual tribute was looked 
upon as a declaration of war. Shalma- 
neser, with a powerful army advanced to 
punish his presumption, and, having con- 
quered all the country, besieged the king 
in Samaria. The valor of its inhabitants 
defended the city for three years ; but 
the power and perseverance of the As- 
syrians at last prevailed. Samaria was 
taken ; Hoshea was thrown into chains 
and into prison ; the inhabitants were 
transported to Media ; their place was 
supplied by a colony from Babylon ; and 
the kingdom of Israel, and of the ten 
tribes, which had existed about 250 years 
after its separation from Judah, may now 
be said to be brought to an end. The 
fate of Hoshea did not intimidate Heze- 
kiah, king of Judah. No sooner did he 
ascend the throne, than he refused to pay 
the tribute which his father Ahaz had 
paid, and set at defiance the Assyrian 
power. The time for asserting the in- 
dependence of his country was chosen 
with the most consummate wisdom. Shal- 
maneser was then engaged in war with 
Elulaeus king of Tyre. Several Phoeni- 
cian cities which had belonged to the 
Tyrians having revolted, submitted to 
Shalmaneser, and claimed his protection. 
But the Tyrian fleet joined battle with 
the combined squadrons of Assyria and 
Phoenicia, gained a complete victory, 
and convinced Shalmaneser that it was 
vain to contend with his enemies by sea. 
Turning therefore the siege of Tyre, 
which he had begun, into a blockade, he 



ASSYRIA. 



49 



retired into his own dominions ; and 
though the city was reduced to the great- 
est difficulties, yet at the end of five 
years it was delivered from impending 
ruin by the death of Shalmaneser. 

His son Sennacherib, who in scrip- 
ture is also called Sargon, succeeded 
him, and resolved to punish Hezekiah 
for the insult which he had oflered to 
his father's authority. For this purpose, 
with a mighty army, he invaded the land 
of Judah, besieged Lachish, and threat- 
ened, after the reduction of that city, 
to invest Jerusalem itself. Hezekiah, 
dreading his power, sent him a submis- 
sive embassy ; and by paying 300 talents 
of silver and 30 talents of gold, purchased 
an insidious and an inglorious peace. No 
sooner had Sennacherib received the 
money, than, disdaining his oaths and 
engagements, he prosecuted the war with 
as much vigor as if no treaty had been 
made, and sent three of his generals, and 
a powerful army, to besiege Jerusalem. 
But being informed that Tirhakah, king 
of Ethiopia, joined by the power of 
Egypt, was advancing to assist Hezekiah, 
he marched to meet the approaching en- 
emies, defeated them in battle, ravaged 
their country, and returned with the spoil 
to finish the siege of Jerusalem, Whilst 
the distress and piety of Hezekiah im- 
plored the assistance of God, the inso- 
lence and blasphemy of Sennacherib 
drew down his vengeance ; and, in ful- 
filment of Isaiah's prophecy, the sacred 
historian informs us, that the angel of the 
Almighty slew in one night 185,000 of 
the Assyrian army. Overwhelmed with 
this destruction, he returned into his own 
dominions ; and enraged with shame and 
disappointment, not only Avith the ruin of 
his army, but also with the defection of 
Media, which seems to have thrown off 
his yoke at this favorable time, he ex- 
ercised the greatest cruelty to his own 
subjects, but especially to the Israelites, 
who had been carried captive into that 
country. His tyranny roused the indig- 
nation of his own family ; and, as the 
prophet had foretold, two of his sons, 
Adrammelech and Sharazer, slew him 
while he was at his devotions in the 
temple of his god Nisroch, and Esar-had- 
don, his third son, reigned in his stead. 
7 



When this prmce ascended the throne, 
the kingdom of Assyria was greatly 
weakened by the unsuccessful wars and 
tyranny of his father. Though he ap- 
pears to have been brave, fortunate, and 
ambitious, yet, that his kingdom might 
recover strength, he wisely for some time 
remained in peace. When vigor was 
thus restored to his dominions, the kin- 
dred race of Babylonian kings became 
extinct, and during an interregnum of eight 
years, that kingdom was distracted with 
internal divisions. Esar-haddon improv- 
ed that favorable opportunity, and either 
by power or policy, annexed the king- 
dom of Babylon to his own dominions. 
Powerful by this union, he marched 
against the kingdoms of Israel and Syria, 
which had been almost annihilated by 
Shalmaneser, transplanted the remainder 
of their inhabitants into Assyria, and ex- 
tinguished their names from amongst na- 
tions. He then reduced the kingdom of 
Judah to become tributary, took Manas- 
seh prisoner, and sent him in chains to 
Babylon. From Judah he marched to 
the invasion of Egypt and Ethiopia ; 
subdued these nations ; and having ex- 
tended the boundaries and the fame of 
the Assyrian empire, after a reign of 39 
years, died, and left his dominions to his 
son Saosduchinus. 

Saosduchinus appears to have been a 
mild, a generous and a peaceful prince. 
Prideaux, Rollin, &c, writers of great 
respectability, imagine, that he was the 
Nabuchodonosor mentioned in the book 
of Judith ; but their opinion seems to 
have no foundation. All the actions 
therefore which have been ascribed to 
him imder that name belong to his suc- 
cessor, to whose time and circumstances 
only they can be reconciled. It is pro- 
bable, however, that the generosity of his 
nature restored Manasseh to his king- 
dom, and allowed Egypt to enjoy that 
liberty which it had recovered, and was 
resoh^ed to defend by arms. After a reign 
of twenty years he died, and was suc- 
ceeded by his son Chyniladon. 

Chyniladon, the Nabuchodonosor men- 
tioned in the book of Judith, was an ac- 
tive and warlike prince. In order to 
subdue Media, which had lately asserted 
its independence, he summoned the 



50 



ATHENS. 



whole power of his dominions. All the 
eastern nations, who belonged to him, 
crowded to his standard ; but the Per- 
sians and the nations on the west from 
Cilicia to the confines of Ethiopia, re- 
jected his commands with disdain. Un- 
dismayed at this revolt, he marched to 
the invasion of Media, joined battle with 
Arphaxad, who governed that country, 
on the plains of Ragau, gained a complete 
Adctory, pursued and slew the vanquished 
monarch, stormed and pillaged Ecbatane, 
the capital of that empire, and returned 
in triumph to Nineveh. No sooner were 
the rejoicings for this victory over, than 
he resolved to punish the nations who 
had refused to assist him. For this pur- 
pose he sent Holofernes, general of his 
army, to destroy by fire and sword who- 
ever should oppose him. The command, 
dictated by revenge, was executed by 
cruelty; and the march of Holofernes 
through Mesopotamia, Cilicia and Syria, 
was marked with desolation. The brave 
inhabitants of Bethulia first dared to op- 
pose his progress. Fired with indigna- 
tion, he invested the city, cut off every 
supply of water, and reduced the place 
to the utmost distress. The beauty and 
courage of Judith, if we believe the book 
which bears her name, saved her city 
and country from inevitable destruction. 
Venturing to approach the hostile camp, 
she soon insinuated herself into the tent 
and affections of Holofernes ; and in the 
dead of night, when her watchful eye 
beheld him buried in sleep and wine, se- 
vered his head from his body with his 
own sword, and escaped to her friends. 
The death of the leader struck his army 
with consternation ; and in their sudden 



flight, they lost their baggage, and were 
pursued with great slaughter. Chynila- 
don seems not to have long survived the 
destruction of his army, and his throne 
was filled by Sarac. 

Sarac, who, if the supposition of Sir 
Isaac Newton be well founded, was the 
real Sardanapalus, upon his accession to 
the throne, committed the government of 
Chaldea to Nabopallasar who appears 
from his name to have been an Assyrian, 
and was perhaps a descendant of Nabo- 
nassar king of Babylon, formerly men- 
tioned. The weakness and effeminacy 
of Sarac appears to have excited con- 
tempt, and the kingdom of Babylon 
roused the ambition of Nabopallasar, who 
immediately rebelling against his sove- 
seign, seized the throne, and maintained 
the independence of that kingdom. In 
order to establish his authority, he en- 
tered into an alliance with Cyaxeres, 
king of Media, and confirmed that alli- 
ance by the marriage of his son Nebu- 
chadnezzar with Amyte, the daughter of 
Astyages, son of that monarch. The 
union of their forces, and the invasion of 
Assyria immediately followed. Sarac 
was either afraid to meet the confede- 
rates in the field ; or, if he did, was soon 
driven within the walls of his capital. 
The Assyrian monarch waited not the 
issue of the siege, but, yielding to des- 
pair when he saw the city invested, set 
fire to his palace, and perished in its 
ruins. The Babylonians and the Modes 
took and destroyed the city ; and accord- 
ing to the predictions of Isaiah, Nahum 
and Zephaniah, subverted the Assyrian 
empire, which, from the days of Pul, had 
existed about 150 years. 



ATHENS. 



Athens, the celebrated city of Attica, 
was, as history informs us, founded 
about 1556 years before the Christian 
era by Cecrops and an Egyptian colony. 
It was, as history informs us, at first go- 
verned by seventeen kings, the last of 
whom was Codrus. The history of the 
first twelve of these monarchs is mostly 
fabulous. After the death of Codrus, 



the state was governed by thirteen per- 
petual, and 317 years after, by seven de- 
cennial, and lastly B. C. 684, after an 
anarchy of three years, by annual ma- 
gistrates called Archons. The Atheni- 
ans thought themselves the most ancient 
nation of Greece, and supposed them- 
selves the original inhabitants of Attica. 
{See Greece.) 



AUSTRIA. 



51 



AUSTRIA. 



Of the early history of Austria we 
know but little. The Romans vanquished 
the Noricons A. D. 33, and gained pos- 
session of their country and the Danube. 
These they held until the irruptions of 
the northern barbarians in the 5th and 
6th centuries. Subsequently the coun- 
try was held by the Lombards, Wendi, 
and Avars. In 791, Charlemagne con- 
quered the Avars, and united the territo- 
ry with. Germany, under the name of 
Avaria, or Eastern Marchia, or Austria. 
Many colonists, particularly from Bava- 
ria, were sent by Charlemagne into the 
new province, and a margrave was ap- 
pointed to administer the government. 
The archbishop of Salzburg was at the 
head of ecclesiastical aflairs. After its 
separation from Verdun, in 843, Avaria 
formed the eastern boundary of the Ger- 
man empire. 

On the invasion of Germany by the 
Hungarians, in 900, Avaria fell into their 
hands, and was held by them till 955, 
when the emperor Otho I, in conse- 
quence of the victory of Augsburg, re- 
united a great part of this province to the 
empire. By the power and address of 
its margraves the whole country was 
joined again with Germany, and, in 1043, 
under the emperor Henry HI, and the 
margrave Albert I, (the Victorious), its 
limits were extended to the Leytha. 

From 982 to 1156, the niargraviate of 
Austria was hereditary in the family of 
the counts of Babenburg (Bamberg) ; the 
succession, however, was not regulated 
by primogeniture, but by the will of the 
emperor. In ancient documents, men- 
tion is made of the estates of Austria in 
the year 1099. After Henry the Proud 
(duke of Bavaria and Saxony) was put 
under the ban of the empire, Leopold V, 
margrave of Austria, received the duchy 
of Bavaria, in 1138, from the emperor 
Conrad. But when the margrave Henry, 
son of Leopold, under the title of Ja-so- 
mir-Gott (Yes-so-me-God) had again 
ceded it, in 11 56, to Henry the Lion, the 
boundaries of Austria were extended so 
as to include the territory above the Ens, 



and the whole was created a duchy with 
certain privileges. Under this duke the 
court resided at Vienna. Duke Leopold 
VI, the son of Henry, received the 
duchy of Styria, in 1 1 92, as a fief from 
the emperor Henry VI, it having been 
added to the empire by Otho I, in 955, 
by his victory over the Hungarians. It 
was this prince who imprisoned Richard 
Coeur de Lion, king of England, on his 
return from Palestine or the Holy Land, 
1192. Duke Leopold VII, the youngest 
son of the former, erected a palace within 
the city of Vienna, which is still occu- 
pied by the Austrian monarchs, under 
the name of the old castle. 

Leopold VII, called the Glorious, es- 
tablished the hospital of the Holy Cross, 
made Vienna, which had adopted a mu- 
nicipal constitution in 1198, a staple- 
town, and granted 30,000 marks of sil- 
ver for the promotion of trade and com- 
merce. In 1229, he purchased a part 
of Carniola, from the ecclesiastical prin- 
cipality of Freisingen, for 1650 marks, 
and left the country in a flourishing con- 
dition to the youngest of his three sons, 
Frederic II, surnamed the Warrior. In 
1236, this prince was put under the ban 
of the empire, on account of his joining 
the alliance of the cities of Lombardy 
against the emperor Frederick II ; and 
Otho, Duke of Bavaria, seized upon his 
territory above the Ens as far as Lintz. 
The rest of the country was granted, as 
a fief, by the emperor, to a margrave, 
and Vienna became an imperial city. 
During the emperor's campaign in Italy, 
Duke Frederic recovered the principal 
part of his lands, and his rights were 
confirmed by the emperor, at Verona, 
1245. The rights of Vienna, as an im- 
perial city, were abolished, and Frederic 
was to be called king, as sovereign of 
Austria and Styria ; but all his expecta- 
tations of empire were disappointed by 
his death in the battle of Leytha, against 
Bela IV, king of Hungary, July 15, 1246, 
in the thirty-fifth year of his age. Thus 
the male line of the house of Bamberg 
became extinct. The period from 1246 



52 



AUSTRIA. 



to 1282 is styled the Austrian interreg- 
num. The emperor Frederick II, decla- 
red Austria and Styria a vacant fief, the 
hereditary property of the German em- 
perors, and sent a governor to Vienna, 
the privileges of which, as an imperial 
city, were once more renewed. But the 
female relations of the deceased Duke 
Frederic, his sister Margaret (widow of 
the emperor Henry VI,) and his niece 
Gertrude, by the persuasion of pope In- 
nocent IV, in 1248, laid claim to the in- 
heritance of their brother. The mar- 
grave Hermann, with the aid of the pope 
and a strong party, made himself master 
of Vienna, and of several Austrian cities. 
In Styria, he was opposed by the go- 
vernor, Meinhard, count of Gorz. But 
Hermann died in 1250, and his son Fre- 
deric, who was afterwards beheaded, 
in 1268, at Naples with Conradin of 
Suabia, was then only a year old. The 
whole country was distracted by various 
parties, and the emperor Conrad IV, was 
prevented, by disputes with his neigh- 
bors, from turning his attention to Aus- 
tria. 

In 1251 the states of Austria and Sty- 
ria determined to appoint one of the sons 
of the second sister of Frederic the 
Warrior, Constantia (widow of the mar- 
grave Henry the Illustrious,) to the of- 
fice of duke. Their deputies were on 
the way to Misnia, when they were per- 
suaded by king Wenceslaus, on their 
entrance into Prague, to declare his son 
Ottocar duke of Austria and Styria, who 
made every eflbrt to support his appoint- 
ment, by arms, money, and especially by 
his marriage with the empress-widow, 
Margaret. Ottocar wrested Styria from 
Bela, king of Hungary, by his victory 
of July, 1260, in the Marchfield ; and, 
in 1262, forced the emperor Richard to 
invest him with both duchies. Soon af- 
ter, by the will of his uncle Ulrich, 
the last duke of Carinthia and Friuli, 
(who died 1269,) Ottocar became master 
of Carinthia, a part of Carniola connect- 
ed with it, the kingdom of Istria, and a 
part of Friuli. But his arrogance soon 
caused his fall. In 1272, he refused to 
acknowledge count Rodolph of Haps- 
burg emperor, and was obliged to defend 
himself against his arms. After an un- 



successful war, he was forced to cede all 
his Austrian possessions, in Nov. 1276. 
In 1277, he attempted to recover these 
territories, but, in the battle of the March- 
field, Aug. 26, 1278, he was slain, and 
his son Wenceslaus was obliged to re- 
nounce all claim to them, in order to pre- 
serve his hereditary estates. 

The emperor Rodolph remained three 
years in Vienna, and then appointed his 
eldest son governor. But, having suc- 
ceeded in gaining the consent of the 
electors of Saxony and Brandenburgh, of 
the three ecclesiastical electors, and of the 
count-palatine of the Rhine, he granted 
the duchies of Austria and Styria, with 
the province of Carinthia, to his two 
sons, Albert and Rodolph, Dec. 27, 1282. 
Albert and Rodolph transferred Carin- 
thia to Meinhard, count of Tyrol, father- 
in-law to Albert. In 1283, they conclu- 
ded a treaty, by which Albert was made 
sole possessor of Austria, Styria and 
Carniola. Vienna, having again re- 
nounced its privileges as an imperial 
city, was made the residence of the 
court, and the successors of Rodolph, 
from this time, assumed Austria as the 
family title. The introduction of the 
Hapsburg dynasty was the foundation of 
the future greatness of Austria. 

The despotic Albert was assailed by 
Hungary and Bavaria, But he soon 
quelled by force this revolt, which his 
avarice and severity had excited. This 
success increased his presumption and 
ambition. He inherited only the militaiy 
qualities of his father ; but was anxious 
to succeed him in all his dignities, and 
without waiting for the decision of the 
Diet, seized the insignia of the empire. 
This act of violence induced the electors 
to choose Adolphus of Nassau emperor. 
The disturbances which had broken out 
against him in Switzerland, and a disease 
which had deprived him of an eye, made 
him more humble. He delivered up the 
insignia, and took the oath of allegiance 
to the new emperor, Adolphus, how- 
ever, after a reign of six years, lost the 
regard of all the princes of the empire. 
Albert endeavored to avail himself of this 
change of feeling, and succeeded so far 
by assumed mildness in deceiving the 
princes, that they chose him emperor, 



AUSTRIA. 



53 



after deposing Adolphus at the Diet in 
1298. Adolphus, however, would not re- 
sign his high dignity, — and force was 
found necessary to remove him. The 
rivals met with their armies near Gell- 
heim, between Worms and Spire. Al- 
bert enticed Adolphus by a feigned re- 
treat to follow him with his cavalry only. 
The leaders engaged hand to hand, — and 
Adolphus exclaimed to his adversary, 
"thou shalt at once lose thy crown and 
thy life. " Heaven will decide," replied 
Albert, striking him with his lance in the 
face, Adolphus fell from his horse, and 
was despatched by the companions of his 
antagonist. In 1308, an insurrection, 
broke out in Switzerland in consequence 
of the unjust and oppressive measures of 
the Austrian rulers. See Stoitzerland. 

Albert had not only foreseen this con- 
sequence of his oppression, but desired 
it, in order to have a pretence for sub- 
jecting Switzerland entirely to himself. 
A new act of injustice, however, put an 
end to his ambition and his life. Suabia 
was the inheritance of John, the son of 
his younger brother, Rodolph. John had 
repeatedly asserted his right to it, but in 
vain. When Albert set out for Switzer- 
land, John renewed his demand, which 
was contemptuously rejected by Albert, 
who scoffingly offered him a garland of 
flowers, saying, — " This becomes your 
age ; leave the cares of government to 
me." John in revenge conspired with 
his governor, Walter of Eschembach, and 
three friends against the life of Albert. 
The conspirators improved the moment 
when the emperor on his way to Rhein- 
felden, was separated from his train by 
the river Reuss, and assassinated him. 
Albert breathed his last. May 1st 1308, 
in the arms of a poor woman who was 
sitting by the road. 

The inheritance of John now fell to 
the five sons of the murdered Albert — 
Frederic, surnamed the Fair, Leopold, 
Henry, Albert, and Otho. They were 
forced to purchase of the emperor Henry, 
VH, the investiture of their paternal es- 
tates, consisting in 1308, of 26,572 square 
miles, for 20,000 marks of silver. Un- 
der their father, in 1301, the margraviate 
of Suabia was added to the territories of 
Austria, and the contest with Bavaria 



ended in the cession of Neuberg. On 
the contrary, the attempt of Duke Leo- 
pold, in 1315, to recover the forest-towns 
of Switzerland, which had been lost 
under Albert, was frustrated by the valor 
of the troops of the Swiss confederacy 
in the battle of Mogarten. In 1314, his 
brother Frederic, chosen emperor of 
Germany by the electors, was conquered 
by his rival, the emperor Louis (of Ba- 
varia,) in 1322, at Muhldorf, and was his 
prisoner, for two years and a half, in the 
castle of Trausnitz. The dispute with 
the house of Luxemburg, in Bohemia, and 
with pope John XXII, induced the em- 
peror, in 1325, to liberate his captive. 
Upon this the latter renounced all share 
in the government, and pledged himself 
to surrender all the imperial domains 
which were still in the possession of 
Austria. 

But Leopold considered the agreement 
derogatory to his dignity, and continued 
the war against Louis. Frederic, there- 
fore, again surrendered himself a priso- 
ner in Munich. Moved by his faithful 
adherence to his word, Louis concluded 
a friendly compact with Frederic, and 
made preparations for their common gov- 
ernment, Sept. 7, 1325. These prepa- 
rations, however, were never carried into 
execution ; for the agreement had been 
concluded without the consent of the 
electors. 

Leopold died in 1326, and Henry of 
Austria in 1327 ; Frederic also died 
without children, Jan. 13, 1330, after 
which his brothers, Albert II, and Otho, 
came to a reconciliation with the empe- 
ror Louis. After the death of their uncle, 
Henry, margrave of Tyrol and duke of 
Carinthia (the father of Margaret Maul- 
tash,) they persuaded the emperor to 
grant them the investiture of Tyrol and 
Carinthia, in May, 1335; they ceded 
Tyrol, however, to John, king of Bohe- 
mia, by the treaty of Oct. 9, 1356, in be- 
half of his son John Henrj'^, or rather of 
his wife, Margaret Maultash. 

In 1344, after the death of Otho and 
his sons, Albert II, called the Wise, 
united all his Austrian territories, which 
by his marriage with the daughter of the 
last Count of Pfirt had been augmented 
by the estates of her father in 1324, and 



54 



AUSTRIA. 



by the Kyburg estates in Burgundy, in 
1326. 

Of the four sons of Albert II, Rodolf 11 
completed the chvirch of St. Stephan's, 
and died at Milan, in 1365, without 
children, a short time after his younger 
brother, Frederic. In 1379, the two 
surviving brothers divided the kingdom, 
so that Albert III became entire mas- 
ter of Austria, and gave the other ter- 
ritories to his brother Leopold III, the 
Pious. Leopold had made repeated at- 
tempts to gain the Hapsburg possessions 
in Switzerland. He was killed July 9, 
1386, on the field of Sempach, where he 
lost the battle in consequence of the va- 
lor of Winkelried, and Albert adminis- 
tered the government of the estates of 
his brother's minor sons. Margaret 
Maultash ceded Tyrol to him on the death 
of Meinhard, her only son, who was mar- 
ried to the sister of Albert. She retained 
nothing but a few castles and 6000 marks 
of gold. She also renounced her claims 
to Bavaria, in consideration of receiving 
Scharding and three Tyrolese cities, 
Kitzbuhl, Ballenberg and Kuffstein, and 
116,000 florins of gold. 

In 1365, Leopold III had bought the 
claims of the count of Feldkirch for 
36,000 florins ; for 55,000 florins Austria 
received Brisgau from the count of Furs- 
tenberg, with the cities of Neuberg, Old 
Brisach, Centzingen, and Billingen. The 
remainder of Carniola and the Windisch 
Mark, after the death of the last count of 
Gorz, were purchased, together with the 
county of Pludentz, from the earl of Wer- 
denberg, and the possessions of the count 
of Hohenberg, for 66,000 florins ; and 
the city of Trieste was acquired, in 1380, 
by aiding in the war between Hungary 
and Venice. Moreover, the two govern- 
ments of Upper and Lower Suabia were 
pledged for 40,000 florins by the king of 
Rome, Wenceslaus, to Duke Leopold. 
The Austrian and Styrian lines, founded 
by Albert III, and Leopold III, his 
brother, continued for 78 years. 

In 1395, when Albert III died, his 
only son, Albert IV, was in Palestine. 
On his return, he determined to take ven- 
geance on Procopius, margrave of Mo- 
ravia, for his hostile conduct ; but he was 
poisoned, in 1404, at Znaym. His young 



son and successor, Albert V, was de- 
clared of age in 1410 ; and being the 
son-in-law of the emperor Sigismund, he 
united the crowns of Hungary and Bo- 
hemia in 1437, and connected them with 
that of Germany in 1438. But in the 
following year the young prince died. 
His posthumous son, Ladislaus, was the 
last of the Austrian line of Albert, and its 
possessions devolved on the Styrian line, 
1457. From this time the house of Aus- 
tria has furnished an unbroken succes- 
sion of German emperors. Hungary and 
Bohemia were lost for a time by the 
death of Albert V, and, after the unhappy 
contests with the Swiss, under Frederic 
III, the remains of the Hapsburg estates 
in Switzerland. But several territories 
were gained ; and to increase the rising 
splendor of the family, the emperor con- 
ferred upon the country the rank of arch- 
duchy. The dispute which broke out 
between Frederic and his brothers, Al- 
bert and Sigismund, relating to the divi- 
sion of their paternal inheritance, ended 
with the death of Albert, in December, 
1464. In the course of the troubles 
which resulted from this quarrel, the 
emperor was besieged in the citadel of 
Vienna by the citizens, who favored the 
cause of the murdered prince. Sigis- 
mund now succeeded to his portion of the 
estate of Ladislaus, and Frederic became 
sole ruler of all Austria. His son Max- 
imilian, by his marriage with Mary, the 
surviving daughter of Charles the Bold, 
united the Netherlands to the Austrian 
dominions. But it cost Maximilian much 
anxiety and toil to maintain his power 
in this new province, which he adminis- 
tered as the guardian of his son, Philip. 
His confinement at Bruges, in 1489, re- 
sulted in an agreement which was deci- 
dedly for his advantage ; but he lost at 
the same time, the duchy of Guelders. 
After the death of his father, which hap- 
pened Aug. 19, 1493, he was made em- 
peror of Germany, and transferred to his 
son Philip the government of the Nether- 
lands. 

Maximilian I added to his paternal in- 
heritance all Tyrol, and several other 
territories, particularly some belonging to 
Bavaria. He also acquired for his family 
new claims to Hungary and Bohemia. 



1 



AUSTRIA. 



55 



During his reign, Vienna became the 
great metropolis of the arts and sciences 
in the German empire. The marriage 
of his son Philip to Joanna of Spain, 
raised the house of Hapsburg to the 
throne of Spain and the Indies. But 
Philip died in 1506, 13 years before his 
father, and the death of Maximilian, 
which happened Jan. 12, 1519, was fol- 
lowed by the union of Spain and Austria : 
his grandson (the eldest son of Philip,) 
Charles I, king of Spain, was elected 
emperor of Germany. In the treaty of 
Worms, April 28, 1521, and of Ghent, 
May 7, 1540, he ceded to his brother 
Ferdinand all his hereditary estates in 
Germany, and retained for himself the 
kingdom of the Netherlands. The house 
of Austria was now proprietor of a tract 
of country in Europe comprising 360,230 
square miles. The emperor, Charles V, 
immediately increased the number of 
provinces in the Netherlands to 17, and 
confirmed their union with the German 
states, which had been concluded by his 
grandfather, under the title of the circle 
of Burgundy. In 1526, Austria was re- 
cognised as a Eiu-opean monarchy. 

Ferdinand I, by his marriage with 
Anna, the sister of Louis II, king of Hun- 
gary, who was killed in 1526, in the bat- 
tle of Mohacs, acquired the kingdoms of 
Hungary and Bohemia, with Moravia, 
Silesia, and Lusatia, the appendages of 
Bohemia. Bohemia rejoiced to hail 
Ferdinand its king. Notwithstanding the 
divided opinion of the nobles, and the 
rising fortune of his adversary John von 
Zapolya, (see Hungary,) he was raised 
to the throne of Hungary, Nov. 5, 1526, 
by the Hungarian diet, and was crowned 
Nov. 5, 1527. But Zapolya resorted for 
assistance to the sultan Soliman II, who 
appeared, in 1529, at the gates of Vienna. 
The capital was rescued from nun solely 
by the prudent measures of the Count of 
Salm, general of the Austrian army, and 
the imperial forces compelled Soliman to 
retreat. In 1535, a treaty was made, by 
which John von Zapolya was allowed to 
retain the royal title and half of Hungarj^, 
and his posterity were to be entitled to 
nothing but Transylvania, But after the 
death of John, new disputes arose, in 
which Soliman was again involved, and 



Ferdinand maintained the possession of 
Lower Hungary only by paying the war- 
like sultan the sum of 30,000 ducats an- 
nually. 

This took place in 1562. Ferdinand 
was equally unsuccessful in the duchy 
of Wurtemberg. This province had been 
taken from the restless Duke Ulrich by 
the Suabian confederacy, and sold to the 
emperor Charles V ; and when his es- 
tates were divided, it fell to Ferdinand. 
Philip, landgrave of Hesse, the friend of 
duke Ulrich, took advantage of the op- 
portunity offered him by the embarrass- 
ment of Ferdinand in the Hungarian war, 
and with the aid of France, he conquered 
Wurtemberg ; but France ceded it again 
to Ulrich in the treaty of Caden, in Bo- 
hemia, concluded June 29lh, 1534, on 
condition that the province should still be 
a fief of Austria, and after the extinction 
of the male line of the duke, that it should 
revert to that country. The remaining 
half of Bregentz, the county of Thengen, 
the city of Constance, were insufficient 
wholly to compensate these losses; never- 
theless, the territory of the German line 
of the house of Austria was estimated at 
114,468 square miles. 

Ferdinand received the imperial crown 
in 1556, when his brother Charles laid 
by the sceptre for a cowl. He died July 
25, 1564, with the fame of an able prince, 
leaving three sons and ten daughters. 
According to the directions given in his 
will, the three brothers divided the patri- 
mony, so that Maximilian 11, the eldest 
son, who succeeded liis father as empe- 
ror, obtained Austria, Hungary and Bo- 
hemia ; Ferdinand, the second son, re- 
ceived Tyrol and Upper Austria ; and 
Charles, the third, became master of 
StjTia, Carinthia, Carniola and Gorz. 
But, in 1595, after the death of the arch- 
duke Ferdinand, the husband of Philip- 
pine Wesler, the fair maid of Augsburg, 
his sons Andrew (cardinal and bishop of 
Constance and Briexen, and governor of 
the Netherlands for Spain,) and Charles 
(margrave of Burgau,) were declared in- 
competent to succeed their father, and 
his possessions reverted to his relations. 
In Hungary, the emperor Maximilian 
met with far better fortune than his father 
had done. The death of SoUman, at Si- 



56 



AUSTRIA. 



geth, in 1566, was followed by a peace, 
and, in 1572, Maximilian crowned his 
eldest son, Rodolf, king of Hungary : he 
was afterwards crowned king of Bohe- 
mia, and elected king of Rome. In his 
attempts to add the Polish crown to his 
Austrian dominions, he was equally un- 
successful with his fourth son, Maxi- 
milian, who, engaged in a similar enter- 
prise after the decease of Stephen Ba- 
thori, in 1587 

Maximilian died Oct. 12, 1576, and 
Rodolf, the eldest of his five sons, suc- 
ceeded to the imperial throne. The 
most remarkable events by which his 
reign is distinguished, are, the war 
against Turkey and Transylvania, the 
persecution of the Protestants, who were 
all driven from his dominions, and the 
circumstances which obliged him to cede 
Hungary, in 1608, and Bohemia and his 
hereditary estates in Austria, in 1611, to 
his brother Matthias. From this time 
we may date the successful exertions of 
the Austrian sovereigns to put down the 
restless spirit of the nation, and to keep 
the people in a state of abject submission. 
Mathias, who succeeded Maximilian on 
the imperial throne, concluded a peace 
for twenty years with the Turks ; but he 
was disturbed by the Bohemians, who 
took up arms in defence of their religious 
rights. Mathias died March 20, 1619, 
before the negotiations for a compromise 
were completed.* The Bohemians re- 
fused to acknowledge his successor, 
Ferdinand, and chose Frederic V, the 
head of the Protestant League, and elec- 
tor of the palatinate for their king. After 
the battle of Prague, 1620, Bohemia sub- 
mitted to the authority of Ferdinand. He 
immediately applied himself to eradicate 
Protestantism out of Bohemia Proper and 
Moravia. At the same time he deprived 
Bohemia of the right of choosing her 
king, and of her other privileges. He 
erected a Catholic court of Reform, and 
thus led to the emigration of thousands 
of the inhabitants. 

The house of Hapsburg has presented 
an example, which stands alone in his- 
tory, of the manner in which violence 

* Ferdinand his successor, began the thirty 
years' war against the Protestants, and carried I 
it on during the remainder of hia life. | 



and tyranny can check the progress of 
civilization ; and Bohemia, the land of 
Huss, the land where religious freedom 
has been defended with such heroic zeal, 
is now greatly inferior in cultivation to 
every other country of western Europe. 
The Austrian states, also, favoring, in 
general, the Protestant religion, were 
compelled by Ferdinand to swear alle- 
giance to him, and Lutheranism was 
strictly forbidden in all the Austrian do- 
minions. The province of Hungary, 
which revolted under Bethlen Gabor, 
prince of Transylvania, was, after a long 
struggle, subdued. This religious war 
dispeopled, impoverished and paralyzed 
the energies of the most fertile provinces 
of the house of Austria. 

During the reigii of Ferdinand HI, the 
successor of Ferdinand, (1637-57,) Aus- 
tria was continually the theatre of war. 
In the midst of these troubles, Ferdinand 
ceded Lusatia to Saxony at the peace of 
Prague, concluded in 1 635 ; and, when 
the war was ended, he ceded Alsace to 
France, at the peace of Westphalia, in 
1648. The emperor Leopold I, son and 
successor of Ferdinand III, was victori- 
ous through the talents of his minister 
Eugene, in two wars with Turkey ; and 
Vienna was delivered by John Sobieski, 
(and the Germans,) from the attacks of 
Kara Mustapha, in 1683. In 1687, he 
changed Hungary into a hereditary king- 
dom, and joined to it the territory of 
Transylvania, which had been governed 
by distinct princes. Moreover, by the 
peace of Carlowitz, concluded in 1699, 
he restored to Hungary the country lying 
between the Danube and the Theiss. It 
was now the chief aim of Leopold to se- 
cure to Charles, his second son, the in- 
heritance of the Spanish monarchy, then 
in the hands of Charles II, king of Spain, 
who had no children to succeed him ; but 
his own indecision, and the artful policy 
of France, induced Charles II, to appoint 
the grandson of Louis XIV, his successor. 
Thus began the war of the Spanish suc- 
cession, in 1701. Leopold died May 5, 
1705, before it was terminated. The 
emperor, Joseph I, his successor, and 
eldest son, continued the war, but died 
without children, April 17, 1711. His 
brother Charles, the destined king of 



AUSTRIA. 



57 



Spain, immediately hastened from Bar- 
celona to his hereditary states, to take 
upon him the administration of the gov- 
ernment. He was elected emperor, Dec. 
24, of the same year ; but was obliged to 
accede to the peace of Utrecht, conclu- 
ded by his allies, at Rastadt and Baden, 
in 1714. By this treaty, Austria received 
the Netherlands, Milan, Mantua, Naples 
and Sardinia. 

In 1720, Sicily was given to Austria 
in exchange for Sardinia. The duchy of 
Mantua, occupied by Joseph in 1708, 
was now made an Austrian lief, because 
it had formed an alliance with France, 
prejudicial to the interests of Germany. 
This monarchy now embraced 191,621 
square miles, and nearly twenty-nine mil- 
lion inhabitants. Its annual income was 
betAveen thirteen and fourteen million 
florins, and its army consisted of 130,000 
men;*but its power was weakened by 
new wars with Spain and France. In 
the peace concluded at Vienna, 1735 and 
1738, Charles VI was forced to cede 
Naples and Sicily to Don Carlos, the in- 
fant of Spain, and to the king of Sardi- 
nia a part of Milan, for which he receiv- 
ed only Parma and Placenza. In the 
next year, by the peace of Belgrade, he 
lost nearly all the fruits of Eugene's vic- 
tories, even the province of Temeswar ; 
for he was obliged to transfer to the 
Porte, Belgrade, Servia, and all the pos- 
sessions of Austria in Wallachia, Orsova 
and Bosnia. All this Charles VI wil- 
lingly acceded to, in order to secure the 
succession to his daughter Maria The- 
resa, by the Pragmatic Sanction. This 
law of inheritance was passed 1713 — 
1719, and acknowledged, one after ano- 
ther, by all the European powers. 

By the death of Charles VI, Oct. 20, 
1740, the male line of the Austrian house 
of Hapsburg became extinct ; and Maria 
Theresa having married Stephen, duke 
of Lorraine, ascended the Austrian 
throne. On every side her claims were 
disputed, and rival claims set up. A vio- 
lent war began, in which she had no pro- 
tector but England. Frederic II, of 
Prussia, subdued Silesia ; the elector of 
Bavaria was crowned in Lintz and 
Prague, and, in 1742, chosen emperor, 
under the name of Charles VII. Hun- 



gary alone supported the heroic and 
beautiful queen. But, at the peace of 
Breslau, concluded June 4, 1742, she 
was obliged to cede to Prussia, Silesia 
and Glatz, with the exception of Teschen, 
Jagerndorf, and Troppau. Frederic II, 
by assisting the party of Charles VII, 
soon renewed the war. But Charles 
died, January 20, 1745, and the husband 
of Theresa was crowned emperor of 
Germany, under the title of Francis I. 
A second treaty of peace, concluded 
December 25, 1745, confirmed to Fred- 
eric the possession of Silesia. By the 
peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, October 18, 
1748, Austria was obhged to cede the 
duchies of Parma, Placenza and Guas- 
taila, to Philip, infant of Spain, and sev- 
eral districts of Milan to Sardinia. The 
Austrian monarchy was now firmly es- 
tablished ; and it was the first wish of 
Maria Theresa to recover Silesia. With 
this object in view, she formed an al- 
liance with France, Russia, Saxony and 
Sweden. This was the origin of the 
seven years' war ; but, by the peace of 
Hubertsberg, 1763, Prussia retained Si- 
lesia, and Austria had sacrificed her 
blood and treasures in vain. The first 
paper money was now issued in Austria, 
called state obligations, and the emperor 
Francis erected a bank to exchange them. 
After his death, Aug. 18, 1765, Joseph 
II, his eldest son, was appointed col- 
league with his mother in the govern- 
ment of his hereditary states, and elected 
emperor of Germany. 

To prevent the extinction of the male 
line of her family, Maria Theresa now 
established two collateral hues ; the house 
of Tuscany, in her second son, Peter 
Leopold ; and the house of Este, in the 
person of the archduke Ferdinand. For 
these separations, Maria Theresa indem- 
nified the country by the confiscation of 
several cities, formerly pledged to Poland 
by Hungary, without paying the sum for 
which they stood pledged ; by obtaining 
Galicia and Lodomira in the first profli- 
gate division of the Idngdom of Poland, in 
1772 ; and by the capture of Bukowina, 
which was ceded by the Porte, in 1777. 
In the peace of Teschen, May 13, 1779, 
Austria received Innvierstel, and the va- 
cant county of Hohenembs, in Suabia, 
8 



58 



AUSTRIA. 



the county of Falkenstein, and the Sua- 
bian territories of Tettnang and Argen ; 
and thus, at the death of the empress, 
Nov. 28, 1780, Austria contained 234,684 
square miles ; it had lost 16,366 square 
miles, and gained 34,301. The popula- 
tion was estimated at 24,000,000 ; but 
the public debt, also, had increased to 
160,000,000 florins. 

The administration of the empress was 
distinguished by the most useful institu- 
tions of government, agriculture, trade and 
commerce, the education of the people, 
the promotion of the arts and sciences, 
and of religion. The foreign relations of 
the kingdom, also, even those with the 
Roman court, were happily conducted by 
the talents of her minister, Kaunitz. Her 
successor, Joseph II, was active and 
restless ; impartial, but two often rash 
and violent. While a colleague with his 
mother in the government, he diminished 
the expenses of the state, and introduced 
a new system in the payment of pensions 
and of officers. But, after the death of his 
mother, all his activity and talent as a 
sovereign was fully developed. As se- 
vere to the military as to the civil offi- 
cers, he adhered, however, to liberal 
principles. The censorship of the press 
was reformed ; the Protestants received 
full toleration, and the rights of citizens; 
the Jews were treated with kindness ; 
900 convents and religious establish- 
ments were abolished, and even the visit 
of Pius VI made no alteration in Jo- 
seph's system of reformation. The sys- 
tem of education he subjected to revision 
and improvement ; and he encouraged 
manufactures by heavy duties on foreign 
goods. But his zeal excited the opposi- 
tion of the enemies of improvement. The 
Low Countries revolted, and his vexation 
probably led him to attempt the exchange 
of the Netherlands, under the title of the 
kingdom of Austrasia, for the palatinate 
of Bavaria, under an elector. But the 
project was frustrated by the constancy 
and firmness of the Duke of Deux-Ponts, 
and by the German league, concluded by 
Frederic II. Joseph was equally unsuc- 
cessful in the war of 1788 against the 
Porte. His exertions in the field de- 
stroyed his health ; and grief at the re- 
bellious disposition of his ^hereditary 



states accelerated his death, which hap- 
pened Feb. 20, 1790. 

Joseph II was succeeded by his eldest 
brother, Leopold II, formerly grand duke 
of Tuscany. By his moderation and 
firmness, he quelled the turbulent spirit 
of the Netherlands, and restored tran- 
quillity to Hungary. The treaty of 
Reichenbach, with Prussia, July 27, 

1790, and the treaty of Sistova, Aug. 4, 

1791, led to a peace with the Porte. 
The unhappy fate of his sister and her 
husband, Louis XVI, of France, induced 
him to form an alliance with Prussia ; 
but he died March 1, 1792, before the 
revolutionary war broke out. Soon after 
the accession of his son, Francis II, to 
the throne, and before the 14th of July, 

1792, when he was elected emperor of 
Germany, France declared war against 
him as king of Hungary and Bohemia. 
The limits of this work will not permit 
us to give a sketch of the several cam- 
paigns or of the principal battles that 
were fought. In May, 1796, Buonaparte 
gained a celebrated victory at Lodi (a 
large town in Austrian Italy,) over the 
Austrians under Beaulieu. Buonaparte, 
in his negotiations with the court of Tu- 
rin, had insisted on having Valenza, on 
Avhich was a bridge over the Po. He 
had done so in order to deceive Beau- 
lieu into the belief that he intended to 
pass there. The Austrian was caught 
in the snare ; posted his army at the 
confluence of the two rivers, and pre- 
pared to dispute the passage. Instead, 
however, of their crossing both streams 
in following a straight line upon Milan, 
a circuit on the right bank of the Po 
would bring the French to Piacenza, 
farther down the stream than where the 
Tesin meets it. By crossing there, in 
lieu of Valenza, the latter stream was 
altogether avoided, and Beaulieu's re- 
treat threatened to be cut ofl". Buona- 
parte, to efiect this, undertook a forced 
march of thirty-six hours to Piacenza, 
which he reached on the 7th of May. 
With the aid of what boats he could 
seize, a bridge was thrown over the Po, 
and the army passed on the 9th. He did 
not hesitate to attack the nearest Aus- 
trian division, which was routed, and fled 
to Pizziliitone on the Adda. No river or 



AUSTRIA. 



69 




Buonaparte crossing the bridge at Lodi. 



line of defence now intervened betwixt 
the French and Milan. Beaulieu, anti- 
cipated and foiled in hi.s project of de- 
fending the bridge of Valenza on the Po, 
hurried to place himself behind the Adda, 
the next river eastward of Milan. The 
French general instantly resolved to 
force this line of defence ere the Aus- 
trians had time to strengthen it. Until 
this was achieved, he deferred taking 
possession of Milan. Pizzihitone, the 
nearest town that contained a bridge over 
the Adda, was too well garrisoned and 
defended. Buonaparte pressed on to the 
next bridge, tracing upwards the course 
of the river. This was at Lodi. 

Beaulieu had made good his retreat 
thus far. Half of his army, however, he 
had been obliged to send by a circuitous 
direction, in order to throw a garrison 
into the castle of Milan. This half the 
French general hoped to intercept, if he 
could succeed in routing the remainder, 
about 12,000 men, which Beaulieu kept 
with himself at Lodi. To drive the ad- 
vanced guard of this body from Lodi and 
beyond the Adda, was an easy task. But 
to dispossess them of the bridge was an 
attempt so rash, that the Austrians con- 



sidered it impossible. Otherwise they 
would have destroyed the bridge, or at 
least an arch of it. But it was now too 
late for this, as the French cannon were 
instantly ordered to play upon it. Beau- 
lieu, on his side of the bridge, raked it 
with thirty cannon. On either side the 
shower of grape-shot was dreadful ; but 
the French were covered by the walls 
and houses of Lodi, whilst the Austrians 
were exposed. Their general, in conse- 
quence, drew them out of reach of the 
shot; thus trusting the defence of the 
bridge to the formidable battery alone. 
Seeing this, Buonaparte formed his 
stoutest grenadiers in column, and pre- 
pared to cross, whilst the cavalry men- 
aced to pass by a ford at no great dis- 
tance. At a word the column rushed on 
the bridge. Its front was shattered, 
almost ere it was formed, by the shower 
of shot. It even hesitated, till the gene- 
rals placed themselves at its head, and 
cheered it on ; whilst the light troops, 
dropping down the wooden buttresses of 
the bridge, passed underneath to distract 
the enemy. The first fire of the battery 
was the chief obstacle ; that withstood, the 
French rushed on the Austrian guns, and 



60 



AUSTRIA. 



bayoneted the cannoneers. The caval- 
ry followed, and had time to form and 
charge ere the main line of the tardy 
Austrians could come up. These with- 
stood the assault but for a few minutes. 
They gave way and fled, leaving behind 
their artillery, colors, and some thousand 
prisoners. Thus was completed the rout 
of Beaulieu, the shattered remains of 
whose army retired towards the Tyrol 
and the provinces of Venice. 

In the first articles of peace, dated at 
Campo-Formio, Oct. 17, 1797, Austria 
lost Lombardy and the Netherlands, and 
received, as a compensation, the largest 
part of the Venitian territory : two years 
previous, in 1795, in the third division 
of Poland, the Austrian dominions had 
been enlarged by the addition of West 
Gallicia. In the beginning of the year 
1799, the emperor Francis, in alliance 
with Russia, renewed the war with 
France. But Napoleon extorted the 
peace of Luneville, Feb. 9, 1801, and 
Francis acceded to it, without the con- 
sent of England. By the conditions of 
the treaty, he was to cede the county of 
Falkenstein, and the Frickthal. Ferdi- 
nand, grand duke of Tuscany, at the 
same time, renounced his claim to this 
province, and received, in return for it, 
Salzburg and Berchtesgaden, with a part 
of the territory of Passau, and was after- 
wards made master of the largest part of 
Eichstadt, and honored with the title of 
elector. Austria obtained the Tyrolese 
archbishoprics Trent and Brixen, and, 
notwithstanding its cessions of territory 
to France, had gained, including its ac- 
quisitions in Poland, 9580 square miles : 
this made the whole extent 253,771 
square miles. The public debt had also 
increased to 1220 million florins. 

Aug. 11,1 804, Francis declared him- 
self hereditary emperor of Austria, and 
imited all his estates under the name of 
the empire of Austria. Immediately after 
this important act, he took up arms once 
more, with his allies, Russia and Great 
Britain, against the government of France. 
The war of 1 805 was terminated by the 
peace of Presburg (Dec. 26, 1805.) By 
the conditions of this treaty, Francis was 
obliged to cede to France the remaining 
provinces of Italy ; to the king of Bava- 



ria, Burgau, Eichstadt, a part of Passau, 
all Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Hohenembs, Ro- 
thenfels, Tettnang, Argen and Lindau ; 
to the king of Wurtemberg, the five towns 
lying on the Danube, the county of Ho- 
henberg, the landgraviate of Nellenburg, 
Altdorf, and a part of Brisgau ; and to the 
gTand duke of Baden, the remainder of 
Brisgau, Ortenau, Constance and the 
commandery of Meinau. He received, 
in return, Salzburg and Berchtesgaden ; 
the elector of Salzburg was compensated 
by the province of Wurzburg ; and the 
dignity of grand master of the Teutonic 
order was made hereditary in the house 
of Austria. 

Thus ended a war which cost the Aus- 
trian monarchy, besides the territories 
just enumerated, 90 million florins, which 
were carried away by the French from 
Vienna, and 800 millions for the other 
expenses of the war ; of which Francis 
paid a large proportion from his private 
purse. After the formation of the con- 
federation of the Rhine (July 12, 1806,) 
Francis was forced to resign his digTiity 
as emperor of Germany (Aug. 6, 1806,) 
which had been in his family more than 
500 years. This was one of the most 
important consequences of the war. He 
now assumed the title of Francis I, em- 
peror of Austria, and resolved, in 1809, 
on a new war with France, aided only 
by Great Britain, who did little more than 
furnish some pecuniary assistance, and 
make a tardy attack on Walcheren. Aus- 
tria fought courageously, but in vain. 
The peace of Vienna (October 14, 1809,) 
cost the monarchy 42,380 square miles 
of territory, 3,500,000 subjects, and more 
than 1 1 million florins of revenue. The 
public debt was also increased to 1200 
million florins, and all the paper money 
in circulation was estimated at 950 mil- 
lions. Napoleon, after tearing from the 
Austrian monarchy its fairest provinces, 
the duchy of Salzburg, with Berchtesga- 
den, Innviertel,Western Hausruckviertel, 
Carniola and Gorz, Trieste, the circle of 
Villach, a large part of Croatia, Istria, 
Rsezuns in the Grisons, the Bohemian 
territories in Saxony, all West Galicia, 
the circle of Zamoski in East Galicia, 
Cracow, with half the salt-works of Wie- 
liezka, the circle of Tarnopol, and many 



AUSTRIA, 



61 



other provinces which were given to 
Russia, — formed a personal connexion 
with the ancient family of Hapsburg, by 
his marriage with Marie Louise, daugh- 
ter of the emperor of Austria, and, March 
14, 1812, concluded an alliance with 
the emperor Francis against Russia. 
But the emperor of France was repulsed 
on his invasion of this country ; Prussia 
rose up against him ; the congress of 
Prague met and separated again without 
accomplishing any thing ; and Francis, 
August 10, 1813, declared war against 
France, and formed an alliance, Septem- 
ber 9, 1813, at Teplitz, with England, 
Russia, Prussia and Sweden, against his 
son-in-law. 

In the battle of Leipzic, the Austrian 
troops took an honorable part. The 
firmness with which the emperor signed 
the act of proscription against his son, 
and fixed the fate of his daughter and 
her infant, excited general respect. He 
signed the same act against Napoleon 
a second time, when he returned from 
Elba. He also opposed Murat in Italy. 
Yet the Austrian cabinet endeavored to 
provide for young Napoleon in the set- 
tlement of the aftairs of France. By 
the peace of Paris, 1814, Austria gained 
the portion of Italy which now forms 
the Lombardo-Venitian kingdom, and 
recovered, together with Dalmatia, the 
hereditary territories which it had been 
obliged to cede. The former grand 
duke of Wurzburg, on the contrary, ce- 
ded his territory to Bavaria, and again 
took possession of Tuscany. 

In the new system of Europe, es- 
tablished at the congress of Vienna, 
which met in 1815, and by the treaty 
concluded with Bavaria, of Munich 
(April 14, 1816,) the Austrian monarchy 
not only gained more than 4238 square 
miles of territory, but was also essen- 
tially improved in compactness ; and its 
commercial importance was increased 
by the accession of Dalmatia and Ve- 
nice. The influence of this power 
among the states of Europe, in conse- 
quence of the congress of Vienna, as 
the first member of the great qxxadruple 
alliance (changed, by the congress of 
Aix-la-Chapelle, 1818, to a quintuple 
alliance,) and as the head of the German 



confederation, has been continually in- 
creasing since the congress at Aix-la- 
Chapelle, as is evident to those who 
feel an interest in the history of the 
age. Of the foreign affairs of the gov- 
ernment, which have been conducted 
by the Prince von Metternich, the most 
important is the connection of Austria 
with the German confederation. The 
Imperial cabinet overruled the delibera- 
tions of the German confederates at 
Frankfort, through its minister, Count 
Buol-Schauenstein (who was succeeded 
in 1823, by the Baron of Munch-Bel- 
linghausen,) so that all the degrees made 
in the congress of Carlsbad, in August, 
1819, relating to a general censorship 
of literary institutions, the suppression 
of liberal opinions and writings, and 
of secret societies, were unanimously 
adopted and published, September 20, 
1819, renewed in 1824, and also in 
1831. A congress was held in Vienna, 
November 25, 1819, composed of all 
the ministers of the German confede- 
rates, to draw up a constitution for the 
confederated states. It was signed at 
Vienna, May 15, 1820; and June 8, of 
the same year, it was acknowledged at 
Frankfort as the universal law of the 
German confederation. The ideas of 
the Austrian Cabinet in regard to the 
political condition of Germany, were 
made known to the public by the re- 
markable Lett re C07ifidentielle de S. A. 
le Prince de Metternich d M. Ic Baron 
de Berstetf, premier ministre du grand 
duche de Baden, June, 1820. The uni- 
ted influence of Austria and Prussia, 
in the military committee of the confede- 
ration, laid the foundation of the German 
military system, and regulated the num- 
bers and distribution of the army of 
the confederacy, and the occupation 
and command of the fortresses of the 
empire. 

Saxony and Bavaria formed a closer 
connexion with the house of Austria, 
by a family union, in 1819, and 1824. 
November 4, 1824, the second Impe- 
rial prince, the Archduke Francis, (born 
1802,) was married to Sophia, princess 
of Bavaria, half-sister of the empress of 
Austria. 

The harmony which existed between 



62 



BABYLON. 



the three founders of the Holy Alliance, 
led to the establishment of the princi- 
ples of legitimacy ; and every one knows 
the important consequences of this union, 
in the maintenance of principles con- 



trary to the spirit of the age, and the 
law of nations ; as in the law rela- 
ting to the armed interference, Austria 
executed the decrees of the congress as 
far as related to Naples and Piedmont. 



BABYLON 



The empire of Babylon, may be con- 
sidered as the first great monarchy of 
which any records are to be found in his- 
tory. It appears to have been founded a 
short time after the flood ; and (according 
to the astronomical tables sent by Alex- 
ander to Aristotle) about 2234 years be- 
fore Christ. Of this first Babylonian 
kingdom there is very little to be known, 
except what is related in sacred scrip- 
ture ; that, about 2000 years B. C, it 
consisted, under Nimrod, of four cities. 
Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh; that, 
about 100 years afterwards, it was en- 
larged by Ashur, who built several other 
cities, and particularly the first Nineveh, 
on the eastern bank of the Tigris, 300 
miles above Babylon ; and that it con- 
tinued till the year B. C. 1230, when Ni- 
nus, having overrun the greater part of 
Asia, founded a second Nineveh, between 
the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, about 
50 miles from Babylon, and thus estab- 
lished what is called the Assyrian mon- 
archy. But what is generally understood 
by the Babylonian empire, began about 
606 years before Christ, when Belesis, 
or Nebopolassar, hereditary satrap of 
Babylon, revolted against the Assyrian 
monarch Sardanapalus ; and having de- 
stroyed that prince and his capital Nin- 
eveh, transferred the seat of power to his 
own city. Thus there may be said to 
have been two distinct kingdoms in Ba- 
bylon; one preceding, and the other fol- 
lowing, the Assyrian empire. Or, rather, 
more properly speaking, there were three 
great eras of the same monarchy in the 
country of Assyria. The first of these 
commences with Nimrod, in the year 
B. C. 2000, when Babylon was the seat 
of power ; the second with Ninus, in the 
year 1230, when Nineveh became the 



metropolis of the empire ; and the third 
with Belesis, in the year 606, when Ba- 
bylon once more beheld the sovereigns of 
the East residing in her palaces. This 
subject indeed is beset with inextricable 
difficulties, and involved in impenetrable 
darkness ; but the above statement, which 
is founded upon the observation of the 
learned and ingenious Dr Gillies, in his 
History of the World, (vol. i, p. 50 — 130,) 
seems much more simple in itself, as 
well as more consistent with history, 
than either the common account, which 
makes the Assyrian monarchy almost 
coeval, but altogether unconnected with 
the first kingdom in Babylon ; or that of 
Sir Isaac Newton, who dates its origin so 
late as the year B. C. 770. 

Leaving our readers to decide this 
point for themselves, we proceed to the 
proper subject of this article, namely, to 
give a short sketch of the second Baby- 
lonian empire, established by Belesis, or 
Nebopolassar, upon the ruins of the As- 
syrian monarchy, about 606 years B. C. 

Nebopolassar, or, as he is also called, 
Nebuchadnezzar, continued in close 
alliance with Cyaxares the Mede, by 
whose assistance he had acquired the 
sovereignty, and by whose friendship he 
became so powerful as to excite the ap- 
prehensions of the neighboring princes. 

While he was employed in resisting 
the Scythians, who had made themselves 
masters of Upper Asia, Necho, king of 
Egypt, invaded his dominions in the 
south, reduced the city Carehemish, or 
Circesium, and encouraged the Syrians 
in that quarter to revolt. Nebopolassar, 
being now well advanced in years, sent 
his son Nebuchadnezzar, whom he had 
associated with himself in the empire, to 
reduce those countries to their former 



BABYLON. 



63 



subjection. The young prince defeated 
. the army of Necho near the Euphrates, 
retook the city of Carehemish, and quell- 
ed the insurgents in Syria : entered Ju- 
dea, and took possession of Jerusalem ; 
restored Jehoiakim to his throne, but 
carried to Babylon great numbers of the 
principal Jews, with the treasures of the 
palace, and part of the sacred vessels in 
the temple. In the mean time Nebopo- 
lassar died, and was succeeded by his son 
upon his return from his expedition. 

Nebuchadnezzar II, called also La- 
BYNETUs, occupied himself, during the 
first years of his reign, in enlarging and 
embellishing his capital; and during this 
period occurred those events which are 
related in the book of Daniel, chap. ii. 
His tranquillity was interrupted by the 
revolt of Jehoiakim in Judea, who was 
soon reduced by the Babylonian gene- 
rals ; but Jechonias his son, having also at- 
tempted to shake off the Assyrian yoke, 
Nebuchadnezzar went in person to the 
seigeof Jerusalem; and having made him- 
self master of the city, he carried to Baby- 
lon all its treasures and sacred utensils, 
leaving the government to Zedekiah, the 
uncle of Jechonias. Recalled in a short 
time to Judea by the revolt of Zedekiah, 
he defeated the Egyptians, who had 
come to the assistance of the Jews, took 
Jerusalem by storm, after a twelvemonth's 
siege, gave it up to pillage and slaugh- 
ter, put out the eyes of the king, and car- 
ried him away captive. Upon his return 
to Babylon he erected a golden statue in 
the plain of Dura, sixty cubits in height, 
and commanded all his subjects to wor- 
ship it as a divinity. {Dan. chap, iii.) 
About three years after this event, he 
again led his forces against the western 
nations, made himself master of Tyre 
after a siege of 13 years, overran the 
whole country of Egypt, returned to adorn 
his capital with the booty which he had 
acquired ; and,havingsufferedthe punish- 
ment of his pride, as related in Daniel, 
chap, iv, he died in the 44th year of his 
reign. 

Evil-Merodach, who succeeded his 
father Nebuchadnezzar, is described as a 
weak and licentious prince, and was mur- 
dered by his own relatives, after having 
reigned little more than two years. 



Nerigi.issar, the husband of Evil- 
Merodach's sister, and one of the chief 
conspirators, reigned in his stead. Imme- 
diately after his accession, he began to 
make preparations for resisting the grow- 
ing power of the Medes and Persians. 
After spending three years in forming al- 
liances, and collecting troops, he march- 
ed to meet his opponents Cyaxares and 
Cyrus ; and, in a bloody engagement 
with the latter, was defeated and slain. 

Laborosoarchod, his son, succeeded 
to the throne. By his cruelty and oppres- 
sion, he provoked several of his govern- 
ors to raise the standard of rebellion, and 
to call in the aid of Cyrus. Marching 
to suppress these commotions, he was 
met by the Persian prince, defeated with 
great loss, and pursued to the very walls 
of his metropolis. After Cyrus had re- 
tired with his army, the Babylonian mon- 
arch indulged his vicious propensities to 
such excess, that his own subjects, una- 
ble any longer to endure his tyrannical 
conduct, conspired against his life, and 
put him to death, in the ninth month of 
his reign. He was succeeded by 

Nabonadius, who is called also La- 
BYNETUs, and who is the same with 
Belshazzar mentioned in sacred scrip- 
ture. He was the son of Evil-Merodach, 
by his queen Nitocris ; and was the 
grandson of the great Nebuchadnezzar. 
His mother Nitocris, who was a woman 
of extraordinary talents, took upon her- 
self the management of public affairs ; 
and while her son was pursuing his plea- 
sures, she made every exertion to pre- 
serve the tottering empire. She com- 
pleted many of the works which Nebu- 
chadnezzar had begun ; and, when Cyrus 
renewed his attacks upon the frontier 
towns, she employed the utmost activity 
in constructing new fortifications for the 
defence of the capital. Belshazzar at 
length, in the fifth year of his reign, re- 
paired in person to the court of Croesus, 
king of Lydia, carrying with him an im- 
mense treasure ; and with the aid of that 
prince, as well as by the influence of liis 
wealth, framed a very formidable con- 
federacy against Cyrus. Having liired a 
numerous army of Egj-ptians, Greeks, 
and other nations in Lesser Asia, he ap- 
pointed Croesus to the command, and 



64 



BABYLON. 



directed him to make an incursion into 
Media. These auxiliaries having been 
completely routed, Croesus taken and 
dethroned, and Cyrus again advancing to 
Babylon, Belshazzar attempted to make 
head against him in the field, but w^as 
soon put to flight, and closely blockaded 
in his capital. After a siege of two years, 
the city was taken, as has been related 
in the preceding article ; Belshazzar w^as 
slain in the assault upon his palace ; and 
with him terminated the empire of the 
Babylonians, about 538 years before 
Christ. 

Many of the statements recorded in 
ancient authors, respecting the wonders 
of Babylon, are unquestionably greatly 
exaggerated ; but, after every abatement 
that can fairly be made, this city is un- 
derstood to have comprehended a regular 
square, 48 miles in circuit. For the 
space of 26 years after the death of Ne- 
buchadnezzar, it continued to retain its 
glory ; and was at once the seat of an 
imperial court, the station of a numerous 
garrison, and the scene of a most exten- 
sive commerce. It was at length invest- 
ed, about 540 years before Christ, by the 
victorious armies of Cyrus the Great. 
Crowded with troops for their defence, 
surrounded with such lofty w^^s, and 
furnished with provisions for 20 years, 
the citizens of Babylon derided the efforts 
of their besieger, and boasted of their 
impregnable situation. On the other 
hand, the conqueror of Asia, determined 
to subdue his oidy remaining rival in the 
empire of the eastern world, left no ex- 
pedient untried for the reduction of the 
city. By means of the palm trees, which 
abounded in that coimtry, he erected a 
number of towers higher than the walls ; 
and made many desperate attempts to 
carry the place by assault. He next 
drew a line of circumvallation around the 
city ; divided his army into 12 parts ; 
appointed each of these to guard the 
trenches for a month ; and resolved to 
starve his enemy to a surrender. After 
spending two years in this blockade, he 
was presented with an opportunity of 
effecting his purpose by stratagem. Hav- 
ing learned that a great festival was to 
be celebrated in the city, and that it was 
customary with the Babylonians, on that 



occasion, to spend the night in drunk- 
enness and debauchery ; he posted a 
part of his troops close by the spot where 
the river Euphrates entered the city, and 
another at the place where it went out, 
with orders to march along the channel, 
whenever they should find it fordable. 
He then detached a third party to open 
the head of the canal, which led to the 
great lake already described ; and, at the 
same time, to admit the river into the 
trenches, which he had drawn around 
the city. By these means the river was 
so completely drained by midnight, that 
his troops easily found their way along 
its bed ; and the gates, which used to 
shut up the passages from its banks, 
having been left open in consequence of 
the general disorder, they encountered 
no obstacle whatever in their progress. 
Having thus penetrated into the heart of 
the city, and met, according to agreement, 
at the gates of the palace, they easily 
overpowered the guards ; cut to pieces 
all who opposed them ; slew the king 
Belshazzar, while attempting to make 
resistance ; and received the submission 
of the whole city within a few hours. 
From this period Babylon ceased to be 
the metropolis of a kingdom ; and its 
grandeur very rapidly decayed. Its citi- 
zens were very impatient under the Per- 
sian yoke ; and their pride was particu- 
larly provoked by the removal of the 
imperial seat to Susa. Taking advantage 
of the disorders of Persia, in consequence 
of the sudden death of Cambyses, and of 
the massacre of the Magians, they con- 
tinued, during the space of four years, to 
make secret preparations for a revolt. 
At length, in the fifth year of Darius Hy- 
staspes, about 518 years before Christ, 
they openly raised the standard of rebel- 
lion ; and thus drew upon themselves the 
whole force of the Persian empire. De- 
termined upon a desperate defence, and 
desirous to make their provisions last as 
long as possible, they adopted the bar- 
barous resolution of destroying all such 
persons in the city as could be of no 
service during the siege. Having sacri- 
ficed the lives of their friends, and reso- 
lutely regardless of their own, they re- 
sisted successfully all the strength and 
stratagems of the Persians, for the space 



BABYLON. 



65 



of 18 months ; and fell at length into the 
hands of Darius by the following extra- 
ordinary instance of fortitude in one of 
his officers. Zopyrus, one of the prin- 
cipal noblemen in the Persian court, 
appeared in the presence of his prince, 
covered with blood, deprived of his nose 
and ears, torn with stripes, and woimded 
in various parts of his body ; unfolded 
to the astonished monarch his design of 
deserting to the enemy, and arranged his 
future plan of operations. Approaching 
the walls of the city, he was carried be- 
fore the governor, detailed the cruel 
treatment which he professed to have 
received from Darius ; offered his ser- 
vices to the Babylonians, who were Avell 
acquainted with his rank and abilities ; 
acquired their confidence by several suc- 
cessful sallies ; obtained at length the 
chief command of their forces, and thus 
easily found means to betray the city to 
his master. As soon as Darius was in 
possession of Babylon, he ordered its 
hundred gates and its impregnable walls 
to be demolished ; put to death 3000 of 
those who had been principally concern- 
ed in the revolt ; and sent 50,000 women 
from different parts of his empire, to sup- 
ply the place of those who had been so 
cruelly destroyed at the commencement 
of the siege. In the year B. C. 478, 
Xerxes, the successor of Darius, return- 
ing from his inglorious invasion of Greece, 
passed through the city of Babylon ; and, 
partly from hatred of the Sabian worship, 
partly with a view to recruit his treasure, 
plundered the temple of Belus of its im- 
mense wealth, and then laid its lofty 
tower in ruins. In this state it continu- 
ed till the year B. C. 324, when Alex- 
ander the Great made an attempt to 
rebuild this sacred edifice, and to restore 
its former magnificence. But, though he 
employed about 10,000 men in this work 
for the space of two months, his sudden 
death put an end to the undertaking be- 
fore the ground was cleared of its rubbish. 
This mighty city declined very rapidly 
under the successors of Alexander ; and, 
in the year 294, A. C, was almost ex- 



hausted of its inhabitants by Seleucus 
Nicator, who built in its neighborhood 
the city of Seleucia, or New Babylon. 
It suff'ered greatly from the neglect and 
violence of the Parthian princes before 
the Christian era ; and every succeeding 
writer bears testimony to its increasing 
desolation. Diodorus Sicuhis, B. C. 44; 
Strabo, B. C. 30; Pliny, A. D. 66; Pau- 
sanias, A. D. 150; Maximus Tyrius, and 
Constantino the Great, as recorded by 
Eusebius, — all concur in describing its 
ruined condition ; and Jerome at length 
informs us, that, about the end of the 4th 
century its walls were employed by the 
Persian princes as an enclosure for wild 
beasts, preserved there for the pleasures 
of the chase. It was visited about the 
end of the 12th century by Benjamin of 
Tudela, in Navarre, who observed only a 
few ruins of Nebuchadnezzar's palace 
remaining, but so full of serpents and 
other venomous reptiles, that it was dan- 
gerous to inspect them nearly. A simi- 
lar account is given by other travellers ; 
by Texeira, a Portuguese ; by Rauwolf, 
a German traveller, in 1574 ; by Petrus 
Vallensis in 1616; by Tavernier, and 
by Hanway ; but so very slight are the 
vestiges now to be found of ancient Ba- 
bylon, that it is diflicult to ascertain 
exactly the spot on which it once stood, 
so completely has been fulfilled the pre- 
diction of Isaiah : — " Babylon, the glory 
of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees 
excellency, shall be as when God over- 
threw Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall 
never be inhabited, neither shall it be 
dwelt in from generation to generation ; 
neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there. 
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie 
there, and their houses shall be full of 
doleful creatures ; and owls shall dwell 
there, and satyrs shall dance there : and 
the wild beasts of the islands shall cry 
in their desolate houses, and dragons in 
their pleasant palaces." The striking 
accomplishment of scripture prophecies, 
in the conquest, decline, and desolation 
of Babylon, is very fidly illustrated in 
RoUin's Ancient History. 
9 



66 



BRAZIL, 



BRAZIL. 



Brazil was discovered by Pedro Alva- 
rez Cabral. Emanuel, king of Portugal, 
had equipped a squadron for a voyage to 
the East Indies, under the command of 
Cabral. The admiral quilting Lisbon, 
March 9, 1500, fell in accidentally, April 
24, with the continent of South America, 
which he at first supposed to be a large 
island on the coast of Africa. In this 
conjecture he was soon undeceived, when 
the natives came in sight. Having dis- 
covered a good harbour, he anchored his 
vessels, and called the bay Ptierto Se- 
guro. On the next day he landed with 
a body of troops, and having erected the 
cross, took possession of the country in 
the name of his sovereign, and called it 
Santa Cruz ; but the name was after- 
wards altered by king Emanuel to that of 
Brazil, from the red-wood which the 
country produces. 

The Portuguese entertained, for some 
time, no very favorable opinion of the 
country, not having been able to find either 
gold or silver; and, accordingly, they 
sent thither none but convicts, and 
wom.en of abandoned character. Two 
ships were annually sent from Portugal, 
to carry to the new world the refuse of 
the human race, and to receive from 
thence cargoes of parrots and dye-woods. 
Ginger was afterwards added, but in a 
short time prohibited, lest the cultivation 
of it might interfere with the sale of the 
same article from India. In 1548, the 
Jews of Portugal, being banished to Bra- 
zil, procured sugar canes from Madeira, 
and began the cultivation of that article. 
The court of Lisbon began to perceive 
that a colony might be beneficial without 
producing gold or silver, and sent over a 
governor to regulate and superintend it. 
This was Thomas de Souza, a wise and 
able man. De Souza found it very diffi- 
cult to succeed in inducing the natives 
to fix on settled habitations, and to sub- 
mit to the Portuguese government. Dis- 
satisfaction ensued, which at length ter- 
minated in war. De Souza did not bring 
with him a sufficient number of men to 
conclude hostilities speedily. By build- 



ing St. Salvador, in 1549, at the bay of 
All Saints, he established a central and 
rallying point for the colony ; but the 
great object of reducing the Indians to 
submission was effected by the Jesuits, 
who gained their affections by presents 
and acts of kindness. 

The increasing prosperity of Brazil, 
which became visible to Europe at the 
beginning of the 17th century, excited 
the envy of the French, Spaniards and 
Dutch, successively. The latter, how- 
ever, were the principal enemies with 
whom the Portuguese had to contend for 
the dominion of Brazil. Their admiral, 
Willekens, in 1624, took possession of 
the country in the name of the United 
Provinces. Having plundered the peo- 
ple of St. Salvador, he returned to Europe, 
leaving a strong garrison. The Spaniards 
next sent out a formidable fleet, laid 
siege to St. Salvador, and compelled the 
Dutch to surrender. When the affairs 
of the Dutch assumed a more favorable 
aspect at home, they despatched admiral 
Henry Lonk, in the beginning of 1630, 
to attempt the entire conquest of the 
country. He succeeded in reducing 
Pernambuco, and on his return to Eu- 
rope, left behind him troops which re- 
duced in 1633, 1634 and 1635, the pro- 
vinces of Temeraca, Paraiba and Rio 
Grande. These, as well as Pernam- 
buco, furnished yearly a large quantity of 
sugar, a great deal of wood for dyeing, 
and other commodities. The Dutch now 
determined to conquer all Brazil, and in- 
trusted Maurice of Nassau with the 
direction of the enterprise. This distin- 
quished officer reached the place of his 
destination in the beginning of 1637, and 
subjected Seara, Seregippe, and the 
greater part of Bahia. Seven of the fif- 
teen provinces which composed the 
colony had already submitted to them, 
when they were suddenly checked by 
the revolution, which removed Philip IV 
from the throne of Portugal, and gave to 
the Portuguese independence, and a na- 
tive sovereign. The Dutch then, as 
enemies of the Spaniards, became friends 



BRAZIL. 



67 



to the Portuguese, and the latter con- 
firmed the title of the Dutch to the seven 
provinces, of which they were in posses- 
sion. This division gave rise to the 
name of the Brazils, in place of the for- 
mer appellation. 

The Dutch government soon began to 
oppress the Portuguese colonists, who, 
after an obstinate contest, drove them out 
of several of the provinces. Finding 
they were not able to retain possession 
of the country, the Dutch ceded all their 
interest to the Portuguese for a pecuniary 
compensation. The dominion of Portugal 
was now extended over all Brazil, which, 
during the 18th century, remained in the 
peaceful possession of the Portuguese. 

The value of Brazil to Portugal was 
on the increase from the discovery of the 
gold mines, in 1698, and the discovery 
of the diamond mines, in 1782. Up to 
the year 1810, Brazil had sent to Portu- 
gal 14,280 cwt. of gold, and 2001 pounds 
of diamonds, which foreign countries, 
and especially Great Britain, at last suc- 
ceeded in purchasing, at the Lisbon mar- 
ket. Rio Janeiro now became the mart 
for the proceeds of the Brazilian mines 
and native productions. But the admin- 
istration was any thing but adapted to 
promote the prosperity of the country. 
The attention of the government was 
turned, almost exclusively, to the gold 
washings, and to the working of the dia- 
mond mines ; and the policy of the ad- 
ministration consisted in the exaction of 
taxes and duties, which were collected 
from the fortified ports, to which the 
trade was solely confined. Foreigners 
were excluded, or jealously watched, and 
trade was paralysed by numerous re- 
strictions. In the interior, the lands sit- 
uated on the great rivers, after being 
surveyed, were frequently presented, af- 
ter the year 1641, by the kings of the 
house of Braganza, to the younger sons 
of the Portuguese nobility, whom the 
system of entails excluded from the pros- 
pect of inheritance. These grantees 
enlisted adventurers, purchased Negro 
slaves by thousands, and subjected the 
original inhabitants, or drove them from 
their districts, and ruled their dominions 
with almost unlimited sway. The mis- 
sions of the Jesuits also received similar 



donations from the kings. They orga- 
nised a ferocious militia from the con- 
verted savages and their descendants, 
and bore the sword and cross farther 
and farther into the interior. Equally 
independent with the secular lords of the 
soil, they united the converted savages 
into villages and parishes along the rivers. 
The celebrated Jesuit Vieyra introdu- 
ced the cultivation of spices, in which 
Holland alone had hitherto traded. As 
these Brazilian proprietors defrayed, from 
their own means, the above-mentioned in- 
demnification made to the Dutch, the Por- 
tuguese government, in return, confirmed 
and enlarged all the privileges of the an- 
cient planters, extending them to the 
present and future possessions of these 
noble families. But, in the end, the gov- 
ernment multiplied its own monopolies, 
and assumed prerogatives interfering 
with the interests of the ancient and rich 
landlords. Even from 1808 to 1821, as 
long as the court resided in Rio Janeiro, 
the Portuguese by birth continued to 
have the preference, in the high offices 
of state, before the chief native famihes ; 
and the system of taxing the productions 
of Brazil, and the importation of articles 
needed by the Brazilian nobility for 
themselves and slaves, was even extend- 
ed. The government finally placed ob- 
stacles in the way of increasing the num- 
ber of the latter, which the rich landlords 
deemed indispensable for the establish- 
ment of new plantations. The vassals, 
moreover, always had a stumbling-block 
in their way in the fiscal prerogative of 
the court, that the land which the vassal 
called his own, but which he had hith- 
erto neglected to search for gold or for 
diamonds, in case of any future discov- 
ery of such treasures, should become 
the property of the crown, or, at least, 
the object of high taxation. In the 
grants of the ancient plantations, the 
crown had not indeed provided for such 
a contingency, and had reserved no such 
rights. Even the humanity of the gov- 
ernment, in attempting to ameliorate by 
laws the condition of the slaves, was a 
subject of offence, because it appeared 
to the lords to be an injury to their legal 
property to proceed in such a matter 
without their consent. 



68 



BRAZIL. 



The removal of the Portuguese govern- 
ment to Brazil, January 19, 1808, when 
the royal family landed in Bahia, (whence 
it transferred its residence to Rio Ja- 
neiro in March, till the departure of king 
John VI to Lisbon, April 26, 1821,) 
was the commencement of the prosperity 
of Brazil. As early as January 28, 1 808, 
all the ports were opened for the uncon- 
ditional extrance of friendly and neutral 
vessels, and for the exportation of Bra- 
zilian productions, under certain duties, 
with the sole exception of Brazil wood. 
Brazil now entered, also, into an imme- 
diate connexion with Germany, which 
had an equally beneficial influence on its 
agriculture, intellectual improvement and 
commerce. The treaty of alliance and 
commerce concluded -with England at 
Rio Janeiro, February 19, 1810, per- 
mitted the British even to build and 
repair vessels of war in the harbors of 
Brazil ; and the then prince-regent of 
Portugal promised never to introduce the 
inquisition into Brazil, and to co-operate 
in earnest to effect the abolition of the 
slave-trade, excepting such as was car- 
ried on in the Portuguese possessions in 
Africa. 

The decree of November 18, 1814, 
next allowed all nations free intercourse 
with Brazil. In 1815, the prince-regent 
promised Brazil independence and equal 
privileges with Portugal. December 1 6, 
1815, he made it a monarchy. Finally, 
by the marriage of the ex-emperor, Don 
Pedro, with the archduchess Leopoldine, 
daughter of Francis I, of Austria, No- 
vember 6, 1817, Germany was in various 
ways brought into contact with Brazil. 

After the conclusion of the congress 
of Vienna, Spain refused to cede Oliven- 
za to Portugal ; on which account the 
Banda Oriental, with its capital, Monte 
Video, an important portion of the Span- 
ish province of Buenos Ayres, was taken 
possession of by Brazil, and maintained 
with effect against the claims of the re- 
public of Buenos Ayres, after it had 
attained independence. 

An insurrection in Pernambuco, in 
April, 1817, where a party raised the 
republican standard, was suppressed by 
the Portuguese troops stationed in Brazil. 
But when the revolution broke out in 



Portugal, August, 1820, having for its 
object the establishment of a constitution, 
the Portuguese troops in Brazil also ob- 
tained a constitution in behalf of the 
latter country. Don Pedro, the then 
crown-prince, proclaimed the acceptation 
of the Portuguese constitution in the 
name of himself and father, February 2G, 
1821. King John VI now commanded 
the choice of deputies (March 7th) to 
meet with the cortes assembled in Lis- 
bon, and was desirous to embark wdth 
them for that city. But the bank being 
unable to make the necessary advances 
of money, a bloody insurrection ensued. 
The king therefore changed the bank 
into a national bank, and, to defray the 
sums loaned, appropriated to it the charge 
of the diamond mines, and the regulation 
of the trade in diamonds. 

The king soon after (April 21 and 22) 
saw himself compelled to order the mili- 
tary to disperse the assembly of electors, 
who demanded the adoption of the Span- 
ish constitution. On the other hand, he 
repeated the ratification of the (then in- 
complete) Portuguese constitution, and, 
April 22, appointed his son Don Pedro 
prince-regent of Brazil. He now era- 
barked for Portugal, April 26. But, as 
the Portuguese cortes were not willing 
to grant the entire equality of civil and 
political relations demanded by the Bra- 
zilians, and, without waiting for the arrival 
of the Brazilian deputation, had framed 
the articles of the constitution which re- 
lated to Brazil, and subsequently rejected 
the additional articles proposed by the 
Brazilian deputies, and, finally, had ex- 
pressly declared, that Brazil was to be 
divided into governments, and ruled by 
the ministry of state at Lisbon, and the 
prince-regent was to be recalled to Por- 
tugal, — such violent convulsions were 
excited at Rio Janeiro, and various parts 
of Brazil, December, 1821, that it was 
explicitly declared to the prince-regent, 
that his departure would be the signal 
/or establishing an independent republic. 
The prince, therefore, resolved to remain 
in Brazil, and gave a public explanation 
of his reasons, January 9, 1822, to his 
father, to the cortes in Portugal, and to 
the people of Brazil. The Portuguese 
troops were removed from Brazil. The 



BRAZIL. 



69 



prince-regent assumed, May 13, 1822, 
the title of perpetual defender of Brazil, 
and, in June, convened a national assem- 
bly, composed of one hundred deputies, 
to frame a separate constitution for the 
country. The cortes in Lisbon, on the 
other hand, declared this constitution 
void, September 19, 1822, and demand- 
ed the return of the prince-regent to 
Europe, on pain of forfeiting his right 
to the throne. Meanwhile, the national 
assembly of Brazil had declared the se- 
paration of that country from Portugal, 
August 1, 1822, and, October 12, ap- 
pointed Don Pedro the constitutional 
emperor of Brazil. The new emperor 
retained, at the same time, the title of 
perpetual defender of Brazil. 

Soon after the establishment of the 
empire, began the struggle with the re- 
publican party. In this party were many 
freemasons. 

The ministers succeeded in causing 
secret societies to be prohibited, by 
which means they gained a pretence for 
imprisoning many whose sentiments were 
republican. This augmented the public 
dissatisfaction, and, when the emperor, 
having been severely injured by a fall 
from a horse, did not appear in public for 
a month, the enemies of the ministers 
became more bold in their outcries, and 
even sent threatening representations to 
the emperor. Meanwhile, the royal 
power had been restored in Lisbon in 
May, 1 823 ; but the Brazilians demand- 
ed the more loudly a free constitution 
and a separation from Portugal. The 
emperor, therefore, refused to receive 
the envoy of the king his father, the 
count de Rio Mayor, September 6, 1823, 
because he could not give assurance of 
the acknowledgement of the indepen- 
dence of Brazil. At the same time, the 
congress authorised a loan of 2,500,000/. 
in London, which has subsequently been 
increased about 700,000/. (Seventy-live 
per cent, only was paid in specie, and 
six per cent, interest !) The constitution 
of August 10, 1823, which the national 
assembly had accepted with some alter- 
ations, was finally laid before the em- 
peror, but, in consequence of a revolution 
which suddenly ensued, not accepted, 
because it resembled the Spanish and 



Portuguese constitutions, and restricted 
too much the authority of the sovereign. 

The provinces, also, were the theatre 
of many turbulent scenes. In Pernam- 
buco, the violent dissolution of the con- 
gress gave rise to much dissatisfaction, 
and it was difficult to appease the hatred 
of the Brazilians against the Portuguese. 
A second national assembly was finally 
convened at the end of November, 1823, 
and the emperor caused a constitution, 
drawn up by his council of state, to be 
laid before the cabildo (the municipality) 
of the capital, December 1 1, 1823, which 
collected the votes of the citizens re- 
specting it in writing. As all assented 
to this constitution, the oath was admin- 
istered January 9, 1824. The same 
course was pursued in the provinces : 
but here many citizens voted against the 
constitution ; among others, the president, 
Man. de Carvalho Paes d'Andrade of 
Pernambuco. March 25, 1824, the oath 
to observe the constitution was also taken 
by the emperor and empress. In its 
fundamental principles, this constitution 
coincided with those previously projected. 
The four branches of civil authority — the 
legislative, the mediative, the executive 
and the judicial — were to be administered 
by the representatives of the people. 
The government to be monarchical, hered- 
itary, constitutional, and representative. 

The president, Man. de Carvalho Paes 
d'Andrade, recalled by the emperor, at- 
tempted to unite the northern provinces 
into one republic, called the Unio7i of the 
Equator. But, as soon as the emperor 
had no longer cause to fear an attack 
from Portugal, his forces invaded Per- 
nambuco, in August, by land and sea, 
under the command of lord Cochrane and 
general Lima. Carvalho and Barros, 
with a portion of the inhabitants, made 
an obstinate resistance ; but, on the 17th 
of September, 1824, the city was taken 
by assault. Carvalho had fled to an 
English ship of war ; the others into the 
interior of the country. In the following 
year, the emperor sent general Brandt 
and the chev. de Carneiro to London, to 
negotiate there, with the Portuguese 
minister, the marquis de Villareal, re- 
specting the independence of Brazil. 

Similar negotiations afterwards took 



70 



BRAZIL. 



place in Lisbon, through the British en- 
voy extraordinary, Sir Charles Stuart, 
who finally concluded, at Rio Janeiro, 
with the Brazilian minister of foreign 
affairs, Luis Jose de Carvalho e Mello, 
a treaty between Brazil and Portugal, 
August 29, 1825. About this time, the 
government of the United Provinces of 
the Plata urged the restoration of the 
Banda Oriental, which Brazil had held 
in possession since 1816. The empe- 
ror, therefore, declared war against Bue- 
nos Ayres, December 10, 1825, and 
caused the mouth of the La Plata to be 
blockaded by his vessels of war. But 
the people of Ci.splatino, with the natives 
of Monte Video, had already taken up 
arms, for the sake of a union with the 
United Provinces of the Plata. The in- 
surgents took Maldonado. General Le- 
cor, (viscount de Laguna,) however, 
maintained himself in Monte Video. On 
the other hand, the republic of the Plata 
formally received the Banda Oriental 
into its confederacy, and, at the close of 
the year 1825, Brazil possessed but two 
points in the Banda Oriental — Monte 
Video and the colony del San Sagra- 
mento. 

A question of much importance now 
arose, whether the emperor don Pedro 
should succeed his father, king John VI, 
in the kingdom of Portugal. The king 
died March 10, 1826, having appointed 
his daughter, the infanta Isabella Maria, 
provisional regent. According to the 
constitution of Brazil, don Pedro could 
not leave the country without the consent 
of the general assembly. He therefore 
entered upon the government of Portu- 
gal, and gave this kingdom a represen- 
tative constitution, but renounced the 
crown of Portugal in his own person by 
the act of abdication of May 2, 1 826, 
and resigned his right to his daughter 
donna Maria da Gloria, princess of Beira, 
born in 1819, who was to marry her 
uncle don Miguel, born in 1802 ; mean- 
while, the emperor confirmed the present 
regent of Portugal. Soon after. May 8, 



he opened the second constitutional as- 
sembly of Brazil at Rio Janeiro. He 
had previously, April 16, 1826, founded 
the new Brazilian order of Pedro I. The 
war with Buenos Ayres was continued 
in the Banda Oriental with little vigor, 
and with little prospect of advantage to 
either party, but with a ruinous charge 
upon the finances of both. A negotiation 
for peace was at length opened, under 
the mediation of Great Britain, which 
terminated in the execution of a treaty, 
August 27, 1828. In April, 1830, the 
nation had become divided into the con- 
stitutionalists or republicans, who were 
Brazilians, — and the absolutists, or those 
in favor of an absolute government, who 
were Portuguese. An attempt, which 
was made to induce the troops to declare 
the emperor absolute, failed, and he now, 
in appearance, embraced the republican 
party. In March, 1831, while on a tour 
in the mining districts, Pedro made use 
of language which offended and alarmed 
the liberal party, and on his return to 
Rio Janeiro, there were manifestations 
of popular excitement, in which the troops 
joined. The rigor which he used on 
this occasion, and his subsequent vacil- 
lation of conduct, served at once to thin 
his own ranks, and to increase the dis- 
affection ; and revolutionary movements 
were soon perceptible. Disturbances 
began, April 3, and continued for several 
days. Many persons were killed in the 
attempts to suppress them, and when, on 
the 7th, a change of ministry was an- 
nounced, the people assembled to demand 
the reinstatement of the old ministers ; 
the troops joined in the insurrection, and 
the next morning the emperor abdicated 
in favor of his infant son, don Pedro II, 
and embarked on board an English ship 
of war for Europe. The deputies ap- 
pointed a regency, and the new emperor 
was proclaimed. He is much beloved 
by the Brazilians, because he was born 
in the country ; and since that event the 
government has continued in a tranquil 
state. See Portugal. 



BIRMAH. 



71 



BIRMAH. 



The Birman empire comprehends the 
kingdoms of Ava, Pegu, Arracan, and the 
adjacent states on the North. It is 
bounded on the north by Thibet, Assam, 
and China ; on the west, it is separated 
from the British possessions by a chain 
of high mountains and the river Naaf. 
In the 16th century, the Birmans in 
Ava made themselves independent of 
Pe^; but, in 1741, they were subju- 
gated anew by this state. Alompra, one 
of their leaders, however, with about ] 00 
faithful adherents, almost immediately 
summoned the people again to arms, and 
in 1753, conquered the city of Ava. De- 
feat and victory succeeded alternately, 
till Alompra, in 1757, conquered the city 
of Pegu. This celebrated monarch died 
in 1761, at the age of 50 years. He la- 
bored to make his subjects happy by 
promoting agriculture, by restricting the 
arbitrary exercise of power on the part 
of his officers, and improving the public 
morals. 

Every act of the magistrates, in the 
Birman empire, was required to be pub- 
lic, and every decree to be made known : 
even commercial treaties, and all rela- 
tions estabUshed with foreign countries, 
were registered among the laws of the 
state, and open to the inspection of every 
one. Namdogee, his eldest son and suc- 
cessor, who died in 1764, inheriting his 
father's spirit, adopted from other nations 
whatever was of general utility to his 
own, and was anxious to do away abuses. 
Both father and son attended particularly 
to the administration of the East India 
company. Shambuan, the emperor's 
brother, became regent, as guardian for 
his nephew Mornien ; but he usurped 
the throne himself, and conquered Siam. 
In 1771, however, this province recov- 
vered its independence, while the princi- 
pal part of the Birman forces were en- 
gaged in a war with China. In this 
war they were victorious, and compelled 
the Chinese, whom they took prisoners, 
to intermarry with the Birman females, 
and to remain in their territory. 

Fortune continued to attend this 



prince ; and, in 1776, he left his empire, 
much enlarged, to his son Chengenza. 
This prince lived in the unrestrained in- 
dulgence of every appetite, till, in 1782, 
he was dethroned and put to death. In 
consequence of this revolution, Shem- 
buan Menderagan, the fourth son of 
Alompra, ascended the throne. He or- 
dered his nephew Mornien, who was a 
state prisoner, to be drowned, and, in 
1783, subdued the kingdom of Arracan. 
He then engaged in a war with Siam, 
which continued till 1793, and finally 
compelled it to submission on certain 
conditions. About this period, some 
highway robbers fled from the Birman 
empire, and took refuge in the territory 
of the East India company. Shembuan 
demanded that they should be delivered 
up. His demands were not immediately 
complied with, and he marched, with a 
strong force, into the offending country. 
At the same time, he carried on a friendly 
negotiation with the government in Cal- 
cutta, Avhich resulted in the surrender of 
the criminals, and the conclusion of a 
treaty of amity and commerce between 
the two governments, which agreed to 
afford each other mutual aid, in case of 
an invasion from China. It was negoti- 
ated by captain Symes. Shembuan was 
succeeded, in 1819, by his grandson. 
The last victory of the Birmans was in 
1822, over the northern mountainous 
province of Assam, at the source of the 
Burrampooter. The party driven from 
Assam, together with the Birman rebels, 
fled to the British territories, whence 
they intended to invade Birmah. The 
British government forthwith disarmed 
the insurgents, but refused to deliver them 
up or to drive them from the island of 
Shapin-i, which they had occupied. The 
court at Ummerapoora, therefore, attempt- 
ed to set the Mahrattas and all Hindostan 
in arms against the English. 

At length, the monarch with the golden 
feet (one of the titles of the sovereign of 
Birmah) demanded of the government at 
Calcutta the cession of northern Bengal, 
as being a part of Ava ; and, in January, 



72 



BIRMAH. 



1824, the Birman forces marched into 
Kadschar, which had deposed its rulers, 
and put itself under British protection. 
Lord Amherst, as governor-general of 
the British East Indies, now declared 
war against Birmah, and general Archi- 
bald Campbell prosecuted it so success- 
fully, that, after the victory at Prome 
(Dec. 1-3, 1825,) he obliged the mon- 
arch to conclude a very unequal peace 
at Panlanagh, Dec. 31, 1825. As the 
treaty was not ratified, on the part of Boa, 
the Birman emperor, by the time speci- 
fied, (Jan. 18, 1826,) Campbell renewed 
the war on the 19th, and stormed the for- 
tress cf Murmun. Feb. 24, the peace 
was ratified, and the war concluded. The 
king ceded to the company the provinces 
of Arracan, Merguy, Tavoy and Yea, and 
paid them a sum amounting to rather 
more than 1,000,000/. sterling. Assam 
was made once more independent, and 
rajahs were appointed by the company 
to govern the northern provinces of Mun- 
nipore, Assam, Kadschar and Yeahung. 
The important city of Rangoon was de- 
clared a free port. Thus all the western 
coast of the Birman empire was ceded 
to the East India company, and the most 
powerful of the East Indian states was 
divided and weakened. 

The following circumstantial accounts, 
relating to the foregoing events, are taken 
from a "Narrative of the Burmese War," 
by major Snodgrass, an ofiicer engaged 

" The moving masses, which had so 
very lately attracted our anxious attention 
had sunk into the ground ; and, to any 
one who had not witnessed the whole 
scene, the existence of these subterra- 
nean legions would not have been credit- 
ed : the occasional movement of a chief, 
with his gilt chittah (umbrella,) from 
place to place, superintending the progress 
of their labor, was the only thing that 
now attracted notice. By a distant ob- 
server, the hills, covered with mounds 
of earth, would have been taken for any 
thing rather than the approaches of an at- 
tacking army ; but to us, who had watch- 
ed the whole strange proceeding, it 
seemed the work of magic or enchant- 
ment. 

" In the afternoon, his Majesty's thir- 
teenth regiment and the eighteenth Ma- 



dras Native Infantry, under major Sale, 
were ordered to move rapidly forward 
upon the busily-employed and too-confi- 
dent enemy ; and, as was suspected, they 
were found wholly unprepared for such 
a visit, or for our actii^g in any way 
against such numerous opponents, on the 
offensive. They had scarcely perceived 
the approach of our troops before they 
were upon them, and the fire Avhich they 
at last commenced proved wholly inade- 
quate to checking their advance. Hav- 
ing forced a passage through their in- 
trenchments, and taken the enemy in the 
flank, the British detachment drove the 
Avhole line from their cover with consid- 
erable loss ; and having destroyed as 
many of their arms and tools as they 
could find, retired unmolested before the 
numerous bodies which were now form- 
ing on every side around them. 

"The trenches Avere found to be a suc- 
cession of holes, capable of containing 
two men each, and excavated, so as to 
afford shelter, both from the weather and 
the fire of an enemy ; even a shell light- 
ing in the trench could at most but kill 
two men. As it is not the Burmese sys- 
tem to relieve their troops in making 
these approaches, each hole contained a 
sufficient supply of rice, water, and even 
fuel for its inmates ; and under this ex- 
cavated bank, a bed of straw or brush- 
wood was prepared, in which one man 
could sleep while his comrade watched. 
When one line of trench is completed, 
its occupiers, taking the advantage of the 
night, push forward to where the second 
line is to be opened, their place being 
immediately taken up by fresh troops 
from the rear, and so on progressively, — 
the number of trenches occupied varying 
according to the force of the besiegers, 
to the plans of the general, or to the na- 
ture of the ground. The Burmese, in 
the course of the evening, reoccupied 
their trenches, and recommenced their . 
labors, as if nothing had occurred ; their 
commander, however, took the precaution 
of bringing forward a strong corps of re- 
serve to the verge of the forest, from 
which his left wing had issued, to pro- 
tect it from any future interruption in its 
operations." 

The Burmese have mreat faith in as- 



BIRMAH. 



73 



trology, and it appears that a considerable 
corps of bigots or impostors accompany 
their army. The Invulnerables form 
another and singular portion of their 
troops : these men, excited by opium, and 
emboldened by superstition, show a mark- 
ed contempt of danger ; some of them 
exhibited a war-dance of defiance, upon 
the most exposed parts of the defences, 
even during the heat of the action. To 
this corps was confided the dangerous 
task of driving our troops from their post 
in the great temple near Rangoon. 

" At midnight, on the 30th, the attempt 
was accordingly made ; the Invulnerables, 
armed with swords and muskets, rushing 
in a compact body from the jungle under 
the Pagoda ; a small piquet, thrown out 
in our front, retiring in slow and steady 
order, skirmishing with the head of the 
advancing column, until it reached the 
stairs leading up to the Pagoda, at the 
summit of which the troops were drawn 
out, silently awaiting the approach of the 
Invulnerables, whose numbers in the 
darkness of the night (the moon having 
set previous to the commencement of the 
attack) could only be guessed at, by the 
noise and clamor of their threats and im- 
precations upon the impious strangers, if 
they did not immediately evacuate the 
sacred temple, as, guided by a few glim- 
mering lanterns in their front, they bold- 
ly and rapidly advanced in a dense mul- 
titude along the narrow pathway leading 
to the northern gateway. At length vivid 
flashes, followed by the cannon's thun- 
dering peals, broke from the silent ram- 
parts of the British post, stilling the tu- 
mult of the advancing mass, while show- 
ers of grape and successive volleys of 
musketry fell with dreadful havoc among 
their crowded ranks, against which the 
imaginary shield of self-deceit and impo- 
sition was found of no avail, leaving the 
unfortunate Invulnerables scarcely a 
chance between destruction and inglori- 
ous flight. Nor did they hesitate long 
upon the alternative ; a few devoted en- 
thusiasts may have despised to fly, but 
as they all belonged to the same high 
favored caste, and had brought none of 
their less-favored countrymen to witness 
their disgrace, the great body of them 
soon sought for safety in the jungle, 
10 



where they, no doubt, invented a plausi- 
ble account of their night's adventure, 
which, however efljectual it may have 
proved in saving their credit, had also 
the good eflect to us of preventing them 
in future from volunteering upon such 
desperate services, and contributed, in 
some degree, to protect the troops from 
being so frequently deprived of their 
night's rest." 

From this epoch, the Burmese leaders, 
convinced of the hopelessness of coping 
with the invaders in the field, reverted 
for some time to their much more formi- 
dable system, of fortifying themselves in 
the most inaccessible parts of the forest, 
straitening the quarters of the British, and 
harassing our worn out troops by desul- 
tory skirmishes and nightly inroads. It 
was once more necessary to force them 
to a general encounter ; and on the 8th 
of July, in the most inclement part of 
the rainy season. Sir Archibald Campbell 
moved out to attack their stockaded camp 
at Kummeroot on the river, five miles 
from the town, by land and water. Ten 
stockades were carried by escalade ; 
with the captiure of thirty pieces of cannon, 
and with a loss to the Burmese of their 
chief commander and eight hundred 
killed, while all the surrounding jungles 
were filled with their miserable wounded 
and dying. 

" The corps of Maha Nemiow had for 
some days remained stationary within a 
morning's walk of Prome, assiduously 
occupied in strengthening their hidden 
position in the jimgles of Simbike and 
Kyalaz, on the Nawiue river, maintaining 
so close and vigilant a watch, and con- 
ducting matters with so much secrecy, 
as to prevent us from gaining the slight- 
est information either as to the extent or 
nature of their defences, or the intention of 
their leader, when finished. Eight thou- 
sand men of his corps d'armee were 
Shans, who had not yet come in contact 
with our troops, and were expected to 
fight with more spirit and resolution than 
those who had a more intimate acquaint- 
ance with their enemy. In addition to 

numerous list of Chobwas and petty 
princes, these levies were accompanied 
by three young and handsome women of 
high rank, who were believed, by their 



74 



BIRMAH. 



superstitious countrymen, to be endowed 
not only with the gift of prophecy and 
foreknowledge, but to possess the mira- 
culous power of turning aside the balls of 
the English, rendering them wholly in- 
nocent and harmless. These Amazons, 
dressed in warlike costumes, rode con- 
stantly among the troops, inspiring them 
with courage and ardent wishes for an 
early meeting with their foe, as yet only 
known to them by the deceitful accounts 
of their Burmese masters. 

" On the 30th of November arrange- 
ments were made for attacking the ene- 
my on the following morning, beginning 
with the left, and taking the three corps 
d'armee rapidly in detail, which their 
insulated situation aftbrded every facility 
for doing. Commodore Sir James Bris- 
bane, with the flotilla, was to commence 
a cannonade upon the enemy's post, upon 
both banks of the Irravvaddy, at daylight, 
and a body of Native infantry was at the 
same time to advance along the margin 
of the river, upon the Kee Whongee's 
position at Napadee, and to drive in his 
advanced posts upon the main body, 
drawing the enemy's whole attention to 
his right and centre, while the columns 
were marching out for the real attack 
upon the left, at Simbike. Leaving four 
regiments of Native infantry in garrison, 
at daylight, on the morning of the 1st of 
December, the rest of the force was as- 
sembled, and formed in two columns of 
attack at a short distance in front of 
Prome. One, under brigadier-general 
Cotton, marched by the straight road 
leading to Simbike, while the other, ac- 
companied by the commander of the 
forces, crossed the Nawine river, moving 
along its right bank, for the purpose of 
attacking the enemy in the rear, and cut- 
ting off his retreat upon the Kee Whon- 
gee's division. The columns had scarce- 
ly moved off, when a furious cannonade 
upon our left announced the commence- 
ment of operations on the river, and so 
completely deceived the enemy, that we 
found the piquets of his left withdrawn, 
and the position at Simbike exposed to a 
sudden aud unexpected attack. Briga- 
dier-general Cotton's column first reach- 
ed the enemy's line, consisting of a suc- 
cession of stockades erected across an 



open space in the centre of the jungle, 
where the villages of Simbike and Kya- 
laz had stood, having the Nawine river 
in the rear, a thick wood on either flank, 
and assailable only by the open space in 
front, defended by cross fires from the 
zigzaging formation of the works. The 
brigadier-general, having quickly made 
his dispositions, the troops, consisting of 
His Majesty's forty-first in front, and the 
flank companies of His Majesty's Royal 
and eighty-ninth regiments, with the 
eighteenth Madras Native infantry in the 
flank, moved forward with their usual in- 
trepidity. The Shans, encouraged by the 
presence of their veteran commander, 
who, unable to walk, was carried from 
point to point, in a handsomely gilded 
litter, and cheered by the example and 
earnest exhortations to fight bravely, of 
the fearless Amazons, offered a brave 
resistance to the assailants ; but no soon- 
er was a lodgment made in the interior 
of their crowded works, than confusion 
ensued, and they were unable longer to 
contend with, or check the progress of 
the rapidly increasing line which formed 
upon their ramparts, and from whose de- 
structive volleys there was no escaping : 
the strongly built enclosures, of their 
own construction, every where prevent- 
ing flight, the dead and dying blocked 
up the few and narrow outlets from the 
work. Horses and men ran in wild con- 
fusion from side to side, trying to avoid 
the fatal fire ; groups were employed in 
breaking down, and trying to force a 
passage through the defences ; while the 
brave, who disdained to fly, still offered 
a feeble and ineflectual opposition to the 
advancing troops. The grey headed 
Chobwas of the Shans, in particxdar, 
showed a noble example to their men, 
sword in hand, singly maintaining the 
unequal contest ; nor could signs or ges- 
tures of good treatment induce them to 
forbearance. Attacking all who offered 
to approach them with humane or friend- 
ly feelings, they only sought the death 
which too many of them found. Maha 
Nemiow himself fell while bravely urg- 
ing his men to stand their ground ; and 
his faithful attendants, being likewise 
killed by the promiscuous fire while in 
tlie act of carrying him off, his body, with 



BUENOS AYRES. 



75 



his sword, Whongee's chain, and other 
insignia of office, were found among the 
dead. One of the fair Amazons also re- 
ceived a fatal bullet in the breast ; but the 
moment she was seen, and her sex was 
recognised, the soldiers bore her from the 
scene of death to a cottage in the rear, 
where she soon expired. 

" While this was passing in the inte- 
rior of the stockades, Sir Archibald Camp- 
bell's column, pushing rapidly forward to 
their rear, met the defeated and panic- 
struck fugitives in the act of emerging 
from the jungle and crossing the Nawine 



river. The horse-artillery was instantly 
unlimbered, and opened a heavy fire upon 
the crowded fort. Another of the Shan 
ladies was here observed flying on horse- 
back with the defeated remnant of her 
people ; but before she could gain the 
opposite bank of the river, where a friend- 
ly forest promised safety and protection, 
a shrapnel exploded above her head, and 
she fell from her horse into the water ; 
but whether killed, or only frightened, 
could not be ascertained, as she was 
immediately borne off by her attend- 
ants," 



BUENOS AYRES 



The accidental discovery of Brazil by 
the Portuguese admiral, Cabral, on his 
way to the East Indies, in 1500, was 
the first circumstance which led to the 
exploration of the South American con- 
tinent. In the following year, Americus 
Vespucius coasted along its eastern shore 
as far as the 52d degree of south lati- 
tude ; but was compelled, by the cold- 
ness and tempestuousness of the weather, 
to return to Portugal, without making 
any discovery of importance. In 1516, 
Juan Dias de Solis, grand pilot of Cas- 
tile, who had been entrusted, by the 
court of Spain, with an expedition, con- 
sisting of three vessels, for continuing 
the discovery of Brazil, first entered the 
Rio de la Plata, to which he gave his 
own name. Fearful, however, of ven- 
turing far up the river with his squadron, 
on account of the difficulty and danger of 
the navigation, he sailed along its north- 
ern coast in his long-boat ; and discov- 
ering some savages on the beach, who, 
by their gestures and signs, seemed to 
invite him on shore, he imprudently land- 
ed with a few men, and without taking 
any precautions for his safety. He and 
his followers were immediately massa- 
cred and devoured by the Indians, with- 
in sight of their companions, who re- 
mained in the boat, but who were unable 
to afford them any assistance. The ex- 
pedition returned to Spain, and this dis- 



covery was for some years neglected or 
forgotten. 

The first attempt of the Portuguese to 
explore the interior of this continent, 
was equally unfortunate. The reports 
of the immense riches which the Span- 
iards had gained in Peru, had reached 
the ears, and excited the avarice, of the 
governor of Brazil. He dispatched Al- 
exis de Garcia, and four others, to pene- 
trate the country by an overland journey. 
Garcia was assassinated by the natives. 

These disasters prevented, for a lime, 
any similar attempts at conquest in this 
quarter, until 1526, when Sebastian Ca- 
bot, grand pilot of Castile, who had been 
dispatched by the emperor Charles V, 
upon a voyage of circumnavigation by 
the Straits of Magellan, anchored in the 
La Plata, then called Rio de Solis, near 
the islands of San Gabriel. Having re- 
ceived the most flattering description of 
the riches and beauty of the country 
from some Spaniards whom he found in 
the port of Patos, and who had deserted 
from the army of Solis, he determined to 
relinquish the original object of the ex- 
pedition, and to accomplish farther dis- 
coveries upon the Paraguay. After an 
unsuccessful attempt of one of his cap- 
tains to explore the river Uraguay, which 
he took for the true Rio de Solis, he pro- 
ceeded up the Parana, and built a small 
fort at the mouth of the Rio Tercero. 



76 



BUENOS AYRES. 



This fort he garrisoned with sixty sol- 
diers, and called it Santi Espiritu, or the 
Fort of the Holy Ghost. He then fol- 
lowed the course of the river as high as 
27^ degrees of latitude, where he met 
with some Indians, who wore in their 
ears small pieces of gold and silver. 
These they exchanged with the Span- 
iards for some European trifles, but could 
give them no information where these 
metals were to be found, except that they 
had received them from some of the 
tribes upon the Parag-uay. Cabot im- 
mediately ascended that river, but a party 
of his men being cut off by the natives, 
who had deluded them on shore, with 
the promise of showing them their riches, 
he returned to Santi Espiritu. Satisfied 
that the pieces of gold and silver which 
he had obtained from the Indians on the 
Parana, were the produce of the mines 
in the neighborhood, he gave to the river 
the name of Rio de la Plata, or River of 
Silver ; and dispatched Ferdinand Cal- 
deron to Spain, to inform the emperor of 
his discoveries and operations. The 
emperor was so delighted with the ap- 
pearance of the pieces of silver, Avhich 
were the first that had been brought from 
America to Spain, that he not only ap- 
proved of Cabot's deviation from his 
original instructions, and of all that he 
had hitherto done, but he ordered a great 
armament to be fitted out for accomplish- 
ing the complete conquest of the country. 
Six years, however, elapsed before this 
armament was ready for sea; and, dur- 
ing that time, the fort of Santi Espiritu 
had been destroyed, and the country en- 
tirely evacuated by the Spaniards. 

Such was the situation of affairs in 
Paraguay when the Spanish armament 
arrived in 1535, under the command of 
Don Pedro de Mendoza, who was ap- 
pointed governor and captain-general of 
all the countries that might be discovered 
as far as the South Sea. This arma- 
ment consisted of fourteen vessels, car- 
rying 72 horses, 2500 Spaniards, and 
150 Germans, Flemings or Saxons. The 
first care of Mendoza was to select a 
convenient station for a new settlement, 
and having fixed upon a spot on the 
south bank of the river, he there founded 
the city of Buenos Ayres, on the 2d of 



February, 1535. The natives, who at 
first brought provisions, and seemed well 
disposed towards the Spaniards, soon 
showed a determined hostility to the set- 
tlers. They cut off their foraging par- 
ties, intercepted their provisions, and 
massacred every European whom they 
found straggling in the country. They 
even attacked the city, killed thirty Span- 
iards, and burnt almost all the houses. 
This opposition, added to the ravages of 
famine and disease, which had begun to 
rage in the colony, determined the gov- 
ernor to look out for a more eligible sit- 
uation for an establishment, and for that 
purpose proceeded up the river. Having 
rebuilt the fort of Santi Espiritu, under 
the name of Buena-Esperanza, he des- 
patched his lieutenant Ayolas, with three 
barks well manned, to continue the voy- 
age ; and required him, if he did not re- 
turn within four months, to transmit an 
account of his operations and discoveries. 
Mendoza soon after became dangerously 
ill, and naming Ayolas his successor in 
the government, embarked for Spain, but 
died on his passage. Ayolas pushed up 
the river, and treated amicably with all 
the natives whom he met upon his voy- 
age, until he came to the 25th deg-ree of 
latitude, where the Indians declined all 
kind of intercourse with the Spaniards. 
He immediately landed his forces, and 
fought the Indians in the valley of Guar- 
nipitan. They were defeated with great 
slaughter, and an immediate peace was 
the consequence, when the Indians not 
only supplied him with provisions, but 
also brought seven young females for 
Ayolas, and two for each of his soldiers. 
Here Ayolas built a small fort, which he 
called Assumption, from the day on 
which the battle was fought, being the 
15th of August, 1536. Proceeding upon 
his voyage, he landed at Puerto de Can- 
delaria, in latitude 21° 5', where, being 
assured by the Guarinis Indians, that 
there were several nations to the west- 
ward who possessed a great deal of 
gold and silver, he resolved to go in quest 
of them ; and leaving his brigantines un- 
der the command of Irala, with orders to 
wait six months for his return, he pene- 
trated by Chaco and the province of 
Chiquitos as far as Peru, and returned 



BUENOS AYRES, 



77 



to Candelaria loaded with treasure. Ira- 
la, however, had departed before the ap- 
pointed time ; and Ayolas, attempting to 
form a settlement among the Payaguas, 
was surprised and killed, along with all 
his followers. 

While the progress of discovery was 
thus interrupted on the Paraguay, the 
colonies on the La Plata were suffering 
all the horrors of famine. Galan, the 
governor of Buenos Ayres, had exposed 
himself, by his severity and oppression, 
to the universal detestation of the inhab- 
itants ; and his arbitrary and perfidious 
conduct towards the Indians in the neigh- 
borhood of Buena Esperanza awakened 
all the ancient animosity of the Timbuez, 
who drove the Spaniards from that set- 
tlement. During these melancholy oc- 
currences, three vessels arrived from 
Spain with reinforcements under the 
command of Alphonso Calrera, who also 
brought out a commission from the em- 
peror, appointing Ayolas governor and 
captain-general of the Rio de la Plata. 
In case of his death, however, and no 
successor being chosen by the chiefs of 
the expedition, he was enjoined, by an 
imperial CeduUa, to assemble them for 
the election of a new governor. For this 
purpose they met at Assumption in the 
month of August, 1538, when the choice 
fell unanimously upon Irala. At this 
meeting it was also resolved to abandon 
Buenos Ayres, and to concentrate all 
their forces at Assumption, which had 
already begun to assume the appearance 
of a city. But of three thousand Euro- 
peans who had entered the La Plata, 
scarcely six hundred remained to com- 
pose the population of Assumption. — 
These, however, were soon afterwards 
reinforced, by the arrival of four hundred 
Spaniards, under the command of Don 
Alvarez, who had been sent out by the 
emperor to take upon him the govern- 
ment of the Rio de la Plata in case of 
the death of Ayolas. Irala submitted 
with a good grace, but set himself secret- 
ly to foment divisions among the officers 
of the garrison, and to procure the remo- 
val of his rival. The first steps of the 
new governor were to secure the friend- 
ship of the neighboring Indians ; and by 
his mild and prudent conduct, he not only 



gained their affections, but converted 
many of them to the Christian faith ; and 
by firm and decisive measures he repres- 
sed the insolence of those more fierce 
and savage tribes, who were constantly 
committing hostilities against the Span- 
iards. Farther discoveries were also 
prosecuted on the Paraguay. Irala, with 
ninety Spaniards, had advanced towards 
the sources of that river, and anchored at 
the mouth of the lake Xarayes, in lati- 
tude 17° 57', which he called Puerto de 
los Reyes. Proceeding west by land, 
he fell in with several nations, among 
whom he found a great deal of wrought 
gold and silver; but he was unable to 
discover whence they obtained it. 

As soon as Alvarez was made ac- 
quainted with this circumstance, he re- 
solved upon undertaking a similar ex- 
pedition in person, and of opening a way 
into Peru. Leaving Los Reyes with 
300 Spaniards, and provisions for twen- 
ty days, he directed his course westward 
through a woody country, sometimes so 
impenetrable, that he was obliged to cut 
a passage for his troops. On the sixth 
day he reached the banks of a river, 
whose waters were very warm and trans- 
parent. Here several nations sent dep- 
uties to him with compliments and pro- 
visions, while others attempted to oppose 
his passage. Proceeding on, he is said 
to have come to a large town, consisting 
of 8000 houses or huts, in the centre of 
which stood a wooden tower, containing 
a monstrous serpent, which was deified 
by the Indians. The capture of this 
town, and the destruction of its divinity, 
terminated the expedition ; for he was 
compelled to return by the murmurings 
of his troops, who refused to accompany 
him farther. 

The moderation and upright conduct 
of Alvarez towards the Indians, and his 
determined firmness in resisting the ava- 
rice and tyranny of his countrymen, had 
increased the partizans of Irala, who now 
resolved upon his removal. He was 
seized on the 26th of April, 1541, and 
afterwards sent prisoner to Spain, ac- 
companied with many grievous accusa- 
tions, which, however, were never sub- 
stantiated. But it was not until after 
eight years delay, that he was fully ac- 



78 



BUENOS AYRES. 



quitted, and rewarded with a pension of 
2000 gold crowns, and a seat in the 
council of the Indians, and in the royal 
audience of SeA'ille. 

The humane and temperate proceed- 
ings of Alvarez were soon forgotten un- 
der the usurpation of Irala. The Indian 
villages became scenes of pillage and 
oppression, which produced frequent re- 
volts; and even the Spanish colonists 
themselves were not free from the rapa- 
city of his soldiery. Tyrannical and sus- 
picious, he was continually surrounded 
with spies ; and imprisonment or death 
was inflicted upon all, who were sus- 
pected of convej'ing intelligence of his 
conduct, either to Spain, or the viceroy 
of Peru. His measures, however, though 
often severe, were executed with firm- 
ness and decision, and tended greatly to 
the extension of the Spanish power in 
America. 

In 1547, the city of Assumption was 
erected into a bishopric by Pope Paul 
III ; but it was not until 1554, that the 
bishop Francis Pedro de la Torre arrived 
with his retinue in Paraguay. He was 
accompanied by three vessels full of 
men, arms, and ammunition, under the 
command of Martin de Urua, who brought 
out a commission from the emperor, con- 
tinuing Irala in his government ; and also 
various orders and regulations respect- 
ing the encomiejidas and personal services 
of the Indians. The number of Indians, 
already reduced or converted, were in- 
sufficient to supply all the Spaniards 
who laid claim to their services; new 
settlement were consequently resolved 
upon, and detachments were sent out to 
discover proper situations for the estab- 
lishment of encomiendas, and to reduce 
the natives under their power. With 
this view, Ciudad Real was founded in 
the province of Guayra, in 1 557, when 
40,000 Indians were trained to habits of 
industry; and a few years after, the en- 
comienda of Santa Cruz de la Sierra vvas 
established in Los Chiquitos, compre- 
hending nearly 60,000 inhabitants. Of 
this system, however, Irala did not live 
long to promote the eftects ; but being 
seized with a fever, he died at Assump- 
tion in 1557, after nominating his son- 
in-law, Don Gonzalez de Mendoza, lieu- 



tenant-general and commander of the pro 
vince, until the emperor's pleasure should 
be known. Mendoza survived liis ex- 
altation scarcely a year ; and his death 
was succeeded by rebellious and civil 
dissensions throughout the province. — 
The Spanish chiefs, ambitious of wealth, 
and impatient of control, and far remov- 
ed from the authority of the parent state, 
often disputed for pre-eminence. One 
governor refused to acknowledge the su- 
premacy of another, and frequently re- 
tained, or seized by violence or fraud, 
dignities to which a successor had been 
appointed. But amidst the fierceness 
of contention, the India'ns found no relief 
from their intolerable bondage. Expos- 
ed to the arbitrary exactions and capri- 
cious cruelty of their task-masters, they 
were fast hastening to extinction ; and 
had not some farther regulations been 
adopted by the Spanish court, its pos- 
sessions in this country would soon have 
been converted into an uninhabited de- 
sert. The preservation and increase of 
the Indian population, however, was 
chiefly owing to the labors of the Jesuits, 
who by their mildness and humanity, not 
only reduced them under the dominion 
of the cross, but established a political 
government amongst them, of which 
promises and persuasion were the prin- 
cipal engines of authority. 

In 1609, Father Torrez, the provincial 
of the Jesuits, received full power from 
the governor of Paraguay, which was 
sanctioned by the bishop, to collect their 
newly converted Indians into townships, 
which were to be independent of all the 
other Spanish establishments ; to civilize 
and to instruct them ; and to oppose, in 
the king's name, all who should endeavor 
to subject them to personal service. — 
They were only to acknowledge the sove- 
reignty of the king of Spain, of whom 
they were to be considered as the im- 
mediate vassals. This power was af- 
terwards confirmed by Philip HI, and 
his successors; and such were the zeal 
and labors of the Jesuits, that, in the 
course of 20 years, they had established 
21 reductions upon the Parana and the 
Uraguay. 

The Spaniards had extended their 
power over the vast plains which lie 



BUENOS AYRES. 



79 



between the Paraguay and the ChiUan 
Cordillera. Los Charcas, after an ob- 
stinate and vigorous resistance, had sub- 
mitted to Gonzalez Pizarro, soon after 
the subjugation of Peru ; and Tucuman 
had also been subdued, and settled by 
the conquerors of that country. The re- 
establishment of Buenos Ayres had been 
resolved upon by the governor of Para- 
guay, and carried into execution in 
1580, — the want of a proper harbor at 
the mouth of the La Plata rendering that 
undertaking absolutely necessary. This 
city was at first exceedingly annoyed by 
the adjacent Indians, and remained long- 
in a state of poverty. It, however, 
emerged by degrees into distinction, and 
rose to be the capital of the viceroyalty. 
A new province, distinct from that of 
Paraguay, had also been established 
about 1620, under the name of Rio de la 
Plata, now Buenos Ayres, of which Don 
Diego Gongora was appointed governor. 

Nothing of much importance occurred 
in the history of this country till 1679, 
when the Portuguese attempted a settle- 
ment on the north bank of the Rio de la 
Plata. This settlement gave rise to 
many disputes between Portugal and 
Spain, till it was ceded to the Spaniards 
in 1778. 

The increasing prosperity of the Je- 
suits about 1730, began to attract the at- 
tention of the Spanish government. Be- 
sides their settlements upon the Parana 
and the Uraguay, they had established 
reductions among the Chiquitos and the 
Moxos ; and also several of the Pampas 
Indians had been united in a reduction 
called Conception, a little south-east of 
Buenos Ayres. The number and strength 
of these establishments rendered them 
objects of considerable apprehension to 
the .Spanish colonists, who, imagining 
that they beheld them advancing with a 
decided step to independent empire, 
were alarmed at the stability and impor- 
tance which they had acquired. They 
were also exasperated at the subduction 
of so many tribes of Indians, Avho, they 
asserted, belonged to them by right of 
conquest, and ought to have been divided 
in encomiendas. Repeated attempts 
were consequently made to ruin the 
Jesuits at the court of Madrid. They 



were loaded with accusations and asper- 
sions, and were solemnly charged with 
alienating the Indians from the crown of 
Spain. But many of these imputations 
having been found to be either ground- 
less or exaggerated, they were confirmed 
by a royal decree, in 1745, in all their 
rights and immunities. The revolt of 
the Guarinis, however, which soon fol- 
lowed, greatly diminished the power of 
the Jesuits. 

The expulsion of their order from 
Spain, in 1767, was immediately follow- 
ed by the subversion of their empire in 
America. Their missions were con- 
verted into regular Spanish settlements, 
called Presidencies ; and they were suc- 
ceeded in their spiritual labors by the 
the monks of St. Francis, St. Dominic, 
and the order of Mercy. We may form 
some estimate of the prosperity of these 
reductions, from the number of cattle 
which they possessed at the time of 
their annexation to the government of 
Paraguay, viz ; 769,353 horned cattle, 
94,983 horses, and 221,537 sheep. 
• The difficulties attending the direction 
of such an extensive viceroyalty as that 
of Peru, determined the Spanish court to 
disjoin the provinces of Buenos Ayres, 
Paraguay, Tucuman, Los Charcas, and 
Cuyo, from that government, and to 
erect them into a separate viceroyalty, 
with Buenos Ayres for its capital. This 
arrangement was soon found to be most 
conducive to the prosperity of the coun- 
try, as well as to the advantage of the 
parent state ; for, except some partial 
insurrections among the Indians of Los 
Charcas, and the Guarinis presidencies, 
nothing of importance occurred to dis- 
turb the tranquility of the colonists until 
1806, when a British squadron appeared 
in the mouth of the Rio de la Plata. 

This expedition, under the command 
of Major General Beresford and Sir 
Home Popham, anchored off Point de 
Quilmes, about twelve miles from Bue- 
nos Ayres, on the 25th of June, 1806. 
The debarkation of the troops was efiect- 
ed in the course of the afternoon and 
night, without the least opposition from 
the enemy, who, though stationed at the 
village of Reduction, only about two 
miles from the beach, remained quiet 



80 



BUENOS AYRES. 



spectators of their operations. After a 
feeble resistance on the following day, 
they fled with precipitation, leaving be- 
hind them four field pieces, and one tum- 
bril ; and, taking up a new position on 
the Rio Chuelo, nearly three miles from 
the city, attempted to oppose the pas- 
sage of the British troops. A few dis- 
charges of artillery, however, and the 
determined appearance of the army, 
soon compelled them to disperse, when 
General Beresford entered the capital 
without opposition. The conquest of 
this important settlement was thus effect- 
ed with a very trifling loss, and the cap- 
tors were rewarded with a rich booty in 
specie and colonial produce. Short 
lived, however, was the triumph of the 
English; for no sooner did the Span- 
iards discover the inconsiderable force 
which had possession of their capital, 
than they immediately determined upon 
its recovery, and, before reinforcements 
should arrive from England, to expel 
from their country these daring intru- 
ders. A thousand regular troops from 
Monte Video, under the command of 
Colonel Liniers, supported by an armed 
mob, amounting to nearly 20,000 men, 
marched against the city. But the Brit- 
ish troops, consisting of only 1300 men, 
received them with such cool and deter- 
mined resistance, that they were at first 
repulsed and thrown into confusion. By 
repeated attacks, however, they prevail- 
ed. The British were at last overpow- 
ered, and obliged to surrender, on the 
12th of August, with the loss of 1 14 men 
killed and wounded. Scarcely was the 
re-capture accomplished, when succours 
arrived from the Cape of Good Hope ; 
with which Sir Home Popham, after 
having made an abortive attempt upon 
Monte Video, took possession of Mal- 
donado, a strong position at the mouth 
of the La Plata. 

The people of England were so de- 
lighted with the intelligence of their new 
conquest, and so buoyed up with the 
prospect of a free and ready market for 
their manufactures, that the ministry, in 
compliance with the public feeling, but 
contrary to their own better judgment, 
resolved to retain a possession which 
had been acquired without either their 



consent or approbation. Sir Samuel 
Achmuty was consequently dispatched 
with a strong reinforcement ; but, before 
his arrival, Buenos Ayres had been lost. 
He, however, took Monte Video by- 
storm, and then sent a small detachment 
under Colonel Pack, to occupy Colonia 
del Sacramento, which lies on the north 
side of the river, opposite to Buenos 
Ayres. 

The English general waited now only 
for farther succours to proceed against 
the Spanish capital. The Spaniards, in 
the mean time, however, had made every 
preparation for defence. Their ancient 
animosity against the English, which 
had been excited by the ravages of 
Drake, of Cavendish, and of the Bucca- 
neers, was now revived ; and they de- 
termined upon a stout and resolute op- 
position. Every avenue to the city was 
barricaded with bullock's hides, placed 
from fifteen to twenty feet thick, against 
which it would be in vain to fire. Many 
of the houses which had parapet walls, 
were planted with small artillery ; and 
every citizen that could carry arms had 
his appointed station. Conspiracies 
were also forming in the very heart of 
the British troops. The Spanish inhab- 
itants of Monte Video had secreted arms 
and ammunition in their houses, with the 
intention of rising upon their conquerors ; 
and a Spanish gentleman and his servant 
were executed, for endeavoring to entice 
some of the 9th light dragoons to join 
the Spanish army. 

General Whitelocke arrived at Monte 
Video on the 10th of May, 1807, to take 
the chief command of the British force ; 
and, on the 15th of June, was joined by 
General Craufurd, with the expedition 
which had been destined against Chili, 
but which the British government, upon 
receiving intelligence of the recapture 
of Buenos Ayres, had commanded to re- 
pair to the Rio de la Plata. With this 
united force of 8000 men, consisting of 
some of the finest troops in the British 
service. General Whitelocke sailed from 
Monte Video on the 21st of June, and, 
haAdng landed on the 28th in the bay 
of Barragan, proceeded against Buenos 
Ayres. After a tedious march of above 
thirty miles, through a coimtry intersect. 



BUENOS AYRES. 



81 



ed by swamps and deep muddy rivulets, 
during which the army were exposed to 
incredible hardships and privations, being 
obliged to leave their artillery and bag- 
gage behind, and to fight with several 
detachments of the enemy, which en- 
deavored to oppose their advance, they 
reached the environs of the city. Here 
the English commander, having fonned 
his troops into a line, extending along 
the suburbs, from the convent of Reco 
leta on the left, to nearly the Residencia 
on the right, issued his orders concern 
mg the plan of attack, which he propos' 
ed should be pursued on the following 
day. Two six pounders, covered by the 
carabineers under Lieutenant Colonel 
Kingston, and three troops of dragoons, 
were ordered along the central street ; 
Sir Samuel Auchmuty was directed to 
penetrate with his brigade the streets on 
the left, and with the 38th regiment to 
take possession of the Plaza de Toros 
and the adjacent strong grounds ; and 
General Craufurd was to proceed down 
the streets on the right, and with the 
42d regiment to take possession of the 
Residencia. Each column, preceded 
by two corporals armed with crows, for 
the purpose of breaking open the doors 
of the houses, was ordered to advance 
until it reached the last square of houses 
next the river La Plata, of which it was 
to possess itself, and forming on the flat 
roofs, there to wait for turther orders. 
No firing was to be permitted, until the 
troops had reached their points of des- 
tination, and formed ; and a cannonade 
in the centre was to be the signal for 
the whole to come forward. 

According to this arrangement, the 
army moved forwards on the morning of 
the 5th of July ; but this extraordinary 
mode of attack was met, on the part of 
the Spaniards, by a most vigorous and 
efficacious resistance. Some of the 
streets were intersected by deep ditches, 
planted with cannon, wliich poured 
showers of grape on the advancing col- 
umns ; and a heavy and continued fire 
of musketry from the roofs and windows 
of the houses, assailed the British troops 
at every step of their progress. The 
left division, under General Auchmuty, 
by the most spirited and successfiU gal- 
11 



lantry, had gained the Plaza de Toros, 
and taken 32 pieces of cannon, 600 pris- 
oners, and an immense quantity of am- 
munition, with the loss, however, of 
the whole of the 88th regiment, which 
had been overpowered and taken pris- 
oners. The centre division had scarce- 
ly entered the street, when they were ar- 
rested by a destructive and superior fire, 
and took up a position in front of the 
enemy, a little in advance of what it held 
in the morning. A small part only of 
the right division reached the Residen- 
cia; the rest, under General Craufurd, 
having taken refuge in the convent of the 
Dominicans, after a vigorous and pro- 
tracted resistance, were at last compelled 
to surrender at four in the afternoon. 
What human intrepidity could accom- 
plish, was performed by the British troops 
in this unequal conflict; but what was 
most galling to brave men in the midst 
of danger, they were doomed to suffer, 
without a possibility of retaliating upon 
their enemies. Their bayonets could 
not reach their distant and often unseen 
opponents, whose destructive fire issued 
from the windows and roofs of the houses, 
the doors of which were so strongly barri- 
caded, that it was almost impossible to 
force them. " The nature of the fire," 
says the commander of the expedition, in 
his public despatches, " to which the 
troops were exposed, was violent in the 
extreme ; grape-shot at the corners of all 
the streets, musketry, hand-grenades, 
bricks and stones from the tops of all the 
houses ; every householder with his ne- 
groes defended his dwelling, each of 
which was in itself a fortress ; and it is 
not perhaps too much to say, that the 
whole male popvdation of Buenos Ayres 
was employed in its defence." The dis- 
asters of this day, which amounted to the 
loss of nearly a third of the British army 
in killed, wounded and prisoners, without 
having gained any material advantage — 
and the consideration that these prisoners 
were in the hands of an exasperated pop- 
ulace, whose animosity to their invaders 
no power could restrain, if offensive mea- 
sures were persisted in — induced the 
English commander to agree to an armi- 
stice proposed by General Liniers, on 
the morning of the 6th. This armistice 



82 



CANADA. 



issued in a convention, by which it was 
engaged, that the British should evacu- 
ate the La Plata in two months ; and 
that all the prisoners on both sides, cap- 
tured in South America since the com- 
mencement of the war, should be restor- 
ed. The Spaniards were now, for a 
time, freed from foreign hostility, for 
which they considered themselves as in- 
debted to the incapacity and presumptuous 
temerity of the English leader ; and those 
bright prospects of wealth which the 
British merchants had been led to in- 
dulge, from the expectation of a ready 
market for their manufactures, and which 
had induced them to enter into the most 
hazardous speculations, to the amount, it 
is said, of three millions sterling, were 
dissipated for ever. So great, indeed, 
was the antipathy of the Spaniards to the 



British, that though greatly in want of 
their merchandise, and knowing that this 
visit to South America would perhaps be 
their last, yet they could not be prevailed 
upon to purchase a single article. 

Upon the breaking out of the Spanish 
revolution in 1808, the inhabitants of 
Buenos Ayres, refused to acknowledge 
Joseph Bonaparte as their rightful sove- 
reign, and a junto was appointed to ad- 
minister the affairs of the government 
until Ferdinand VJ.I should be restored 
to his throne. {See Spain.) A general 
disposition soon began to prevail through- 
out the provinces in favor of throwing 
off their allegiance to the mother coun- 
try, and in 1816, they declared them- 
selves independent, under the title of 
" The United Provinces of South Ame- 



CANADA. 



Canada is an extensive tract of coun- 
try in North America. It is divided into 
two provinces, called Upper and Lower 
Canada. 

The French appear to have availed 
themselves of the information derived 
from Cabot's voyage to North America, 
before any other nation. We hear of 
their fishing for cod on the banks of New- 
foundland very early in the sixteenth 
century. About 1506, a Frenchman, 
named Denys, is said to have drawn a 
map of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and, 
two years afterwards, Aubert, a master 
of a vessel belonging to Dieppe, carried 
over to France some of the natives of 
Canada. Several years, however, pass- 
ed away before public attention was 
again turned to it. In 1524, Francis I 
sent four ships, under Verazani, a Flor- 
entine, to prosecute discoveries in this 
country. The particulars of his first ex- 
pedition are not known. He returned to 
France, and, the next year, undertook a 
second, which appears to have produced 
no beneficial result. On a third voyage, 
he and all his company perished. In 
April, 1534, James Cartier, of St. Maloes, 
sailed, by commission from the king, with 



two small ships and 122 men, and May 
1 0, came in sight of Newfoundland ; but 
the earth was covered with snow, and 
great quantities of ice were about the 
shore. Having sailed to the fifty-first 
degree of latitude, in the vain hope of 
passing to China, he returned to France 
without making a settlement. In the 
following year he sailed a second time 
from France, with three ships, proceeded 
up the St. Lawrence 300 leagues, to a 
great and swift fall ; built a fort, and 
wintered in the country. 

The French Avere well received by 
the natives, but were soon infected with 
the scurvy, of which disease twenty-five 
of their number died. The next spring, 
Cartier returned, with the remains of his 
crew, to France. Between 1540 and 
1 549, a nobleman of Picardy, de la Roque, 
lord of Roberval,made an attempt to found 
a colony in Canada, but perished, on his 
second voyage, with a great number of 
adventurers. At last, Henry IV ap- 
pointed the marquis de la Roche lieuten- 
ant-general of Canada and the neighbor- 
ing countries. In 1598, he landed on 
the isle of Sable, which he absurdly im- 
agined to be a suitable place for the 



CANADA. 



83 



establishment of a colony, though it was 
without any port, and produced no other 
crop than briers. Here he left about 
forty malefactors, the gleanings of the 
French jails. After cruising for some 
time on the coast of Nova Scotia, with 
out being able to relieve these unfortunate 
settlers, he returned to France. H 
colony must have perished, had not a 
French ship been wrecked on the island, 
from which a few sheep were driven 
ashore. With the boards of the ship 
they erected huts, and, while the sheep 
lasted, they lived upon them, feeding af- 
terwards upon fish. Their clothes wear- 
ing out, they made garments of seal-skins, 
and in this miserable condition spent 
seven years, when Henry IV ordered 
them to be brought home to France, and, 
on seeing their miserable appearance, 
was so much moved, that he forgave 
them their offences, and presented each 
with fifty crowns to begin the world anew. 

In 1600, M. Chauvin, a commander in 
the French navy, made a voyage to 
Canada, from which he returned- with a 
profitable cargo of fiurs. The public now 
began to turn more attention to this coun- 
try. An armament was equipped, and 
the command given to Pontgran. He 
sailed in 1603. In 1608, the city of 
Quebec was founded, and from this pe- 
riod the establishment of a permanent 
French colony commenced. 

The settlement was, for many years, 
in a feeble condition, and was often in 
danger of being totally exterminated by 
the Indians. The French, however, con- 
cluded a treaty of peace with them, and 
finally, by their address, obtained entire 
control over them, to the great inconve- 
nience of the neighboring English settle- 
ments. In 1628, a company of French 
merchants obtained a patent for the ex- 
clusive trade with Canada. The next 
year, an English expedition, under Sir 
David Keith, took possession of Quebec ; 
but it was surrendered again to the French, 
by the treaty of St. Germains. In 1663, 
the charter of the company of merchants 
was taken away, and new privileges were 
granted, for forty years, to the West In- 
dia Company. From this period, Cana- 
da appears to have remained in a state 
of tranquillity until 1690, when a bold at- 



tempt was made by the people of New 
England to reduce it to subjection to the 
crown of England. An armament was 
equipped for this service, and the com- 
mand given to Sir William Phipps. The 
effective men, to the number of between 
1200 and 1300, landed a little below the 
town of Quebec, and were fired on from 
the woods by the French and Indians. 
Having found the place too strong for 
them, they re-embarked with precipita- 
tion, and returned to Boston. The at- 
tempt was renewed, 1711, by a powerful 
force of British veteran troops, assisted 
by about 4,000 provincials and Indians. 
Such were the difficulties and losses, 
however, experienced in passing up the 
river, that the design was abandoned by 
the British officers, to the great mortifi- 
cation of the provincial troops. Canada 
continued in the occupation of the French, 
without any further molestation, until the 
breaking out of the war between France 
and England, in 1756. Great prepara- 
tions were then made, on both sides, for 
attack and defence. 

In 1759, the British Government form- 
ed the project of attempting the conquest 
of Canada by three different but simulta- 
neous attacks. One division of the army 
was to ascend the St. Lawrence, and 
lay siege to Quebec. The central and 
main body was to be conducted against 
Ticonderoga and Crown Point. The 
third was to proceed against Niagara, 
and, after the reduction of that place, to 
descend the St. Lawrence to Montreal. 
The division which ascended the St. 
Lawrence was commanded by general 
Wolfe, and was defeated in its first oper- 
ations by the French. The English, how- 
ever, finally obtained possession of Que- 
bec, after a gallant resistance on the part 
of the French, Avhose brave commander, 
Montcalm, had been killed in the action. 
The English general, Wolfe, was also 
killed. 

The British army, amounting to 8,000 
men, landed in June, on the island of 
Orleans, below Quebec. The city of 
Quebec stands on a rock, at the con- 
fluence of Charles and Iroquois rivers ; 
it is naturally a place of great strength, 
and was well fortified and defended by a 
force of 10,000 men, under the command 



84 



CANADA. 



mM 


IL # 


^M 


^^M^ 


mm 


^^Sffl 



Death of Gen. Wolf at Quebec. 



of general Montcalm. Gen. Wolfe had 
to contend with immense difficulties, and, 
after having failed in several attempts to 
reduce the city, he conceived the bold 
project of ascending with his troops, a 
steep, craggy cliff of from 150 to 200 
feet, by which he would reach the plains 
of Abraham, south and west of the city. 
This almost incredible enterprise was 
effected in the night, and by day light, 
(Sept. 13,) the army was formed, and 
ready to meet the enemy. 

"To Montcalm, the intelligence that 
the English were occupying the heights 
of Abraham, was most surprising. The 
impossibility of ascending the precipice, 
he considered certain, and therefore had 
taken no measures to fortify its line. 
But no sooner was he informed of the 
position of the English army, than he 
perceived a battle no longer to be avoid- 
ed, and prepared to fight. Between nine 
and ten o'clock, the two armies, about 
equal in numbers, met face to face. 

"The battle now commenced. Inat- 
tentive to the fire of a body of Canadians 
and Indians, 1500 of whom Montcalm 
had stationed in the corn-fields and bush- 
es, Wolfe directed his troops to reserve 
their fire for the main body of the French, 



now rapidly advancing. On their ap- 
proach within 40 yards, the English 
opened their fire, and the destruction be- 
came immense. 

" The French fought bravely, but their 
ranks became disordered, and notwith- 
standing the repeated efforts of their ofli- 
cers to form them and renew the attack, 
they were so successfully pushed by the 
British bayonet, and hewn down by the 
Highland broadsword, that their discom- 
fiture was complete. 

" During the action, Montcalm was on 
the French left, and Wolfe on the Eng- 
lish right, and here they both fell, in the 
critical moment that decided the victory. 
Early in the battle, Wolfe received a ball 
in the wrist, but binding his handkerchief 
around it, he continued to encourage his 
men. Shortly after another ball pene- 
trated his groin ; but this wound although 
much more severe, he concealed, and 
continued to urge on the contest, till a 
third bullet pierced his breast. He was 
now obliged, though reluctant, to be car- 
ried to the rear of the line. 

" Gen. Monckton succeeded to the 
command, but was immediately wounded 
and conveyed away. In this critical 
state of the action the command devolv- 



CARTHAGE. 



85 



ed on Gen. Townsend. Gen. Montcalm, 
fighting in the front of his battalion, re- 
ceived a mortal wound about the same 
time, and General Jennezergus, his se- 
cond in command, fell near his side. 

"Wolfe died in the field, before the 
battle was ended ; but he lived long enough 
to know that the victory was his. While 
leaning on the shoulder of a lieutenant, 
who kneeled to support him, he was seiz- 
ed with the agonies of death ; at this mo- 
ment was heard the distant sound, ' They 
fiy — they fly.' The hero raised his 
drooping head, and eagerly asked, ' Who 
fly.' Being told that it was the French 
— ' Then,' he replied, ' I die happy,' 
and expired. 

"This death," says Professor Silliman, 
"has furnished a grand and pathetic sub- 
ject for the painter, the poet and the his- 
torian, and undoubtedly, (considered as 
a specimen of mere military glory,) it is 
one of the most sublime that the annals 
of war afford, 

" Montcalm was every way worthy of 
being the competitor of Wolfe. In tal- 
ents — in military skill — in personal cour- 
age, he was not his inferior. Nor was his 
death much less sublime. He lived to 



be carried to the city, where his last 
moments were employed in writing with 
his own hand, a letter to the English 
General, recommending the French pris- 
oners to his care and humanity. When 
informed that his wound was mortal, he 
replied, 'I shall not then live to see the 
surrender of Quebec' " 

In 1775, Canada was invaded by a 
body of provincial troops, under General 
Montgomery. Montreal was taken, and 
a gallant but unsuccessful attempt was 
made on Quebec, in which the brave 
Montgomery was killed. No other at- 
tempt Avas made on this province during 
the revolutionary war. We have few 
records of Canadian history from this 
period until the late war between this 
country and the United States. Upper 
Canada then became the theatre of a 
sanguinary contest. The American troops 
were unable, however, to make any per- 
manent conquests, and the province has 
since remained subject to Great Britain. 
In 1825, the restrictions upon its com- 
merce, under which it had labored, with 
the other colonies of Great Britain, were 
principally removed, and its trade has 
since greatly increased. 



CARTHAGE 



The materials we possess for compiling 
a history of the Carthaginians, bear no 
proportion to the importance of the sub- 
ject. Every page of ancient history con- 
tains some reference to this remarkable 
people, some circumstance with which 
they were directly or indirectly concern- 
ed ; yet are we almost wholly ignorant 
of their internal polity, and of all the se- 
cret springs which gave energy to their 
exertions. We find them bearing a part 
in the most important transactions of the 
civilized states, pushing their maritime 
discoveries and their system of coloni- 
zation into the remotest regions, and at 
last striving with Rome herself for the 
mastery of the world. Yet of their re- 
sources we know scarcely any thing, 
except from analogy and conjecture ; and 
of the events of their domestic history, 



our accounts are meager and unsatisfac- 
tory. The information we possess is 
for the most part derived from the casual 
notices of the Greek and Roman histo- 
rians, few of whom had the opportunity, 
some, as it appears, not even the inclina- 
tion, to give fidelity and accuracy to their 
narratives. It is our business, therefore, 
to put together the fragments which lie 
scattered throughout the ancient histo- 
rians ; from these something like a con- 
tinuous narrative maybe formed ; though 
still we must content ourselves with a 
partial and imperfect knowledge of many 
important points. 

According to Procopius, the whole dis- 
trict of Africa, from Egj^pt to the pillars 
of Hercules, was first peopled by the 
tribes that fled before Joshua from the 
countries of Canaan ; and it seems un- 



86 



CARTHAGE. 



questionable, that the system of coloni- 
zation which had been begun by the 
great Phoenician cities, received a very 
powerful impulse from the revolution 
which that conquest produced ; an im- 
pulse which was feh, not only on the 
northern shore of Africa, but throughout 
all the countries of Europe. 

According to the most probable ac- 
counts, Carthage was founded B. C. 869, 
by Elissa or Dido, who as Justin informs 
us, quitted Tyre at the head of a nu- 
merous colony, to avoid the oppression 
of her brother Pygmalion. After touch- 
ing at Cyprus, where she obtained an ad- 
dition to her numbers, she proceeded to 
the African coast. A Phoenician settle- 
ment had been previously established at 
Utica, by which they were gladly receiv- 
ed ; the natives, too, welcomed their ar- 
rival, being eager to avail themselves of 
the commercial advantages which the 
arrival of the strangers held out. A ne- 
gotiation was speedily entered upon for 
an allotment of land ; — the artifice which 
Dido is said to have practised in obtain- 
ing the allotment is well known. She 
covenanted for as much land as the hide 
of an ox would enclose, [quantum loci bo- 
vis tergo circumdare potuerint,) then cut- 
ting the hide into shreds, she claimed as 
much as she could surround with them. 
The site of the infant colony was well 
chosen. A bold projection of the African 
coast marks almost exactly the central 
point of the southern shore of the Medi- 
terranean. A noble bay, formed by the 
promontories of Juno and Apollo, supplies 
all the advantages of a sheltered and ca- 
pacious roadstead. At the bottom of this 
bay stretches a peninsula, about 45 miles 
in circmnference, connected with the 
mainland by an isthmus of the breadth of 
little more than three miles. Upon this 
isthmus. Dido laid the foundation of her 
new town. 

By her wise regulations and salutary 
laws, the infant colony rapidly increased 
in numbers, and the city flourished to such 
an extent that Jarbas, a native prince, was 
induced to make himself master of it. 
He desired that ten of the most noble 
Carthaginians should be sent to him as 
ambassadors ; to these he proposed him- 
self as the suiter of Dido, and having 



induced them by threats and promises to 
enter into his views, he dismissed them. 
By an artifice they procured from Dido a 
promise to comply with their wishes ; 
but she, to avoid the fulfilment of the con- 
tract, and the imputation of slighting the 
memory of her first husband, Sichaeus, 
devoted herself to a voluntary death. 

How long the monarchial form of gov- 
ernment continued at Carthage, we have 
no means of ascertaining, nor are we ac- 
quainted with any of the circumstances 
which befel the infant state. There is 
a chasm in the histor)'^ of the Carthagi- 
nians, of no less than three hundred 
years. Their progress in this interval 
could not have been slow ; for from the 
first notice we have of their existence as 
a people in the ancient historians, we 
find them in alliance with the Tuscans, 
bringing forward a fleet of 120 sail, and 
combating with the Phocaeans, who had 
settled in the island of Corsica, in their 
progress from Asia to the southern shores 
of France. 

After this period, the Carthaginians 
entered into an alliance with the Per- 
sians under Xerxes, in which it was 
stipulated that the Carthaginians should 
invade Sicily, while Xerxes should at- 
tack Greece; the Carthaginians and 
Persians, however, suffered a terrible 
defeat. 

When the Carthaginians began to look 
abroad after this overthrow, their atten- 
tion was again attracted towards Sicily. 
A dispute between the cities of Egista 
and Selinus supplied them with a pretext. 
Hannibal, the grandson of Hamilcar, who 
was at this time one of the Sufletes, or 
chief magistrates, had ascendency in 
their commonwealth, and under his com- 
mand they again hazarded all their force, 
upon the chances of a Sicilian campaign. 
He landed B. C. 409, near the promon- 
tory of Lilybaeum and advanced to Seli- 
nus, which, after a idgorous resistance, 
he took by assault. He appears to have 
treated this city with an excess of bar- 
barity, which even Carthaginian ferocity 
does not prepare us to expect. Sixteen 
thousand of the inhabitants were put to 
the sword, 5,000 were carried away cap- 
tives, and the miserable remainder es- 
caped to Agrigentum. The city itself 



CARTHAGE. 



87 



was utterly destroyed. Himera was his 
next object, not only from its importance, 
and from its unvarying animosity to the 
Carthaginians, but as it was the scene of 
his grandfather's overthrow, he was eager 
to subdue it. The citizens made a most 
desperate but ineflectual resistance. Di- 
odorus has given minute details of this 
siege, which are highly curious, as they 
aflbrd information of the state of military 
science at this period. The city expe- 
rienced the same fate as Selinus ; and 
Hannibal, leaving a small body of troops 
to assist the confederates, before the con- 
clusion of the year returned to Carthage, 
where he was received with the most 
distinguished honor. 

The Carthaginians were so elated with 
their recent success, that they seriously 
meditated the conquest of the whole 
island of Sicily. They made the great- 
est preparatiori for this renewed attack ; 
and having joined Hamilcar, the son of 
Hanno, in commission with Hannibal, 
who, from his age and infirmities, was 
unequal to the various duties of the chief 
command, the expedition set forth. 

For a long time, the Carthaginians 
through many successes and reverses, 
attempted the entire conquest of Sicily. 
At one time the Syracusians applied to 
Corinth, who supplied them with a body 
of troops under the celebrated Timoleon, 
who completely overthrew the Carthagi- 
nian army B. C. 340. 

In the year B. C. 309, they invaded 
Sicily. All the principal places yielded 
to their arms, and Agathocles the sove- 
reign, in despair, shut himself up in 
Syracuse. The Carthaginians invested 
the place with their whole force ; when 
Agathocles,findinghimself deprived of all 
resources, and on the point of falling into 
the enemies' hands, adopted the spirit- 
ed and almost incredible determination of 
carrying the war at once into Africa. The 
mouth of the harbor was closely blocka- 
ded by the Carthaginian fleet, yet Aga- 
thocles watched his opportunity so art- 
fully, and availed himself of circumstan- 
ces so adroitly, that he managed to elude 
their vigilance, and sailed straight for 
Africa. The Carthaginian admiral was 
not slow in the pursuit, but did not come 
up with the Syracusan fleet till they were 



in sight of the African coast. A partial 
engagement ensued, but Agathocles was 
not to be diverted from his main object ; 
he made good his landing, and then, un- 
der pretence of fulfilling a vow he had 
made to Ceres and Proserpine, he set 
fire to his ships. 

The consternation at Carthage, when 
the news of this descent of Agathocles 
arrived, was excessive. The flower of 
their army was in Sicily ; their city was 
wholly unprepared for defence, and the 
country, which had now for a long period 
been exempt from the calamities of war, 
was filled with dismay and confusion. 
Agathocles advanced to Tunis, and rav- 
aged the Avhole neighborhood of Car- 
thage. In this conjuncture, Hanno and 
Bomilcar were appointed to command 
the forces, which had been hastily 
brought together ; and eager to check 
the tyrant's destructive ravages, they' in- 
stantly took the field. They advanced 
with no small confidence, for their army 
consisted of 40,000, while that of Aga- 
thocles did not amount to 14,000 men. 
This confidence was their destruction ; 
they were routed. Hanno Avas slain, 
and Bomilcar, with difficulty drew off the 
shattered remains of his army. Diodo- 
rus attributes this discomfiture in a great 
degree to the treachery of Bomilcar, who 
covertly aimed at the sovereign authori- 
ty, and who wished to convert this inva- 
sion of Agathocles into an instrument for 
effecting his design. 

The citizens of Carthage were ex- 
tremely disheartened by the result of this 
engagement, as they persuaded them- 
selves that the tutelar deities of their 
country must have taken part against 
them. To appease these offended dei- 
ties, they resolved to renew their offer- 
ings to the Tyrian Hercules ; and as they 
had failed in the exact performances of 
the sacrifices to Saturn, they made iiorri- 
ble atonement, by selecting two hundred 
infants of the noblest famihes for immo- 
lation ; and more than three hundred 
persons of both sexes voluntarily offered 
themselves victims to their bloody idols. 

They then dispatched messengers to 
Hamilcar, who commanded in Sicily, re- 
quiring him to come to the relief of his 
country ; he does not, however, seem to 



88 



CARTHAGE. 



have been aware of the extreme urgency 
of the case, as he contented himself with 
dispatching 5,000 men. By pressing the 
siege of Syracuse, he thought to draw 
Agathocles from his purpose ; but in an 
attempt to surprise it by night, he was 
slain, and his troops completely discom- 
fited. 

In the meantime Agathocles had made 
himself master of all the open country, 
and Carthage itself must have fallen, had 
it not been for a mutiny which broke out 
in the invader's camp. 

We have now reached that period when 
Rome and Carthage, which had for some 
time menaced each other from a distance, 
came actually in contact ; when the great 
question, whether the seat of universal 
empire should be fixed in Africa or in 
Europe was decided. Before we enter 
into the detail of circumstances which 
gave rise to the first Punic or Carthagi- 
nian war, it will be expedient to take a 
short survey of the actual state of Car- 
thage, the extent of her dominion, and the 
nature of her influence. 

The limits of the Carthaginian domin- 
ions in Africa had been progressively 
advanced, till they extended from the 
western borders of Cyrenaica to the Pil- 
lars of Hercules, or straits of Gibraltar ; 
but at this distance of time, and with our 
scanty means of information, it is impos- 
sible to trace the various stages of this 
progression. The period in which the 
Carthaginians first settled in Spain is in- 
volved in great obscurity ; but as Diodo- 
rus intimates that the mines of Spain 
were the great nerve of the Carthaginian 
power, by which they were enabl'id to 
fit out such wonderful fleets, and bring 
such formidable armies into the field, we 
may conclude that they had established 
themselves in that country at a very ear- 
ly period, previously to the reigns not 
only of Darius and Xerxes, but also of 
Cyrus himself. 

Justin states, that they were, in the 
first instance, led to intermeddle in the 
affairs of Spain, with a view of assisting 
that sister colony which the Phcenicians 
had established at Gades, now Cadiz. 
The assistance afforded by them was ef- 
fectual in defending it against the attacks 
of the neighboring people ; but not con- 



tent with this, they managed to obtain 
possession of the colony itself, and of 
the whole province in which it was sit- 
uated. This event probably took place 
about the middle of the second century, 
after the foundation of Carthage ; for 
Diodorus distinctly states, that at this 
time a colony was established in the island 
of Ebusus, now Ivica, and in all like- 
lihood the whole of the Balearic islands 
were colonized at the same time. Now, 
it seems reasonable to suppose, that the 
advance of the Carthaginian colonization 
was progessive, and therefore that the 
settlement at Cadiz would be subsequent 
to that at Ebusus ; hence, we may per- 
haps be allowed to infer, that the Car- 
thaginians made their first descent into 
Spain about 160 years after the building 
of their city. Nevertheless, it appears, 
from the accounts of Livy and Polybius, 
that the greatest part of Spain remained 
unsubdued till the wars of Hamilcar, As- 
drubal, and Hannibal. 

In Sardinia, their settlements were al- 
most coeval with their existence as a 
people ; the whole island appears to 
have been in subjection to them at the 
period of their first treaty with the Ro- 
mans. 

Corsica, too, was occupied by them 
from very ancient times : they probably 
succeeded immediately to that colony 
which the Phocaeans were compelled to 
abandon. Herodotus mentions the Cor- 
sicans among those nations which were 
united to form that vast armament with 
which the Carthaginians invaded Sicily 
in the days of Gelon. 

The small islands of Melita and Gau- 
los, now Malta and Goza, were likewise 
in subjection to the Carthaginians. Ac- 
cording to Diodorus, these islands were 
first peopled, either from Carthage or 
Phcenicia. 

This rapid survey may suffice to give 
us some idea of the actual extent of the 
Carthaginian influence. The Romans, 
on the other side, had now begun to feel 
their strength, and were considerably 
elated by their recent success against 
Pyrrhus. That experienced commander 
foresaw the collision which was about 
to take place between these powerful ri- 
vals, and is said, upon leaving Sicily, to 



CARTHAGE. 



89 



have pointed out that island as the sub- 
ject and the first scene of the contest. 

Notwithstanding the Carthaginians had 
been thus successful in dislodging the 
Epirots from Sicily, they had still two 
powerful enemies to contend with, the 
Syracusans and the Mamertines. The 
former had recently appointed Hiero for 
their leader, who is imiformly represent- 
ed by the ancient historians as a consum- 
mate hero, and most amiable prince : un- 
der his command the Syracusan forces 
obtained several considerable advantages 
over the Carthaginians. 

The Mamertines were originally a 
body of Campanian mercenaries, which 
Agathocles had retained in his service. 
They were afterwards involved in a dis- 
pute with the citizens of Syracuse, as to 
their right of giving votes in the election 
of magistrates ; the consequence of which 
was, an agreement that the Campanians 
should evacuate Sicily within a limited 
time. Under pretence of embarking for 
their native country, they retired to Mes- 
sina, of which town they took possession 
by treachery, expelling or assassinating 
all the inhabitants, and assuming to them- 
selves the name of Mamertini, a word 
which, in the ancient language of south- 
ern Italy, is used to signify a warlike 
people. 

In this horrid action they soon found 
imitators. Some Roman troops, to the 
number of about 4,000, had been posted 
at Rhegium, during the late wars in Italy, 
under the command of one Decius, a 
Campanian. These, assisted by the Ma- 
mertines, murdered the citizens, and 
seized their property ; but they were 
speedily punished by the Romans with 
exemplary vigor. The Mamertines, on 
their side, were closely pressed by Hiero, 
who was eager to retaliate upon them 
the injuries they had committed. They 
were at length reduced to such distress, 
that they resolved to surrender them- 
selves to the first power that could afford 
them protection ; but being divided in 
their choice, one party made an ofter of 
submission to the Carthaginians, another 
to the Romans. The latter scrupled to 
avow themselves the protectors of a crime 
which they had so lately punished ; but 
while they hesitated, the Carthaginians, 
12 



availing themselves of the delay, and of 
the neighborhood of their own military 
stations, got the start of their rivals, and 
were received into Messina. This unex- 
pected advantage, gained by a power of 
which they had so much reason to be 
jealous, roused the Romans : they in- 
stantly sent orders to the consvd Appius 
Claudius, who had charge of the forces 
in the neighborhood of Rhegium, to assem- 
ble all the shipping which could be found 
on the coast, from Tarentum to Naples, 
and to pass with his army into Sicily. 
As soon as his fleet appeared, the party 
in the city which had favored the admis- 
sion of the Romans, took arms, and forced 
the Carthaginians to evacuate the place. 

Thus conmienced the first Punic war. 
The first object of either party was no 
more than to command the passage of 
the straits, by securing the possession of 
Messina ; but their views were gradually 
extended, and the contest quickly as- 
sumed its real form, a struggle for the 
sovereignty of the whole island and the 
dominion of the seas. 

The Romans perceiving that, notwith- 
standing their success by land, their 
coasts of Italy still continued open to the 
depredations of the Carthaginian fleets, 
resolved at once to equip a fleet which 
might enable them to cope with their foe, 
even on his own peculiar element. This 
attempt, so bold in its conception, and so 
important in its ultimate consequences, 
induced Polybius, as he himself states, 
to write the history of this war, " in order 
that the circumstances which attended 
the first formation of the Roman marine 
might never be forgotten." A Carthagi- 
nian vessel, which had been accidentally 
stranded at Messina, served them for a 
model, and within the short period of 
sixty days, they had fitted out, and man- 
ned for sea, 100 galleys of five benches 
of oars and twenty triremes. These ves- 
sels were extremely rude, both in their 
materials and construction, yet the labor 
of building them must have been im- 
mense, as a quinquereme was capable of 
carrying 300 rowers and 200 fighting 
men. 

While the galleys were building, the 
Romans exercised their rowers on benches 
erected on the beach. And in order to 



90 



CARTHAGE. 



counterbalance the advantage which the 
Carthaginians were likely to derive from 
their superior seamanship, they invented, 
(or rather in the opinion of some writers, 
improved,) the machine called the corvus 
by which they were enabled to grapple 
and bind the vessels together, so as to 
give to their soldiers full scope for the 
exertion of their bodily strength and ac- 
tivity. 

In the first rencounter of the hostile 
fleets, the Carthaginians were, as it might 
be expected, successful ; but in a subse- 
quent engagement, they met with a se- 
vere check, and their admiral, Hannibal, 
having lost the greater part of his ships, 
with difficulty made his escape. The 
command of the Roman fleet had now de- 
volved upon the consul Duilius, to whom 
is attributed the invention of the corvus. 
He engaged the Carthaginian fleet with- 
out delay, and by the help of his new 
engine, succeeded in giving them a com- 
plete overthrow, B. C. 260. The loss of 
the Carthaginians is variously related ; 
Hannibal, having been obliged to aban- 
don his own vessel to the enemy, re- 
turned to Carthage, where he obtained 
reinforcements for his shattered fleet. 
Putting to sea again, he steered for the 
coast of Sardinia, where he was surprised 
by the Romans Avhile at anchor, who car- 
ried off some of his ships, and took great 
numbers of his men prisoners ; this so 
incensed the rest, that they seized their 
admiral and crucified him. The alTairs 
of the Carthaginians in Sicily had, in this 
interval, assumed a more favorable as- 
pect. Hamilcar, their commander, avail- 
ing himself of a dispute which had oc- 
curred between the Roman legions and 
their auxiliaries, surprised their camp, 
put 4,000 to the sword, and dispersed the 
rest. Notwithstanding this disaster, the 
terror of the Roman arms was still sus- 
tained by the vigilance and bravery of 
the consul Florus, while his colleague 
Cornelius Scipio, made a descent on 
Corsica, and menaced the coasts of Sar- 
dinia. Several engagements, both by 
land and sea, ensued, with various results, 
but for the most part to the advantage of 
the Romans, who were thus, by degrees, 
encouraged to prepare for an invasion of 
Africa itself, as the only means by which 



they could oblige the enemy to evacuate 
Sicily. In the ninth year of the war, 
the consuls Manlius, Dulso and Attilius 
Regidus, with the fleet under their com- 
mand, consisting of 350 galleys of difler- 
ent sizes, held their rendezvous at Mes- 
sina. Having taken their land forces on 
board, they proceeded along the coast. 
The Carthaginian fleet, which, as to the 
number of vessels, was about equal, was 
lying at Lilybaeum, under the comand of 
Hanno and Hamilcar. The hostile squad- 
rons met near Heraclea Minoa. The 
Roman commanders drew up their fleet in 
the form of a wedge, the Carthaginians 
were in line. The consuls observing 
that this line was weak towards the cen- 
tre, caused it to be vigorously attacked 
in that part. A most obstinate conflict 
ensued, which terminated in favor of the 
Romans, who lost in the action only 24 
galleys, whilst the Carthaginians had 30 
sunk and 63 taken. After the battle, 
Hamilcar sent Hanno to make proposals 
of peace to the consuls, which being re- 
jected, the war continued to rage with as 
much fierceness as ever ; and the con- 
suls soon after setting sail for Africa, 
landed without opposition near Clupia ; 
or as Polybius calls it, Aspis. Nothing 
could exceed the terror and astonish- 
ment which the news of the Roman in- 
vasion caused at Carthage. These were, 
however, in some degree diminished by 
the intelligence that, contented with rav- 
aging the whole country almost to the 
very gates of the capital, one of the con- 
suls had returned to Rome with the best 
part of the troops, leaving the manage- 
ment of the war to his colleague Regulus, 
with only 40 ships, 15,000 foot, and 500 
horse. Hamilcar was recalled from Si- 
cily, and was joined with Asdrubal and 
Bostar, in the command of the army. 
Regulus having spent the winter at Cly- 
pea, hearing that the Carthaginian army 
was in motion, advanced with his forces, 
and encamped upon the Bagrada in the 
neighborhood of Carthage. Here he is 
said to have met with that monstrous ser- 
pent, of which several ancient writers 
make mention : the descriptions are pro- 
bably hyperbolical, yet it is impossible 
to refuse all credit to a story for which 
there are so many authorities. 



CARTHAGE. 



91 



The Carthaginian generals advanced 
to give him battle, but most unwisely 
took up a position in ground that was un- 
fit for the operations of elephants or 
horse, in which the great part of their 
strength consisted. Regulus profited by 
this mistake, attacked them in the night, 
and entirely defeated them. This vic- 
tory was productive of the most import- 
ant consequences ; Utica opened its gates, 
Tunis was forced to submit, and nothing 
now remained but to lay siege to Car- 
thage itself 

To complete the misfortunes of the 
Carthaginians, their territory was, at this 
time, invaded by the Numidians, who 
committed the most dreadful ravages. 
The Roman consul, elated by his good 
fortune, and desirous to terminate the 
war before the arrival of a successor, 
offered to treat with the vanquished, but 
on terms so extravagant, that they were 
at once rejected by the senate. 

At this conjuncture, a Carthaginian 
officer who had been sent to Greece to 
levy soldiers, returned with a body of 
mercenaries, amongst whom was one 
Xantippus, a Spartan, who had some re- 
putation for military science. To him 
the command of the remaining forces 
was entrusted ; and he succeeded in in- 
fusing into them some knowledge of the 
Grecian tactics, and an unbounded confi- 
dence in his own skill and experience. 
Regulus was little prepared for this 
change ; when he saw the Carthaginian 
army again advancing, flushed with the 
hope of new victories, he at once led his 
men to the attack, and ventured even to 
cross the river which separated the two 
armies. This rashness led to the entire 
destruction of his army. Xantippus pro- 
fited to the utmost of his antagonist's mis- 
conduct, and only two thousand of the 
Romans escaped from the field. Regu- 
lus himself was taken prisoner. The 
Carthaginians treated all their captives 
with great humanity, except the general. 
The story of his sufferings and constancy 
is well known. * Xantippus, to whose 



* Regulus was sent with ambassadors from 
Carthage to Rome, to negotiate a treaty of peace, 
under the most solemn oath to return as a pris- 
oner, should the negotiation fail. The proposals 
were rejected by the Roman senate at the urgent 



conduct the whole of this success must 
be attributed, withdrew from Carthage 
immediately afterwards. " Wisely and 
prudently," says Polybius, " as the splen- 
dor of his action must have excited a de- 
gree of jealousy and envy sufficient to 
overwhelm even a citizen ; how much 
more a stranger and a foreigner." 

The Romans sent out a strong squad- 
ron to bring oft' the remains of the defeat- 
ed army, but in the passage to Sicily on 
their return, they met with a dreadful 
tempest, in which they lost almost their 
whole fleet. This, and several subse- 
quent calamities, so greatly dispirited 
them, that they determined for a season 
to lay aside all naval operations. The 
Carthaginians were thus left masters of 
the sea. The theatre of war was now 
again removed to Sicily, where it raged 
with imabated violence. The affairs of 
the Carthaginians were in a state of 
progressive deterioration, till the appoint- 
ment of Hamilcar, surnamed Barcas, to 
the chief command. His valor and enter- 
prise restored for a short time the droop- 
ing fortunes of his country, but in the end 
he was obliged to yield. The Romans 
had soon become sensible of the absolute 
necessity they were under of restoring 
their ships ; and they did so with a res- 
olution and vigor which enabled them 
once more to prevail over the superior 
skill and address of their enemy. Ano- 
ther defeat at sea compelled Hamilcar to 
seek for peace, B. C. 242. It was grant- 
ed, but upon conditions so harsh, and 
dictated by the Romans with so much 
insolence, that Hamilcar from that mo- 
ment conceived an invincible aversion to 
the Roman name. He concluded peace, 
only that he might give his country time 
to breathe, and that they might after- 
desire of Regulus himself, and he returned to 
Carthage. Nothing could equal the fury and dis- 
appointment of the Carthaginians when they 
learned from their ambassadors, that instead of 
hastening a peace, he had given his opinion for 
continuing the war. They accordingly prepared 
to punish his conduct with the most studied tor- 
tures. His eyelids were cut off, and after several 
days, he was put into a barrel stuck full of nails that 
pointed inwards ; and in this painful condition he 
remained until he died. It may be proper to ob- 
serve, that he bore all his sufferings with patient 
silence, and died as heroically as he had lived. 



95t 



CARTHAGE, 



wards be able to chastise the insolence 
to which they were at present compelled 
to submit. The terms of peace were 
these : That the Carthaginians should 
evacuate Sicily ; that they should not, for 
the future, make war on Hiero king of 
Syracuse, or any of his allies; that they 
should release all Roman captives with- 
out ransom ; and within twenty years, 
pay to the Romans a sum of three thou- 
sand Euboic talents. * The people of 
Rome refused to ratify this treaty, till 
they had sent ten commissioners into 
Sicily to examine into the actual state of 
affairs. By these, some additional arti- 
cles were added of inferior importance, 
but still of harsher tendency. The rati- 
fications were then interchanged, and 
Asdrubal retired to Lilybseum, where he 
resigned to Cisco the care of transporting 
the troops to Africa. 

Thus after twenty three years' continu- 
ance, ended the first Punic war ; leaving 
the contending parlies weakened, indeed, 
but not dispirited ; — with their resources 
exhausted, but their mutual animosity in- 
creased and exasperated beyond measure. 
The excellent Polybius, in a recapitula- 
tion of the most remarkable circumstan- 
ces of the contest, gives the preference 
to the Roman soldiers above the Cartha- 
ginian ; but at the same time he allows, 
that Hamilcar Barcas proved himself, 
both in bravery and conduct, the greatest 
captain of the age. 

Carthage had no sooner relieved itself 
from the pressure of this bloody and ex- 
pensive war, than it found itself involved 
in another, which had very nearly proved 
fatal. The mercenary troops, when they 
returned to Africa, found that the public 
treasury was too much exlaausted to dis- 
charge their arrears of pay. They quick- 
ly became clamorous, and committed the 
gi-eatest disorders in the city and other 
places. 

Carthage was now reduced to a state 
of the utmost distress ; the tributary 
states of Africa joined themselves to the 
mutineers ; and thus she saw herself 
siu-rounded on all sides by active and ir- 
ritated enemies, and deprived, at the 
same time, of all her resources and ac- 



About $2,500,000. 



customed means of defence. Notwith- 
standing these adverse circumstances, 
she did not despond. All citizens capa- 
ble of bearing arms were mustered, new 
levies were made wherever soldiers could 
be procured, and the fleet was refitted 
with all expedition. The command of 
the forces waB given to Hanno, who at 
first gained some slight advantages ; but 
was soon after surprised in his camp, and 
even suffered the mercenaries to possess 
themselves, without opposition, of the 
isthmus which connected the city with the 
main land of Africa. To remedy these 
disasters, Hamilcar Barcas was once 
more called to the head of affairs. He 
marched against the enemy with about 
10,000 men, horse and foot, which were 
all the troops the Carthaginians could 
at that time assemble for their defence. 
He was however, successfid, and the 
Carthaginians retained Africa in sub- 
jection. 

Hamilcar, by the happy conclusion of 
the Libyan war, had restored tranquillity 
to his country ; but he found that she 
would be still unable to cope with her 
haughty rival. He determined, there- 
fore, to undertake the entire conquest of 
Spain, in the hope that it would supply 
to the Carthaginians both a school of 
military discipline and a magazine of 
warlike stores, whenever they should 
renew the contest with Rome. Hamil- 
car did not attempt to disguise his hatred 
to the Roman name ; he publicly avow- 
ed the motives of his expedition, and took 
with him Hannibal his son, and Hasdru- 
bal his son-in-law, having inspired them 
both with an implacable aversion against 
those whom he considered as the de- 
stroyers of his country's grandeur. Nine 
years he fought in Spain, subjecting 
either by force or by persuasion, the 
greatest part of the country to the Car- 
thaginian power, and at last fell glorious- 
ly in the field of battle at the head of 
his troops. The army elected Hasdru- 
bal to succeed him, which appointment 
was confirmed by the senate of Carthage. 
He conducted himself with great pru- 
dence ; and to secure the acquisitions of 
his predecessor, built a city, which was 
afterwards called New Carthage, B. C. 
227. The Romans viewed the progress 



CARTHAGE, 



93 



of the Carthaginian arms in Spain with 
considerable jealousy. For the present, 
however, they contented themselves with 
concluding a treaty, the articles of which 
were, 1st, That the Carthaginians should 
not pass the Iberus. 2d, That the Sa- 
guntum, with the neighboring Greek col- 
onies which had implored the protection 
of Rome, should enjoy their ancient rights 
and privileges. Hasdrubal still pushed 
on his conquests, though he was cautious 
not to pass these limits. Having man- 
aged the Carthaginian affairs in Spain for 
eight years, he was at last assassinated 
by a Gaul, whose master he had put to 
death. Hasdrubal three years before had 
written to Carthage, to desire that Han- 
nibal, then twenty-two years of age, 
might be sent out to him. This was op- 
posed by Hanno, who represented that it 
would give undue weight to the Barcine 
party. The objection was overruled, and 
the young soldier was suffered to depart. 
He quickly drew upon himself the atten- 
tion of the whole army, who were eager 
to hail the opening virtues of the son of 
Hamilcar. Even Livy himself seems, 
in speaking of Hannibal, to lay aside his 
animosities as a Roman, and to dwell 
with delight on the various qualities of 
this extraordinary man. " Never," says 
he, " was there a disposition better qual- 
ified even for the most opposite things, 
whether for obedience or for command. 
Boldly adventurous in undertaking dan- 
gers, he displayed eminent skill and 
presence of mind when engaged in them. 
No labors could exhaust his body or de- 
press his spirits. He was capable alike 
of enduring heat and cold, and in his 
food consulted only the demands of na- 
ture, not the suggestions of appetite. No 
stated hours were allotted by him for 
sleep or study, either by night or day. It 
was only the time unoccupied by busi- 
ness that he gave up to repose, courting 
it neither by silence nor the softness of j 
his bed. On the contrary, he was often 
seen lying on the ground, amidst the sen- 
tinels and guards. He was distinguished 
from his equals by no superiority of dress, 
but his arms and his horses were always 
conspicuous. In the performance of mil- 
itary duties, whether of cavalry or infantry, 
he was ever foremost ; the first in entering 



the combat, he was the last to quit the 
field." 

Such was the man, who now, by the 
unanimous voice of the army, was called 
to conduct the affairs of the Carthagini- 
ans in Spain. He was in his twenty- 
sixth year, full of confidence and hope. 
From the first moment of his appoint- 
ment, he conducted himself as though 
Italy had been the province allotted to 
him. After several successful enterprises 
against the natives of Spain, which served 
both to secure his previous conquests and 
to augment his resources ; then having 
with singular address, furnished himself 
with all things necessary for the impor- 
tant enterprise, without affording to the 
Romans a pretext for declaring war, he 
on a sudden laid siege to Saguntum ; and 
thus, by the infraction of Hasdrubal's 
treaty, struck the first blow in this event- 
ful war, B. C. 219. The train for this 
tremendous explosion had been laid long 
before. Polybius mentions thrge causes, 
which more immediately led to the sec- 
ond Punic war ; the fraudulent and ty- 
rannical conduct of the Romans with res- 
pect to Sardinia; the jealousy which was 
entertained of witnessing the progress of 
the Carthaginian arms in Spain ; and, 
lastly, that bitter hatred to the Roman 
name and nation, which Hamilcar had 
bequeathed to his son Hannibal, and 
which was in both, the predominant feel- 
ing influencing the whole conduct of their 
lives. 

Hannibal opened the siege of Sagun- 
tum with an army consisting of 120,000 
foot, and 20,000 horse. The defence is 
one of the most memorable in history. 
The limits of this work do not allow us 
to enter into the minute details which 
Livy and Polybius supply. We must be 
content with stating, that, after a contest 
of eight months continuance, almost un- 
paralleled for its fierceness and obstinacy, 
the city was razed, and its inhabitants 
without distinction of age or sex, put to 
the sword, or sold for slaves. 

Hannibal had probably long devised 
the invasion of Italy, and had convinced 
himselfofthe practicability of the attempt. 
War being now declared, he made his 
dispositions for the safety of Spain and 
Africa, and collected his troops for that 



94 



CARTHAGE. 



great undertaking, the conduct of which 
had procured for him a reputation supe- 
rior to all other military commanders, He 
had well weighed the difficulties of the 
enterprise, the various dangers of the 
march, and the uncertainty of procuring 
supplies. To these were opposed, the 
advantages which would accrue from car- 
rying the war into the heart of the en- 
emy's country ; the assistance he might 
expect, if he could once reach Italy in 
force, from those states which were ac- 
tually in rebellion against the Roman au- 
thority, or bore to it only a feigned and 
uncertain allegiance. Let us not, there- 
fore, magnify the courage of this cele- 
brated warrior at the expense of his judg- 
ment, nor suffer the xmwarrantable rash- 
ness of inexperience to shelter itself be- 
hind the great name of Hannibal. 

In his march to the Iberus, he experi- 
enced no interruption Thence to the 
Pyrenees he was obliged to force his 
way ; and apprehending some inconve- 
nience from the leaving an hostile peo- 
ple in his rear, he stationed his brother 
Hanno, with 10,000 foot and 1,000 horse, 
to observe their motions, and secure the 
passes of the mountains. During the 
passage of the Pyrenees, a considerable 
body of the Spanish allies deserted. Lest 
this example should prove contagious, he 
gave out that they had fallen back by his 
express order, and that he meant to spare 
a few more troops of the same nation. 
By these separations, his numbers were re- 
duced from 90,000 to 50,000 foot; he had 
likewise 9,000 horse and 37 elephants. 

After entering Gaul, his march was for 
some time hindered by the jealousy of 
the natives ; but upon his convincing 
them he had no object in view besides a 
mere passage through their territories, 
he was suffered to proceed without mo- 
lestation. The river Rhone presented 
the first serious obstacle. As the Gauls 
who inhabited the country contiguous to 
it, seemed resolved to oppose his pas- 
sage, he contrived to disperse their 
forces by a stratagem ; but a new diffi- 
cidty occurred, he had no means of waft- 
ing the elephants over this broad and 
rapid current. The difficulty was at last 
obviated, by the construction of a sort of 
flying bridge, by means of which they 



were all transported in perfect safety. 
[Livy. Polyb. ut supra.) 

Hannibal crossed the Rhone at Lauri- 
ol, in Dauphiny. Hence he marched up 
the left bank of the river, towards the 
midland parts of Gaul ; not because this 
was the direct road to the Alps, but be- 
cause he thought the further he advanced 
from the sea the less likely he was to 
meet the Romans. Nor was he mis- 
taken ; for at that very time he reached 
the banks of the Rhone, Scipio, (the 
father of Africanus,) landed at the mouth 
of it, and a rencounter actually took 
place between some detachments of cav- 
alry from the two armies. Brancus, a 
prince of the AUobroges, having offered 
to become his guide, he advanced to- 
wards the Alps, following the course of 
the Rhone. Turning to the right, he 
passed through the country of the Tri- 
castini ; from the grand angle of the 
Rhone at Lyons, to the deep indent 
which it forms at St. Genis. Here he 
entered Savoy, ranging along the limits 
of the Vocontian dominions, from this in- 
dent to the Sier. Hence he passed 
through the country of the Tricorrii to 
Geneva, without impediment, crossing 
the Arve (Druentia) in his march. From 
Geneva he proceeded to Martigny. Here 
the hills have an opening to the south 
80 paces in width, which, in the days of 
Hannibal, formed the only channel of 
communication between Gaul and Italy. 
The Seduni had occupied this pass ; but 
Hannibal, in the night, seized the heights 
which commanded it, and obtained pos- 
session of their chief city, now St. Bran- 
chiere. Here the Salassi met him in a 
friendly manner, and offered to conduct 
him to Italy by a better road than that he 
was pursuing. Under their guidance, he 
turned to the right into the Val de Bag- 
nes, where, in passing a defile, the Sa- 
lassi fell upon him unawares. The steadi- 
ness of his troops saved him from this 
imminent danger. His infantry got pos- 
session of a white rock, (that on which ■ 
the village of Lultier now stands,) from j 
whence they resisted all the assaults of 
the enemy. Bewildered by this treach- 
ery, he wandered through the Alps for 
some days, and at last reached the regu- 
lar road only seven miles from the point 



CARTHAGE. 



95 




HanmhaVs army passing the Alps. 



at whicli he had quitted it. It is uncertain 
by what pass he at last actually reached 
Italy. LiA'y does not give any positive 
opinion. Many circumstances conspire to 
prove,thatitmust have been by the Mons 
Penivms, (Great St. Bernard.) Hence 
he descended to St. Remy, having excited 
the ardor of his troops, by pointing out 
to them the rich vales of Italy, and the 
site of Rome itself. At this point the 
road, which was before steep, had, by a 
recent subsidence of the earth, been ren- 
dered precipitous. The chasm extended 
across the road to the distance of a thou- 
sand feet. It was an even wall of stone, 
such that even a man on foot could not 
descend it without difficulty. Hannibal 
endeavored to find a path by which he 
might avoid this ravine, but his horses, 
elephants and baggage, sunk in the snow, 
and he found it impossible to proceed. 
They rested on the bare ground for the 
night. The next morning, the Cartha- 
ginians employed themselves in felling a 
number of large trees, and raised a vast 
pile of fuel on the crags. The trees be- 
ing of a resinous nature soon flamed, and 
the rocks appeared glowing beneath 
them ; they then applied vinegar to soften 
them, and finally opened a path through 



the burning rocks with their pick-axes. 
This account has been derided by many 
historians as an incredible fiction, yet 
if stripped of the marvellous circumstan- 
ces which have been added to it by some 
writers, it contains nothing improbable, 
nothing which could not have been 
efiected by the ingenuity and indefatiga- 
ble labor of such a leader, and such an 
army. 

The events of this war are so involved 
with the affairs of Rome, or rather they 
form so completely an integral part of 
the Roman history, that we must refer 
the reader for its details to that article. 
The domestic history of Carthage during 
this eventful period, though it offers but 
few circumstances Avorthy of observation, 
conveys a most important lesson. 

In all governments which are in any 
degree popular, there must be two par- 
ties in the state. Those who conduct 
public affairs, must expect to have their 
measures scrutinized and thwarted by all 
who are desirous either of diminishing 
their influence, or succeeding to the pos- 
session of their power. In Carthage, 
a party such as this, (which in modem 
times we have taught ourselves to call 
" the opposition,") was regularly organ- 



96 



CARTHAGE. 



ized, and its exertions were systematic 
and incessant. The avowed leader of 
this party was that Hanno, whose inca- 
pacity and misconduct we have more 
than once had occasion to notice. His 
constant object was to undermine and 
destroy the influence which Hannibal, 
by his talents, success, and family con- 
nections, possessed in the state. So 
violent was his animosity against the 
Barcine party, that he appears to have 
disregarded all the real interests of his 
country, so long as he could cripple their 
exertions, and mar the execution of their 
designs. The peculiar fault of the Car- 
thaginian constitution, as we have noticed 
in the outset, was, that in all cases 
which produced a difference of opinion, 
and, on this account would deserve 
graver and more mature deliberation, it 
lost its representative character, and an 
appeal was directly made to the blind- 
ness and party zeal, the narrow^ concep- 
tions, and infuriated prejudices of the 
populace. Hanno did not lose sight of 
the power which this singular anomaly in 
the constitution afforded him. He avail- 
ed himself of it on every occasion, and it 
enabled him to work the destruction of 
his political opponents ; but his country 
fell with him. The power of Carthage 
was annihilated on the plains of Zama ; 
and the short remainder of its history 
contains nothing but a detail of insolent 
aggressions on the part of its victorious 
rival. These were met by the Cartha- 
ginians on their side by the most unwor- 
thy concessions. They gave up their 
general ; they submitted to endure the 
most unwarrantable interposition of their 
affairs ; in short, they drank the cup of 
humiliation to its very dregs, in the hope 
of protracting their existence. But the 
hope was vain; the haughty spirit of the 
Roman people could not endure, that a 
city, which had for a long time resisted 
the progress of their arms, and even 
made them tremble in the Capitol, should 
continue to exist ; and the military skill 
of Scipio iEmilianus was called upon to 
effect that destruction, which the savage 
ambition of the elder Cato had resolved 
upon. It was necessary for the aggran 
dizement of their city, that Carthage 
should be destroyed, and they cared little 



what means were used to accomplish its 
destruction. This event took place in 
the year of Rome 608, about 146 years 
before the commencement of the Chris- 
tian era. 

Such was the fate of Carthage. Its 
decay and final destruction ought to be 
attributed to the intrigues and miscon- 
duct of its factious citizens, rather than 
to the actual power of its rival, however 
formidable it might appear. The treasure 
carried off by iEmilianus, even after the 
city had been delivered up to the soldiers 
to be plundered, was immense. The 
destruction was complete ; and the sen- 
ate issued a decree, enjoining, that it 
should never again be inhabited, and de- 
nouncing the most dreadful imprecations 
against those who should attempt to re- 
build any part of it. 

Notwithstanding the denunciations of 
the senate against all who should attempt 
to rebuild Carthage, they were induced 
in a very short period themselves to sanc- 
tion the undertaking. Twenty-four years 
after the victory of ^milianus, B. C. 
142, the sedition of Tiberius Gracchus 
began to be formidable to the patricians, 
since he was supported by the great 
body of the people, in his endeavors to 
pass an Agrarian law. Gracchus finding 
himself unable to accomplish his purpose, 
was probably not unwilling to accept the 
offer made him by the senate, of becom- 
ing the leader of 6,000 citizens to the 
site of Carthage, for the purpose of its 
restoration. Gracchus was terrified by 
prodigies from proceeding in his purpose. 
It seems probable, however, that a few 
buildings began to spring up among the 
ruins ; and we have reason to conclude 
that, from this time for many centuries, 
they increased in number, beauty and 
convenience. Compared with its former 
glory, the city was long considered as in 
ruins. When Marius took refuge there, 
outcast and deserted, he is said to have 
dwelt in a hovel amidst the ruins of Car- 
thage ; and Sulpicius, addressing Cicero, 
speaks of it as razed to the foundation. 
Julius Caesar, too, when in Egypt, in 
consequence of a dream, in which he 
beheld a numerous army weeping, deter- 
mined to rebuild Corinth and Carthage. 
His death prevented the execution of his 



CHILI. 



97 



purpose. Augustus, finding a record of his 
intention among his papers, piously ful- 
filled it, and sent 3,000 Romans thither, 
who were joined by the inhabitants of 
the neighboring country. These estab- 
lished a colony adjacent to the ancient 
city, but not upon the very spot, lest they 
should be obnoxious to the curse invoked 
by the seriate. Such at least is the 
account of Appian ; yet Strabo speaks of 
Carthage as the second city in the Ro- 
man empire for wealth and power, and 
he wrote in the reign of Tiberius. This 
time is scarcely sufficient for so great an 
advance to be made towards its former 
magnificence. Perhaps, we shall form a 



just notion of the fact, if we conceive, 
that Appian has lessened, and Strabo 
has exaggerated, its importance. Pliny 
mentions it as a very considerable colony ; 
and it was soon after the commencement 
of the Christian era, regarded as the me- 
tropolis of Africa. 

The precise period of the introduction 
of Christianity we are unable to ascer- 
tain, but it is evident that it should be 
fixed very early. For in the middle of 
the second century, arose Tertullian, the 
first Latin father of the church with 
whose writings we are acquainted, and 
he speaks, as of a notorious fact, of the 
wide extent of Christianity in Africa. 



CHILI. 



Little is known respecting the histo- 
ry of Chili, until its invasion by the Span- 
iards under Diego Almagro, A. D. 1535. 

These brave but unprincipled adven- 
turers had already conquered Mexico, 
and overrun, with incredible success, the 
whole kingdom of Peru. Still, however, 
unsatisfied, their avarice and their ambi- 
tion were yet farther allured, by the rich 
mines and the beautiful plains of Chili. 
Almagro left Cusco with 570 Spaniards, 
and 15,000 Peruvian auxiliaries. Disre- 
garding all the remonstrances of his con- 
federates, he preferred passing the Cor- 
dilleras, to the other more distant, but, at 
that season, less dangerous entrance, by 
the desert of Atacama. Unfortunately, 
however, winter had already commenced 
when they reached the Cordillera Neva- 
da, and, in the course of their passage, 
the snow fell in such abundance, and the 
cold became so intense and overpower- 
ing, that not less than 10,000 Peruvians, 
with 150 Spaniards, perished in the 
march ; the rest were happily extricated 
by the activity of their leader. Almagro 
with a few horse having reached the 
plain, procured assistance and provisions 
for his exhausted soldiers. 

They were received in Copiapo with 
the most benevolent hospitality, and, in 
a short time, were completely recovered 
13 



of their fatigues. The northern provin- 
ces had been subdued, and were still 
tributary to the Peruvians ; and here the 
Spaniards were unexpectedly gratified by 
the distribution of 500,000 ducats, which 
Paulu, the Peruvian leader, well ac- 
quainted with the views and disposition 
of his associates, had exacted from the 
inhabitants, and presented to Almagro. 
This present gave a strong impression 
of the riches of Chili, and animated the 
soldiers in the prosecution of their enter- 
prise. 

Before leaving Copiapo, they were 
joined by reinforcements from Peru ; 
and, in their progress southwards, were 
every where treated by the natives with 
liberality and respect. They were even 
regarded as beings of a higher nature, 
more allied to divinity than to the com- 
mon race of mortals. This convenient 
persuasion was as industriously propaga- 
ted as it was credulously believed. But 
we must here notice an occurrence, 
which served in no small degree, to un- 
deceive the deluded inhabitants, and to 
develope, in its true light, the character 
of their new friends. Two stragglers 
from the Spanish army being put to 
death, and we may suppose not without 
suflicient grounds for the severity, by the 
people of Guasco, Almagro instantly pro- 



98 



CHILI. 



ceeded to take a cruel vengeance on the 
offenders. He arrested the Ulmen or 
governor of the guiUy district, his brother, 
and twenty more of the principal inhabi- 
tants ; all these, together with an usur- 
per of Copiapo, Avhom he had lately 
deposed, were at his command, without 
even the formality of justice, committed 
at once to the flames. This conduct of 
Almagro did not pass without censure ; 
even his own Spaniards were displeased, 
and openly reprobated the barbarity of 
their leader. Familiar as they had long 
been with robbery and slaughter, some 
were still found among them, who had 
not utterly renounced all the sympathies 
of humanity. 

Almagro now entered the country of 
the Promaucians. That gallant people 
had on a former occasion successfully 
resisted all the efforts of Peru. At the 
first appearance of the Spaniards, they 
stood amazed and confounded. The 
Spanish horses were the first they had 
ever beheld ; but still more wonderful 
were the mysterious weapons which these 
strangers brought along with them. They 
were surprised, but not intimidated ; and 
both armies drew up for battle, on the .shore 
of the Rio Claro. The Peruvians, whom 
Almagro had posted in front, were soon 
broken and routed, and fell back with 
terror on the Spanish line. The Span- 
iards themselves were able with difficulty 
to sustain the furious attack ; they were 
not a little astonished at the resolute va- 
lor and fearless impetuosity of their new 
assailants. The struggle was obstinate, 
bloody, and doubful, and night alone put 
an end to it. The Promaucians, how- 
ever, remained in sight of their formida- 
ble enemy, with a determination to renew 
the fight next morning. The Spaniards 
kept the field, and claimed the victory ; 
but a victory of such perilous achieve- 
ment they had neither expected nor de- 
sired, and they were now fully persuaded 
of what indeed the Peruvians had before 
warned them, that the country of this 
people was not to be won by the force 
of prejudice alone, but by arms and valor, 
fatigue and bloodshed. 

It is seldom that men have resolution 
patiently to undergo toil and danger in 
the attainment of an object, when their 



anticipations had prepared them for nei- 
ther. So it happened with the Spaniards ; 
they resolved unanimously to abandon 
the enterprise. Some of them, indeed, 
expressed a desire to remain in the coun- 
try, and form a settlement in the northern 
provinces, where the natives were of a 
milder and less warlike disposition. At 
the request, however, of their leader, they 
unanimously returned with him to Cusco, 
in order to support him in his pretensions 
to that city. Cusco was included in the 
grant of territory, which had lately been 
conferred upon Almagro by the court of 
Spain ; but his rival Pizarro, in whose 
power it then was, could not be persua- 
ded to abandon so rich a possession. 
Almagro fell in the contest, and his sol- 
diers were scattered over Peru. 

Notwithstanding the failure of the last 
expedition to Chili, an object so tempting 
was not thus to be relinquished. Pizar- 
ro, now sole master of Peru, was con- 
vinced of its importance, and resolved 
upon another attempt. For this purpose, 
he commissioned his own quarter-master 
Pedro de Valdivia, to the exclusion of 
de Hoz and Carmargo, who had been 
nominated by the court of Spain. Val- 
divia had served in Italy, was possessed 
of courage, prudence, and activity, and, 
as an officer, was accounted one of the 
ablest among the Spanish adventurers. 
Before leaving Peru, he provided him- 
self with all the requisites of a colony, 
and having crossed the Cordilleras in 
summer, entered Chili without loss, at 
the head of 2,000 Spaniards, with a large 
body of Peruvians. 

Almagro had been well received in 
these northern provinces, chiefly through 
the influence and authority of his Peru- 
vian confederates. The inhabitants, how- 
ever, no longer considered themselves as 
subject to Peru, which they now under- 
stood to be itself a conquered kingdom ; 
and they were likewise better acquainted 
with the Spanish character. It was no 
longer veiled under the impious and im- 
posing title of divinity. The period of 
delusion had passed away, and these 
iniquitous invaders stood naked and ex- 
posed in all their startling deformity. 
The natives were every where in arms 
to repel the intrusion ; and had their 



CHILI. 



99 



power equalled the animosity with which 
it was exerted, they must have succeeded 
in the end ; but their weapons and their 
discipline were alike incompetent. Their 
most powerful efforts were weak, desul- 
tory, and ineffectual, and at best, served 
rather to harass than destroy. Unguided 
and tumultuous, they made but little im- 
pression on the steady valor of their more 
skilful opponents ; and the Spaniards, 
though frequently interrupted, continued 
their march, and penetrated into the coun- 
try, as far as the river Mapocho. It was 
in this rich and beautiful province, that 
Valdivia i-esolved, if possible, to effect a 
settlement. He laid the foundation of St. 
Jago, and immediately erected a strong 
citadel for its protection. It was not long 
before this cautious measure proved the 
safety of the colonists. The Spaniards 
were resolved to effect in Chili what they 
had so cruelly accomplished in Mexico 
and Peru ; they had determined to make 
its free inhabitants the instruments of 
their avarice, and, in this manner, to sub- 
ject them to the most degrading servi- 
tude. The Mapochinians, therefore, in 
whose territory they had now settled, 
and who seem at first to have given but 
little disturbance to their operations, 
quickly began to feel the weight of op- 
pression, and, at the same time, to exhibit 
rather unequivocal symptoms of uneasi- 
ness. Upon the first appearance of dis- 
affection, Valdivia seized and imprisoned 
their chiefs ; but the spirit of freedom 
was not thus to be suppressed, and such 
insulting severity had the effect only of 
exciting a more implacable hostility. 
Seizing an occasion of Valdivia's ab- 
sence, they effected a general insurrec- 
tion, assaulted the town, repulsed its de- 
fenders, and demolished the half-raised 
buildings. The Spaniards were now shut 
up in their fortress ; but the enemy fell 
in thousands around it, and the trenches 
were soon crowded with their dead. At 
length the Mapochinians, after a day of 
gallant exertion, found themselves com- 
pelled to retire, both for the purpose of 
refreshment, and of recruiting their ex- 
hausted numbers. In the mean time, 
Valdivia, secretly apprized of these pro- 
ceedings, returned in haste to his friends, 
joined them with sixty horse, engaged 



the enemy, at the moment they were pre- 
paring for a fresh assault, and, after a 
furious conflict, defeated and pursued 
them with overwhelming slaughter. The 
loss of a battle was a misfortune less 
severe to the Mapochinians, than the 
murder of their chiefs. This had been 
effected, during the assault, by the cruel 
intrepidity of Inez Saurez, a Spanish 
female, who fearing lest, in the general 
confusion, they might regain their liber- 
ty, and animate their countymen, dashed 
out their brains with a hatchet. The 
spirit, however, of this enduring people, 
seemed to rise with their misfortunes. 
Henceforth they renounced every thought 
of accommodation with their oppressors. 
They continued for the space of six 
years with resolute but unavailing perse- 
verance, constantly harassing, but una- 
ble to expel the enemy ; till at length a 
feeble remnant, wasted by the unequal 
contest, and nobly preferring freedom to 
their country, they destroyed their crops, 
and took refuge in the mountains. 

After the defeat and death of Pizarro, 
Valdivia returned to Chili, followed by a 
crowd of adventurers. Before, however, 
resuming offensive operations, he distri- 
buted the conquered provinces among his 
adherents ; and in this manner effectually 
secured their fidelity, while he inspired 
them with a more permanent interest, in 
the country for which they contended. 
He now penetrated southwards, without 
almost any opposition, to the bay of Pen- 
co ; and, according to his usual policy, 
took possession of the country, by the 
establishment of a new colony, and the 
foundatian of another city. To this city- 
he gave the name of Conception ; it 
stands on a fruitful soil, and has a fine 
commercial situation. 

From this period we may date the 
commencement of a more combined, a 
more vigorous, and a more successful 
resistance than the Spaniards had yet 
experienced. A field of more hazardous 
contention was now opened to them, — 
a field in which they were not unfre- 
quently to feel the impotence and the 
pressure of an unrighteous cause. They 
were now to encounter, not the timid 
slaves of luxury and prejudice, but a 
nation of indignant heroes, roused to 



100 



CHILI. 



exertion in defence of their liberty and 
possessions, who held in defiance their 
boasted superiority, and set at naught 
even " the thundering arms of Europe." 
This new power was the Araucanians, 
a name bestowed indiscriminately upon 
several distinct, though confederate tribes ; 
they occupy that portion of ChiU which 
extends between the rivers Biobio and j 
Calacalla. Regarding with indignation 
the insolence, the rapacity, and the grow- 
ing power of these formidable strangers, 
and perceiving that the next blow must 
inevitably fall upon themselves, the Arau- 
canians resolved to send immediate re- 
lief to their neighbors of Penco. For 
this purpose, Aillavalu, their Toqui or 
dictator, crossed the Biobio, and at the 
head of 4,000 men, gave battle to the 
Spaniards. After the first discharge of 
musketry, the Chilese, by a bold and 
dexterous movement, pouring at once up- 
on the whole Spanish line, brought it to 
close fight, while at the same time the 
Spaniards, having instantly assumed the 
form of a square, firmly maintained their 
ground. The conflict was severe and 
bloody, and for several hours was bravely 
supported on both sides. At length, Val- 
divia being dismounted, confusion began 
to show itself among his troops ; when 
Aillavalu, eager to seize the momentary 
advantage, by a rash but gallant impetu- 
osity, fell in the front of battle. His 
soldiers instantly began to retreat, main- 
taining, however, so much appearance 
of intrepidity and order, that the Span- 
iards dared not pursue. After the battle, 
Valdivia testified his amazement at the 
skill, the valor, and the discipline of his 
new opponents. He had often encoun- 
tered all the ten-ors of European warfare, 
but never before this engagement had his 
life been put to such imminent hazard. 
The boldest of his soldiers dreaded the 
return of so daring an enemy ; and, to 
prepare for the worst, a strong fortifica- 
tion was immediately erected near the 
town. 

In the mean time, the Araucanians 
were again advancing with a more nu- 
merous army than before, but under the 
auspices of a very difi'crent leader. Lyn- 
coyan, the new Toqui, possessed neither 
the skill nor the courage of his predeces- 



sor. His strength and his stature were 
enormous, and it would seem that a re- 
gard to these, more than to his mental 
abilities, had exalted him to the vacant 
dignity. He was defeated by the Span- 
iards, who traversed the country almost 
without resistance, and erected three 
strong forts in the tliree most warlike 
provinces. 

Prosperity thus shone upon the tri- 
umphant Spaniards, but a fatal storm 
was already gathering among the enemy. 
Submission was equally intolerable and 
repugnant to the haughty spirit of the 
Araucanians, and it required but little 
persuasion to excite them to more vigor- 
ous measures. By the exertions of Colo- 
colo, an aged Ulmen, the chiefs were 
assembled, Lyncoyan deposed, and after 
a violent altercation about the supremacy, 
the choice of a new Toqui was unani- 
mously submitted to the prudent Colo- 
colo. He immediately directed their 
notice to Caupolican, of a genius at once 
enterprising and cautious, but whose 
modesty had hitherto prevented his ap- 
pearing as a candidate. A shout of en- 
thusiastic applause proclaimed his elec- 
tion ; and scarcely had he assumed the 
badge of authority, when he had to repress 
the fiery zeal of his countrymen, who de- 
manded instantly to march in quest of the 
enemy. After sufficient preparation, he 
led them against the forts of Arauco and 
Tucapel, both of which, after a short 
siege, he forced the Spaniards to evacu- 
ate ; and on the ruins of the latter, waited 
the approach of Valdivia, who was in 
vain hastening to its relief. The two 
armies soon met, and the first onset proved 
auspicious to the Araucanians. The en- 
emy's left wing, pushing forward to meet 
their attack, was surrounded and cut in 
pieces. A second detachment fell in the 
same manner. As the conflict, however, 
became general, the tide of success was 
for a while balanced, and began at length 
to flow heavily against the Araucanians. 
The Spanish artillery penetrated, with 
dreadful effect, their compact and crowd- 
ed battalions. Twice had they been re- 
pulsed in disorder, when a third discom- 
fiture completed the confusion, and baffled 
all the efforts of Caupolican to renew the 
combat. At this critical moment, the 



CHILI. 



101 



famous Lautaro, a young Araucanian, the 
captive and page of Valdivia, seized with 
a patriotic enthusiasm, darted from the 
hostile ranks, upbraided, ralhed, and at 
length brought his indignant countrymen 
with such fury to the charge, that the 
first encounter proved completely deci- 
sive ; and with such fatal promptitude did 
he pursue the advantage, that, excepting 
their general who was made prisoner, not 
a single Spaniard escaped the slaughter ; 
only two Promaucians reached Concep- 
tion wdth intelligence of the battle. Val- 
divia condescended to ask his life of the 
conqueror, promising to quit Chili with 
all his countrymen ; and Caupolican, 
influenced, as well by his own generous 
temper, as by the intercession of Lautaro, 
showed an inclination to spare him. An 
old Ulmen, however, more prudent than 
humane, exclaiming against the folly of 
trusting to the oaths and the promises of 
an ambitious adversary, and furious at 
the thoughts of his escape, secretly ap- 
proached the prisoner, and dashed out 
his brains with a blow of his club. A 
severe punishment would have quickly 
followed this precipitate conduct, but for 
the obstinate interposition of the Arauca- 
nian officers. 

This important victory produced the 
evacuation of Puren, and the abandon- 
ment of Villarica, and the city of the 
Frontiers. It was celebrated by the 
Araucanians during three successive days, 
whilst the heads of their fallen enemies 
were suspended with savage exultation, 
around the place of festivity. Lautaro, 
who, at the early age of sixteen, had thus 
gloriously achieved the salvation of his 
country, was created lieutenant-general- 
extraordinary, and entrusted with the 
command of a separate army ; and Cau- 
polican laid siege to Imperial and Valdi- 
via, the only places of strength in Arauca- 
nia that now remained to the Spaniards. 

About this period, the small-pox, that 
pestilence to the New World, which a 
few years before had appeared in the 
northern provinces, was now for the first 
time introduced into Araucania, during a 
predatory excursion from the town of 
Valdivia, by the Spaniards. Its effects 
were awfully destructive. One district, 
in particular, was almost completely de- 



populated. Of twelve thousand persons, 
not more than a hundred survived its rav- 
ages. 

While Caupolican resumed the sieges 
of Imperial and Valdivia, his active lieu- 
tenant, at the head of six hundred chosen 
companions, undertook to employ the 
enemy in another quarter. He con- 
ceived the bold design, by attacking St. 
Jago itself, to strike a blow at the centre 
of their power in Chili. Immediately 
he began his march, and penetrated to 
the river Maule without offering the least 
violence to the natives ; but the moment 
he entered the Promaucian territory, he 
gave a loose to his indignation, and with 
more justice than policy, took a dreadful 
vengeance upon these traitorous apos- 
tates, whom by conciliating, he might 
have recalled, perhaps, from their hated 
allegiance. He then fortified himself in 
their territory, in place of marching di- 
rectly upon St. Jago ; a delay which 
proved fatal to the success of the enter- 
prise. The inhabitants were quickly in- 
formed of his approach ; but, lying at 
the distance of three hundred miles from 
Araucania, they at first only ridiculed the 
information, and could scarcely credit the 
possibility of so daring an attempt, till it 
was fully ascertained to them, by the 
surprise and defeat of one of their detach- 
ments. Villagran, being unable himself, 
from indisposition, to head the forces,"" 
gave the command to his son Pedro, with 
instructions to march directly against the 
enemy. Pedro attempted in vain to force 
the Araucanian encampment, and was 
repeatedly discomfited. A bold stratagem 
of Lautaro's had nearly overwhelmed his 
whole army, by turning upon it during 
the night, a branch of the river Mataquito. 
Having escaped this disaster, he soon 
afterwards laid down the command to his 
father, who found himself in a condition 
to resume it. Villigran had now been 
taught respect for his adversary ; and 
dreading the consequence of a pitched 
engagement, resolved if possible to take 
him by svirprise. Conducted by a secret 
path, he reached at day-break the Arau- 
canian camp. At the first alarm, Lauta- 
ro, who had just retired from the fatigues 
of a night's watch, was in a moment at 
the head of his troops ; and, at the same 



102 



CHILI. 



instant, was seen to drop, pierced to the 
heart by one of the enemy's darts. The 
exulting Spaniards pressed furiously up- 
on his dispirited soldiers, the meanest of 
whom would have willingly exchanged 
fates with his beloved commander, and 
cared not to survive him. But the tri- 
umph was dearly purchased. Not a man 
of that chosen band would submit to yield 
himself a prisoner. They spurned at 
the offered mercy ; and after a long and 
bloody resistance, the few that still re- 
mained, despairing to find death, while 
they continued to deal it so profusely 
around them, thi-ew themselves on the 
spears of the admiring and reluctant 
enemy. 

The extravagant rejoicings which the 
Spaniards manifested on this occasion, 
and which were continued for three days 
in succession, throughout all the settle- 
ments in Chili, sufficiently testified the 
importance attached to the victory. No- 
thing could better celebrate the merits of 
the young hero, in whose destruction 
they so exultingly triumphed, and which 
they regarded as itself a full equivalent 
for all their disasters. Like Marcellus 
of Rome, he was the sword of Araucania. 
His powerful genius supplied the want 
of experience ; and during his short and 
brilliant career, success never forsook 
him. The beauty of his person was 
equal to the energy of his mind. His 
memory is still fondly cherished, and he 
is still the boast of his country, as he was 
formerly its glory and protection. 

The Spaniards under Don Garcia, and 
others, were for a long period engaged 
in bloody warfare with the Araucanians. 
The bravery of this heroic people was 
oftentimes more than a match for the 
Spaniards, who were never able efl'ec- 
tually to subdue them. 

In the year 1612, in consequence of 
the complaints of Luis Valdivia, a Jesuit 
missionary, who zealously represented 
to the king the impracticability of propa- 
gating religion amid the tumult of arms, 
great exertions were made, on the part 
of Spain, to accomplish a treaty. Philip 
HI, a bigoted though devout monarch, 
issued commands for a suspension of 
hostilities, and commissioned Valdivia 
with full powers to negotiate a peace. 



Aillavalu, suspicious of the enemy, paid 
little regard to their professions. But 
his successor Ancanamon, after minute 
inquiries, entered sincerely into proposals 
for an accommodation. The conditions 
proposed were these, " That the Biobio 
should serve as a barrier to both nations, 
so that neither should be permitted to 
pass it with an army ; that all deserters, 
in future, should be mutually returned ; 
and that the missionaries should be per- 
mitted to preach the doctrines of Chris- 
tianity in the Araucanian territories." 
After the execution of the required pre- 
liminaries, and when the treaty was on 
the point of being finally concluded, the 
whole proceedings were completely over- 
turned by the obstinate bigotry, or the 
interested opposition of the Spanish offi- 
cers. One of the Toqui's wives, a Span- 
ish lady, whose detention in that capacity 
had been compulsory, seizing the occasion 
of her husband's absence, fled to the gov- 
ernor with two small children. Ancana- 
mon vainly demanded their restoration ; 
his claim was rejected by a majority of 
officers. He then claimed his two infant 
daughters, for whom he bore the fondest 
attachment ; but of these also the eldest 
was denied him, on the plea that she 
had been converted to Christianity, and 
might be in danger, in a pagan country, 
of receding from the faith. In the mean 
time the Ulmen of Illicula had, from mo- 
tives of gratitude to Valdivia, engaged to 
facilitate the negotiation, and at the same 
time received some missionaries into his 
province. The exasperated Toqui, who 
had now abandoned all desire of peace, 
no sooner was informed of this proceed- 
ing, than he hastened with a party of two 
hundred horse to lUicura, and immedi- 
ately slew the missionaries with their 
protector. All attempts to revive the 
negotiation were fruitless. 

Thus frivolously was rekindled a war, 
which, in its course, had already drained 
Araucania of its bravest inhabitants, and 
drenched its fields with the best blood of 
the enemy. Ancanamon poured out his 
indignant vengeance on the Spanish pro- 
vinces, and some severe engagements 
followed. But the levity of the Span- 
iards received its full measure of retribu- 
tion, during the dictatorships of Lientur 



CHILI, 



103 



and Putapichion. The ardent genius 
and enterprising spirit of Lientur carried 
eA'ery thing before him. His expeditions 
were a succession of triumphs to his 
country, and of discomfiture and humilia- 
tion to the Spaniards. He retired with 
glory in his old age, regarded even by 
his enemies as the darling of fortune. 
He was succeeded by Putapichion, a 
leader possessed of talents scarcely infe- 
rior, though less uniformly triumphant, 
but whose laurels were shamefully pol- 
luted, by reviving, happily but in one 
instance, the cruel ceremony of the pru- 
loncon, or dance of the dead ; a festival 
in which a captive was sacrificed to the 
manes of the soldiers slain in battle. He 
fell gloriously, in a bloody engagement 
with the Spanish governor Don Francis- 
co Laso, and in the moment of success ; 
but his soldiers, intent only to remove 
the body of their leader, permitted the 
enemy to rally his dismayed battalions, 
and lost a victory which their valor had 
in part achieved. The death of Putapi- 
chion threw a superiority on the side of 
the Spaniards. His successors in the 
Toquiate, with equal ardor to annoy the 
enemy, were deficient in those qualities, 
which could alone secure its accomplish- 
ment. Their efforts, though not always 
ineffectual, seem in general to have been 
the result rather of temerity than of skill. 
They have the just praise, however, of 
having been sincere in the great cause 
of their country, and their sincerity was 
sealed with their blood. In the course 
of a A^ery few years Araucania was de- 
prived of five successive Toquis, and, 
during that period, was frequently expo- 
sed to severe ravages from the governor. 

The Spanish settlements were again 
threatened by the Dutch and English. 
The first arrived upon the coast in 1638, 
when a storm frustrated their enterprise, 
by the dispersion of their little squadron. 
Some years after, the English fleet, on 
its way to Chili, under Sir John Norbor- 
ough, was lost in the straits of Magellan. 

Laso, like some of his predecessors, 
had engaged his promise to terminate 
the war with the Araucanians, but not- 
withstanding his utmost endeavors, and 
the vigorous ability with which these 
were exerted, they still obstinately main- 



tained their freedom ; and he was at 
length reduced to the necessity of solicit- 
ing reinforcements. Instead of these, 
however, the court of Spain sent out the 
Marquis de Baydes to displace him from 
the command. De Baydes, immediately 
on assuming the government, (1643,) 
opened a conference with Toqui Linco- 
pichion ; and the tAvo chiefs, entertaining 
similar views, a peace was concluded on 
the 6th of January, the following year, 
upon the terms proposed to Ancanamon, 
but with this further requisition, that the 
Araucanians should not permit the land- 
ing of any strangers upon their coast, 
nor furnish supplies to any foreign nation 
whatever. This prudent stipulation pro- 
ved shortly of the highest importance to 
the Spaniards. 

In 1643, the Dutch, after the reduction 
of Brazil, renewed their attempts upon 
Chili ; but this their last effort, though 
apparently more formidable and better 
concerted, was not more successful than 
the two former. They possessed them- 
selves of the deserted harbor of Valdivia; 
and the Araucanians were in vain soli- 
cited with the most pressing invitations 
to break with their ancient enemy. Not 
only, however, did they remain faithful 
to their engagement, but readily united 
with a Spanish army to expel the strangers. 
Upon intelligence of their approach, the 
Dutch, greatly oppressed for want of 
provisions, found themselves once more 
compelled to abandon the enterprise. 

In 1655, hostilities were excited afresh 
during the government of Don Antonio 
Acugna ; but from Avhat cause, or which 
party was the aggressor, we are not in- 
formed. The Toqui Clentaru, in his first 
enterprise, had the glory of annihilating 
a Spanish army. He then cleared the 
country of some remaining fortresses, 
crossed the Biobio, and after defeating 
the governor, overturned the forts of St. 
Christopher and the Eustacia del Rey, 
and burned the city of Chilian. Don 
Francisco Meneses brought the war to a 
termination in 1665, by a peace which 
lasted forty-eight years. During this 
period little occurred deserving particu- 
lar notice. A slight rebellion took place 
among the inhabitants of Chiloe ; which, 
however, was quickly suppressed by the 



104 



CHILI. 



prudent exertions of Don Pedro Molina. 
During the war of succession in 1707, 
the external commerce of Chili fell into 
the hands of Frenchmen, and remained 
wholly under their management till 1717. 
Many of them settled in the country, and 
have left numerous descendants. 

The war of 1723 menaced the Span- 
iards in its commencement with total ex- 
pulsion from Chili. It appears to have 
been excited by some encroachments on 
their part, and by the insolent aggres- 
sions of those persons styled Captains 
vf the Friends, (Spanish officers placed 
in Chili for the ostensible purpose of 
protecting missionaries). The assump- 
tion of powers which did not originally 
belong to them was deeply resented, and 
soon stirred to a flame the watchful jeal- 
ousy of the Araucanians. Villumilla was 
elected Toqui in 1722. His first aim 
was to engage the co-operation of all the 
Chilians, that by one sudden and over- 
whelming eftbrt he might sweep the 
Spaniards from every province of the 
country. But though his measures to 
this effect were taken with vigor, secrecy, 
and precision, its accomplishment was 
entirely frustrated, by the inaction of the 
conquered Chilians. The long and rigid 
despotism which had been exercised 
over them with such barbarity by the 
Spaniards, had not only repressed the 
population, once numerous and flourish- 
ing, but reduced it to a spiritless remnant. 
The small number, therefore, and the 
broken spirit of these injured and degra- 
ded beings, should perhaps exculpate 
them from the charge of cowardice. On 
the day appointed, the signal fires served 
only to remind them of ancient freedom, 
without exciting a single effort to regain 
it. Villumilla, thus disappointed of ex- 
tensive co-operation, though he was not 
deterred from attacking the enemy, ac- 
complished nothing of importance. He 
succeeded in taking several fortresses ; 
but the governor, Don Gabriel Cano, who 
had entered Araucania with an army of 
5,000 men, not choosing to attack him, 
the war was reduced to skirmishes, and 
soon afterwards terminated by the peace 
of Negrete. 

The interval of tranquillity was occu- 
pied by a succession of governors, in 



forming new establishments, and peo- 
pling them with great numbers of their 
countrymen, at that time scattered over 
the provinces. An attempt to extend the 
same policy, with very different views, 
to Araucania, produced a rupture with 
that vigilant people, who, regarding cities 
as the emblems of servitude, and with 
extreme aversion, could not be persuaded 
to adopt a measure which might one day 
prove instumental in subverting their lib- 
erties. The subsequent war, however, 
of which we have no particular account, 
compelled the Spaniards to forbear even 
such indirect methods of reducing a war- 
like nation, resolved to remain independ- 
ent, or to perish with its freedom. The 
peace which followed in 1773, was a 
confirmation of the treaties of Quillin and 
Negrete. During the negotiations which, 
at the desire of the Toqui Curignancu, 
were held in St. Jago, a demand, rather 
unexpected, was made from the same 
authority. It was required, that hence- 
forth the Auraucanians should be permit- 
ted to keep a minister resident in that 
city. This, also, notwithstanding the 
opposition of his officers, the governor 
thought proper to concede, and every 
obstacle being removed, the terms were 
adjusted and ratified on the bases of the 
preceding treaties. 

Since their last expulsion from Arau- 
cania, the Spaniards have prudently ab- 
stained from any further attempts to re- 
gain their possessions in that warlike 
province ; the preservation of which had 
already been attended with so nmch haz- 
ard and bloodshed. In 1792 the colony 
was in a flourishing state under Don 
Ambrosio Higgins, a native of Ireland, 
who increased the number of its cities, 
extended its commerce and fisheries, 
encouraged its agriculture, and by the 
whole of his able and useful administra- 
tion became the object of universal regard. 

Up to the breaking out of the South 
American war of independence. Chili 
was one of the most productive of the 
Spanish provinces in the new world, 
but they readily succeeded in throwing 
off' the yoke. 

In 1814, Chili was invaded by a royal- 
ist army from Peru, imder the command 
of general Osorio ; and the defeat of the 



CHINA. 



105 



patriots at Rancagxia, compelled the 
leading individuals to cross the Andes, 
and seek refuge in Buenos Ayres, leav- 
ing their country in possession of the 
Spaniards. In 1817, the patriots obtain- 
ed succors from Buenos Ayres, com- 
manded by general San Martin, and re- 
entered Chili at the head of a powerful 
body of troops, which defeated the Span- 
iards at Chacabuco, and again at Maypu, 
April 5, 1817, and thus permanently se- 
cured the independence of the country. 
By the intrigues of San Martin, the three 
Carreras and their friend Rodriguez, the 
most patriotic men of Chili, were shame- 
fully murdered, and Don Bernardo O'Hig- 
gins was placed at the head of the gov- 
ernment, with the title of supreme direc- 
tor. Meanwhile San Martin, with the 
liberating army, and aided by a Chilian 
fleet under Lord Cochrane, invaded Peru 
in return, and gave it a temporary inde- 
pendence. O'Higgins continued to ad- 
minister the government, until Jan. 23, 
] 823, when he was compelled to resign 
the supreme authority, owing chiefly to 
the dissatisfaction of the people with his 
financial measures. He was succeeded 
by general Ramon Freire, the latter be- 
ing appointed supreme director. In Jan- 
uary, 1826, the archipelago of Chiloe, 



which had remained to that time in the 
hands of the Spaniards, surrendered to 
the government of Chili. But disturb- 
ances have existed among the Arauca- 
nians, on the southern frontier, down to 
the present time, occasioning more or 
less inconvenience to the Chilians. In 
other respects. Chili has been wholly 
unmolested by foreign enemies, unless an 
attempt of the exile O'Higgins upon Chi- 
loe, in 1826, can be considered such. 
But the unsettled state of the government, 
and the mal-administration of its affairs, 
have impeded the prosperity of the country. 
In July, 1826, the director Freire re- 
signed his office, and admiral Manual 
Blanco was appointed in his place. In 
May, 1827, the form of the government 
was changed, and, Blanco having resign- 
ed, Freire was again called to the head 
of affairs as president, but refused to be 
qualified ; and the administration of the 
government devolved upon Don Francis- 
co A. Pinto, the vice-president. Three 
attempts have been made to effect a solid 
organization of the government by means 
of a permanent constitution. One con- 
stituent congress assembled in 1823, 
another in 1824, and a third in 1826 ; 
but neither of them fully accomplished 
the object of their meeting. 



CHINA, 



The early history of China, besides 
being derived from such uncertain sources, 
is so extremely limited, as scarcely to 
deserve the name. Of the immense col- 
lection, known in China by the name of 
the twenty-one historians, which consists 
of about 500 volumes, the first 14 volumes 
comprehend the whole historical me- 
moirs, from the reign of Yao to the year 
200 before Christ ; and seven of these 
14 contain only genealogical tables. An 
abridgment of Chinese history of high 
authority, named Tong-kienkang-mo, as 
examined by M. De Guignes, presents 
the following proportions. Of 56 volumes, 
the half of the second, namely 75 pages, 
and the whole of the third, namely 111 
14 



pages, loaded with notes larger than the 
text, and consisting chiefly of long moral 
discourses from the Shoo-king, comprises 
the history of the empire, from the reign 
of Yao to the commencement of the third 
dynasty, a period of about 1236 years. 
The history of the third and fourth dy- 
nasties, reaching to the year before Christ 
207, occupies nine volumes ; and the re- 
maining 44 contain the history, from 207 
before the Christian era to the year of 
Christ 1368. 

Such is the general character of the 
early Chinese history ; not, as has been 
pretended, consisting of regular annals, 
ascending without interruption 3000 
years before Christ, written by contem- 



106 



CHINA. 



porary authors, full of circumstantial de- 
tails, and founded upon the most exact 
astronomical observations ; but, on the 
contrary, extremely limited and ill con- 
nected ; destitute of events, and full of 
contradictions ; resting upon the most 
questionable authorities, and often upon 
mere conjecture ; drawn up by authors, 
who lived far posterior to the times which 
they describe, and who are frequently 
divided into the most opposite opinions 
and contradictory accounts. 

Prior to any of the first emperors, 
several chiefs are named in the Chinese 
annals, who first attempted to civilize 
the savage natives of the country ; but 
Fo-hee is universally considered as the 
first, who possessed the title and autho- 
rity of a sovereign in China. The com- 
mencement of his reign is fixed by some 
of the Chinese historians as high as the 
year 3300 before Christ ; but the whole 
of his history, and of his successors 
down to Yao, is entirely fabulous, was 
written after the birth of Christ, and is 
disbelieved by the greater part of the 
Chinese themselves. There is nothing 
known with certainty with regard to the 
origin of Yao, or the state of the empire 
before his time. There are very various 
calculations, also, respecting the com- 
mencement of his reign, which is placed 
by some in the year 2000, and by others 
in the year 24 1 1 before Christ. 

The limits of this work will not allow 
of giving an account of the various dy- 
nasties which have ruled the Chinese 
Empire. It is perhaps sufficient to say, 
that they, like other nations, have passed 
through bloody revolutions. Having suf- 
fered much from the inroads of the 
northern Tartars, the Chinese built a 
wall upwards of 1200 miles in length 
from east to west ; this astonishing work 
is still in existence. This wall secured 
the peace of China for several centuries ; 
but the Tartars after repeated assaults, 
succeeded in breaking over the wall, and 
in subduing the empire in 1635, and a 
Tartar dynasty is now on the throne. 

It was owing chiefly to the wise policy 
and humane conduct of A-ma-van, the 
xmcle and guardian of the young Tartar 
prince, that the Chinese were so easily 
subdued, and so completely reconciled 



to the authority of the new dynasty, 
Shee-tsong faithfully adhered to the sys- 
tem which his uncle had adopted in 
governing the empire. He ascribed his 
great success, not to the number or valor 
of his troops, but to the will and favor of 
heaven ; a sentiment exactly coinciding 
with the Chinese creed, and furnishing 
them with an excuse, which they plead to 
this day, for submitting to a foreign yoke. 
Instead of shutting himself up in his 
palace, according to the custom of the 
Chinese emperors, he began his reign 
with showing himself much in public, 
and giving his subjects free access to his 
presence. He gained their attachment, 
above all things, by the respect which 
he paid to their whole system of gov- 
ernment, laws, and customs. Nothing 
was changed, that could be regarded as 
of any importance ; but, on the contrary, 
the conquerors conformed almost in every 
respect, to the manners of the vanquished; 
married into Chinese families, studied 
the Chinese language, adopted the Chi- 
nese dress, and mixed completely with 
the common mass. The ablest Chinese 
were appointed to the civil departments, 
in preference to Tartars ; the supersti- 
tions of the country were upheld and en- 
couraged ; and the people were scarcely 
sensible of any change having taken 
place in the administration of public af- 
fairs. The army alone was reserved 
for the Tartars ; and is still chiefly 
composed of the countrymen of the em- 
peror. 

Shee-tsong greatly patronised men of 
learning ; and showed extraordinary 
favor particularly to the persons employ- 
ed in the Jesuit mission to China. Adam 
Schaal was made president of the tri- 
bunal of mathematics, and intrusted with 
the reformation of the calendar, an ofiice 
which had been held by the Mahomme- 
dans nearly 300 years. This eminent 
Jesuit was honored by the emperor with 
the appellation of Ma-fa, " my father," 
and enjoyed the special privilege of pre- 
senting his petitions into his own hands, 
without subjecting them to the examina- 
tion of the usual tribunals. About eight 
years after Shee-tsong had taken the 
reins of government into his own hands, 
the renowned sea-captain Tching-tching- 



CHINA. 



107 



long, or Coxinga, again appeared upon 
the coast of China with his numerous 
fleet, and at length laid siege to the city 
of Nan-kin ; but his army, having de- 
voted themselves to feasting and amuse- 
ments for three days, in celebration of 
his birth-day, the besieged embraced the 
opportunity to make an attack upon his 
camp at midnight, while the soldiers 
were oppressed with wine and sleep, and 
drove them to their ships with great 
slaughter. Enraged by this defeat, he 
pursued the Tartar fleet, destroyed a 
number of vessels, took 4,000 prisoners, 
and after having barbarously cut ofl' their 
noses and ears, he sent them all ashore, 
where they were still more barbarously 
put to death by their own government, 
as a punishment for having yielded to a 
rebel, but, in reality, as a means of con- 
cealing the disgrace of the discomfiture. 
Coxinga, after this victory, directed his 
course to attack the island of Formosa, 
which was chiefly occupied by Dutch 
traders; and, after a blockade of four 
months, compelled them to surrender 
from want of provisions. The Dutch, 
however, were permitted to carry oflT 
their property ; and the part of the island, 
which had been occupied by the Chi- 
nese, was formed by the pirate chief into 
a small kingdom. 

The emperor Shee-tsong, about the 
17th year of his reign, while he was 
only 24 years of age, died of grief on 
account of the loss of one of his queens, 
after having made an attempt to deprive 
himself of life. While he was upon his 
death-bed, he called four of his chief 
mandarins into his presence, and charged 
himself before them with various faults 
during his government, with ingratitude 
to his most faithful minister, neglect of 
the counsels of his mother, affection to 
the eunuchs, extravagance in vain curi- 
osities, and inordinate attachment to the 
late queen. He next appointed them 
guardians of his youngest son Kang-hee, 
whom he declared his successor, and 
who was then only eight years of age. 
Then, calling for his imperial robe, he 
covered himself with it in his bed, and 
instantly expired. 

The guardians of the young monarch 
devoted themselves to the welfare of the 



empire. They began their administra- 
tion with wisely expelling all the eunuchs 
from the palace, except about 1 ,000, who 
were reserved for performing the lowest 
offices. They next published an edict, 
requiring all the inhabitants of the sea 
coast to withdraw three leagues from the 
sea, and all maritime commerce to be 
abandoned; which impaired, indeed, as 
they are supposed to have intended, the 
power of Coxinga, but which also com- 
pletely ruined an immense multitude of 
Chinese families, who subsisted by fish- 
ing. They next issued a severe edict 
against the Christians, who were soon 
after compelled to leave the empire, as 
will afterwards be more particularly re- 
lated. Oo-san-hoey, who had invited the 
Tartars into China, and who had received 
from Shee-tsong a district in Shen-see, 
with the dignity of king, is represented 
by the Chinese historians, as having 
soon repented his error in calling the 
Tartars to his aid, saying, that " he had 
sent for lions to drive away dogs." In 
the r2th year of the emperor Kang-hee, 
he openly raised the standard of rebel- 
lion, made himself master of several 
western provinces, and exercised the 
prerogatives of the emperor. At the 
same time two of the southern princes 
declared war against the Tartar govern- 
ment, and were joined by Tching-tching- 
may, the son of Coxinga, and now king 
of Formosa. But these insurgents soon 
quarrelled with each other, and made 
their submission to Kang-hee ; while 
Oo-san-hoey, after sustaining several 
successive defeats, sunk under the load 
of years, the fatigues of war, and the 
pressure of grief and disappointment. 
His son Hong-hoa, nevertheless, sup- 
ported his father's views, and assumed 
the title of emperor ; but was soon re- 
duced to such extremities by the Tartar 
generals, that, to avoid falling into their 
power, he put himself to death. About 
this time, a dreadful earthquake was ex- 
perienced in the northern parts of the 
empire, and at Pekin alone, 300,000 per- 
sons are said to have been buried in the 
ruins of their habitations. Kang-hee, 
who, even in his youth, had discovered 
the greatest talents for governing, as 
soon as the different insurgents had beea 



108 



CHINA. 



completely suppressed, made a visit to 
his native dominions in Eastern Tartary, 
accompanied by his family, his court, 
and an army, it is said, of 70,000 men. 
He made a similar visit, during the fol- 
low^ing year, to Western Tartary ; and 
continued annually to repeat these expe- 
ditions, under the pretence of hunting, 
but in reality for the purpose of keeping 
his troops in exercise, of displaying the 
grandeur of his court, and of awing the 
vassal princes, who were required to 
join him in his progress. 

By the assistance of two of the mis- 
sionaries. Father Gerbillon and Pereira, 
the boundaries between the Russian and 
Chinese dominions were amicably de- 
fined in the year 1689. In 1693, the 
emperor was restored by the medicines 
of the missionaries from a dangerous at- 
tack of fever ; and in gratitude for their 
services in this instance, as well as 
through the influence of Gerbillon and 
Pereira, who instructed him in the Euro- 
pean sciences, he extended a greater de- 
gree of toleration to the Christian religion, 
and conferred several important privi- 
leges upon the Jesuit residents in Pekin. 
In the year 1707, the emperor employed 
these learned missionaries to make a map 
and survey of the empire ; a work which 
they accomplished with great labor in 
little more than ten years, and which 
does honor both to the prince who plan- 
ned, and to the persons who executed 
the vast undertaking. In 1722, the em- 
peror Kang-hee, after having established 
his empire in profound peace, and done 
more for its improvement than any sover- 
eign who had ever filled the throne, died 
suddenly in the 69th year of his age, and 
the 60th of his reign. He was a prince 
of a truly enlarged mind, and possessed 
of many estimable qualities ; indefatigable 
in his application to public affairs ; cau- 
tious and discerning in the choice of his 
ministers ; singidarly frugal in his per- 
sonal expenditure, but munificent and af- 
fectionate towards his people ; an anxious 
promoter of peace, both in his own do- 
minions and among neighboring nations ; 
friendly to the arts and sciences, which 
he cultivated himself with distinguished 
success ; addicted to an active mode of 
life, and skilled in the military exercises 



of his nation ; uniting in his personal 
character the most manly corporeal and 
mental endowments, and in his political 
administration, the tenderness of a pa- 
rent with the firmness of a prince. 

He was succeeded by his fourth son, 
whom he had nominated to the throne, 
and who assumed at his accession the 
name of Young-tching, which signifies 
" perpetual peace." The new emperor, 
entering upon his function in the prime 
of life, applied himself with the utmost 
assiduity to the discharge of his weighty 
duties. He is said to have employed 
whole days and nights, without interrup- 
tion, in framing useful laws and regula- 
tions ; and to have been particularly 
attentive to receive and answer the nu- 
merous memorials presented for his in- 
spection. The most eflectual way to 
gain his favor was to propose some 
scheme, which tended to advance the 
public good, or to provide relief for his 
subjects in times of calamity. Except 
his thirteenth brother, he had no confi- 
dents in his measures ; but governed 
wholly of himself, and with the most ab- 
solute authority. He is said to have 
been endowed with great wit and elo- 
quence, but to have been less addicted 
to scientific pursuits than his father. He 
began his administration with issuing the 
most severe edicts against the Christians, 
whom, at length, he utterly proscribed 
and banished from his dominions ; and, 
notwithstanding the excuses which may 
be alleged for this measure, from the 
misconduct of the missionaries, it is im- 
possible to vindicate the cruel persecu- 
tions which he instituted against the 
native converts, and in Avhich so many 
of the noblest families were miserably 
destroyed. 

In the year 1731, another destructive 
earthquake was experienced in the 
northern provinces, in consequence of 
which 100,000 persons were said to 
have perished in Pekin, and a still greater 
number in the neighboring country. The 
emperor was residing at the time in 
one of his pleasure houses, about two 
leagues distant from the metropolis, and 
was sailing in his barge upon the canal 
in his gardens, when the shocks com- 
menced. His palace was instantly re- 



CHINA. 



109 



duced to a heap of ruins, and the em- 
peror, who had fallen on his knees at the 
sight, afterwards published an edict in 
the usual style, ascribing the calamity 
to the wrath of heaven against himself, 
for his offences and want of care in 
governing the people ; commanded an 
estimate to be made of the losses which 
had been sustained ; and issued large 
sums for the relief of the sufferers. 

Yong-tching died in the year 1736, 
after a reign of thirteen years, and was 
succeeded by his son Kien-long, who 
ascended the throne without opposition, 
though he had not been regularly declared 
by the late emperor as his successor. 
He had hitherto devoted himself entirely 
to literary pursuits, and was little ac- 
quainted, at the time of his accession, 
with public affairs ; but his mild and 
benevolent character speedily attached 
to him the affections and applause of 
his people. In 1746, new decrees were 
issued against the missionaries, a few 
of whom, however, were still permitted 
to reside at Pekin, on account of their 
services in matters of science. In 1753, 
an insurrection was excited among the 
Eleuth Tartars, by a powerful prince 
named Amoursana ; but the approach of 
a Chinese army compelled him to take 
refuge in the deserts of Siberia, where 
he died a few years afterwards. Kien- 
long sent a message to the Russians, re- 
quiring the dead body of Amoursana to 
be delivered up to him, that it might be 
subjected to the customary penalties, for 
the intimidation of others ; but the Rus- 
sians, while they showed the body of the 
prince to the Chinese commissioners, in 
order to satisfy them of his decease, re- 
fused to commit it into their hands, as 
their laws, it appears, prohibit any ex- 
posure to indignity of the remains of un- 
fortunate persons, who may take refuge 
in their dominions. In the year 1770, 
about 50,000 families of the Tourgouth 
Tartars, in the Russian territories, mi- 
grated to the frontiers of China, and were 
afterwards followed by an additional 
number, which made the whole amount 
to nearly half a million of souls. The 
Chinese monarch was so much gratified 
by the accession of so many new sub- 
jects, and by the testimony of approbation 



Avhich it afforded of his government, that 
he caused a monument of stone to be 
erected in commemoration of the event, 
with an inscription in four different lan- 
guages. In the year 1782, the emperor 
showed his vigilance over the administra- 
tion of public affairs, and his regard for 
the welfare of his sucjects, by punishing 
a great number of persons of the highest 
rank, who had been found guilty of em- 
bezzling the revenues, and oppressing 
the people, while he diminished the 
amount of taxes upon the lower classes 
of the community, and promoted the 
learned men throughout the empire ac- 
cording to their merit. In the year fol- 
lowing, the tranquillity of the empire 
was interrupted by a dissension among 
some tributary Mahometan tribes on the 
western frontiers ; and the more turbulent 
families, to the number of 10,000, having 
been punished by the Chinese governor 
with banishment to a more distant resi- 
dence, they excited the tribes, among 
whom they had retired, to throw off the 
yoke of the Chinese emperor, and ex- 
tended the spirit of revolt to the confines 
of Bucharia. Having secretly secured 
adherents among the people, where they 
had formerly resided, and procured a 
considerable quantity of military stores, 
they placed themselves under the com- 
mand of a rebel chief, who had formerly 
experienced the emperor's clemency, 
and erected a strong fort in a situation 
that was deemed inaccessible. Their 
commander was defeated at the head of 
10,000 men, and taken prisoner by the 
Chinese, before the Mahometans had 
collected their forces. But the chiefs 
who came to their assistance, to the 
number of the different tribes, having 
found themselves, when united, not less 
than 100,000 fighting men, immediately 
commenced offensive operations. The 
Chinese governor injudiciously sent out 
small detachments, which were succes- 
sively cut to pieces ; and the insurgents, 
losing no time in the attack of fortified 
places, penetrated into the midst of the 
empire, destroying every thing in their 
progress with fire and sword, seizing 
upon the public magazines and treasures, 
and sacrificing the governors who ven- 
i tured to oppose them. A numerous 



110 



CHINA. 



army however, was speedily marched 
against them, under the command of the 
prime minister ; and they were com- 
pelled to retreat to their strong-hold, 
which was protected by a considerable 
river and lake in the front, and in the 
rear by a very steep and lofty mountain. 
While they imagined themselves secure 
in this retreat, the Chinese commander 
caused the course of the river to be turn- 
ed by his numerous workmen, and his 
troops to advance to surround the lake. 
The insurgents, being thus at once de- 
prived of their strongest protection, and 
regular supply of water, were reduced to 
the greatest extremities. After enduring 
the torments of thirst for the space of 
three days, they adopted the desperate 
resolution of putting to death the useless 
persons among them, and of cutting their 
way through the Chinese army. They 
were completely overwhelmed in the dar- 
ing attempt, their fortress taken by storm, 
and the whole of its defenders put to the 
sword, except a few of the leaders, who 
were afterwards executed at Pekin. This 
victory was followed by an order from 
the emperor to exterminate the whole 
nation, excepting those who were under 
fifteen years of age, who were to be dis- 
tributed as slaves among the Mahometan 
tribes, that had remained faithful to the 
emperor. This barbarous decree was 
rigorously carried into effect, and a tract 
of country, above 100 leagues square, con- 
taining 1,000 towns and villages, was 
converted into an empty desert. 

In the year 1788, while the emperor, 
though now at the age of 78, was en- 
gaged in his usual recreation of hunting 
in the deserts of Tartary, a sudden inun- 
dation descended from the mountains, and 
flooded the whole adjacent country. It 
was with difficulty that Kien-long gained 
a small elevation, where he passed a 
whole day without food, till a slender 
bridge was thrown across the hollow, by 
which he succeeded in saving himself, 
though a great number of his attendants 
were swept away by the torrents. 

In the year 1793, a splendid embassy, 
under Lord Macartney, a nobleman of 
distinguished talents and accomplish- 
ments, was sent by the king of Great 
Britain to the emperor of Cliina, with a 



view to establish a more direct inter- 
course with that immense empire, and to 
secure more extensive commercial privi- 
leges for the British nation. The em- 
bassy was received by the Chinese gov- 
ernment with every mark of respect ; but 
completely failed in attaining the desired 
object. This want of success has been 
ascribed to various causes ; to an impru- 
dent assertion in an English journal on 
the subject, which found its way to Chi- 
na, and awakened the suspicion of its ru- 
lers ; to the refusal of Lord Macartney 
to observe the established ceremony of 
prostration before the Chinese emperor ; 
to the dread of Jacobin principles, which 
had already been introduced into China, 
and which augmented the aversion of the 
government to all European settlers ; and 
to an oversight of the British ambassa- 
dor, in not having treated, in the first in- 
stance, with the Hotchong-tang, or prime 
minister of China, whose influence is un- 
derstood to be greater than that of the 
emperor himself. But, while each of 
these causes may be allowed to have 
had its weight, the true reason is unques- 
tionably of a more general nature ; and 
must be sought in the spirit of the Chi- 
nese people, proud, contemptuous, and 
suspicious, towards the inhabitants of 
every other country. This was suffi- 
ciently demonstrated in the fate of the 
Dutch embassy, which entered China 
with similar views in the following year. 
Though they carefully attended to every 
circumstance, which they supposed their 
predecessors to have overlooked, and 
meanly complied with the most humili- 
ating requisition on the part of the Chi- 
nese, they were neither treated with so 
much respect as the English, nor were 
they, in the smallest degree, more suc- 
cessful in their object. All that they ob- 
tained was a sight of the emperor, a few 
trifling presents from his hand, and an 
exemption of the ship, which conveyed 
their ambassador, from the payment of 
any duties upon its cargo. 

In the year 1796, the Emperor Kien- 
long, according to a resolution which he 
had long entertained, abdicated the throne 
in favor of his son, after a reign of 60 
I years, and died in the year 1799, at the 
I age of 89 years, with the character of 



CHINA. 



Ill 



an enlightened, humane, pacific, and pru- 
dent prince. He was succeeded, accord- 
ing to his own appointment, by his sev- 
enteenth son, Kia-king, who had then 
attained the age of 40 years ; but of 
whose reign and character, from the 
want of intelUgence from China, we can 
present only a few detached circumstan- 
ces. Immediately after the death of the 
old emperor, the prime minister, from some 
cause which is not known, was brought 
into disgrace, and compelled to become 
his own executioner. By accoimts re- 
ceived from Canton, in the beginning of 
the year 1 802, it is known that a strong 
and well-disciplined body of Tartars had 
made an incursion into China in the year 
1800 ; an invasion which excited univer- 
sal terror, especially as it was connected 
with serious internal commotions. Sev- 
eral districts were in arms at the same 
moment ; but the imperial troops, by a 
prompt movement, brought the insurgents 
to action before they could be joined by 
the Tartars, and routed them with im- 
mense slaughter. One of those severe 
droughts, which are so frequent in Chi- 
na, had prevailed about the same time in 
the eastern districts ; and the natives had 
been reduced to the necessity of aban- 
doning large tracts of country in quest 
of food, while the most benevolent ex- 
ertions on the part of the emperor had 
not been able to impart much relief. The 
Chinese government, it was also learned 
by the same intelligence, having discov- 
ered, that the greatest evils result from 
the abuse of opium, entirely prohibited 
the importation of that article into the 
empire. 

In 1804, intelligence was received in 
Europe, that another serious rebellion 
had broken out in the western provinces 
in China, and had even extended to that 
of Canton, where a descendant of the 
former imperial family had appeared at 
the head of 40,000 men, who were all 
animated by a prophecy current in the 
country, that the present Tartar dynasty 
was to be overturned in the course of 
that year. The emperor had issued an 
edict, permitting the Roman Catholic 
missionaries to reside in any part of his 
dominions, within 20 miles of his court ; 
and some thousands of children, with a 



few adults, had been baptized. In 1805, 
they are said to have had not less than 
64 Christian seminaries of education, 
chiefly in the province of Se-tchuen ; but, 
in 1806, Christianity was again proscrib- 
ed ; a Catholic missionary in Pekin was 
condemned to perpetual imprisonment ; a 
number of civil and military ofiicers were 
subjected to punishment, for permitting 
or aiding the labors of the missionaries ; 
all the native converts were sent into 
banishment or slavery, and their books, 
papers, and printing blocks publicly burn- 
ed. The truths of revelation, however, 
had been taught in numerous churches ; 
and are supposed to have made impres- 
sions upon the minds of the natives, which 
even the persecutions, to Avhich they have 
been exposed, will not speedily efface. 
About the same time, .Sir George Staun- 
ton succeeded, with the assistance of Mr. 
Pearson, surgeon to the British factory 
at Canton, in establishing the practice of 
vaccination in that populous city. The 
virus was obtained from Manilla, through 
the medium of the Spaniards. Mr. Pear- 
son wrote a concise treatise on the dis- 
covery and mode of operation, with fig- 
ures of the vaccine pustule ; of the arm, 
with the proper place of puncture ; of the 
lances charged with the matter, &c. 
This treatise, the fa-st English work pub- 
lished in China, was translated by Sir G. 
Staunton, into the langiiage of the coun- 
try, and was gratuitously distributed at 
the expense of the East India Company, 
with the assistance of a Chinese surgeon. 
So far have the Chinese overcome their 
prejudices against European customs in 
this instance, that a general inoculation 
for the cow-pox took place in Canton, and 
a large subscription was raised by the na- 
tives, for establishing an institution in that 
city, by means of which the matter may 
be disseminated into every province of 
the empire. 

In the month of October, 1806, a se- 
rious misunderstanding was occasioned 
between the Chinese government and the 
British factory at Canton ; which origin- 
ated in a scuffle on board an East India 
ship, between a native of the country and 
one of the crew, in Avhich the former re- 
ceived a blow from a handspike, which 
afterwards occasioned his death. The 



112 



CHINA. 



Chinese government demanded that the 
Englishman should be given up for capi- 
tal punishment, or at least another of the 
same nation in his place, according to the 
laws of their country. But the offender 
had absconded, and all the British sailors 
denied any knowledge either of the deed 
itself, or of the person who had been the 
perpetrator. This answer, however, did 
not satisfy the Chinese ; and all the Bri- 
tish subjects were ordered to go on board 
their ships, and to quit Canton without 
delay. 

But the English commanders, having 
expostulated strongly upon the injus- 
tice of these measures, and supported 
their representations with some valuable 
donations to the relations of the deceas- 
ed, the matter was at length amicably ad- 
justed, and the usual intercourse again 
restored. In all the transactions, which 
occurred during this season of partial hos- 
tility, a Portuguese priest, named Father 
Rodrigo, who acted as interpreter to Ad- 
miral Drury, bore a very active and promi- 
nent part. This person, possessed of 
great courage and enterprise, had, previ- 
ous to this event, succeeded in making 
his way, under the disguise of a Tartar, 
to the city of Pekin ; and, after residing 
a considerable time in that capital with- 
out being discovered, returned in safety 
to Macao. This clandestine visit after- 
wards becoming known to the govern- 
ment at Canton, the Chinese mandarins 
expressed the strongest indignation, on 
account of the imposition and insult 
which had been practised upon them ; 
and their resentment against the offender 
was rendered doubly inveterate, by his 
zealous interference in support of the 
British interests, especially by his spirit- 
ed conduct upon the occasion of Admiral 
Drury's visit to Canton with the armed 
boats of his fleet. When the Chinese 
opened a fire from their fort and war 
boats upon the Admiral's barge, Rodrigo 
stood erect upon the stern sheets, and, 
taking his cowl in hand, cheered with 
three loud hazzas ; intending, as the Chi- 
nese alleged, and as was probably the 
truth, to incite the seamen to an imme- 
diate attack. The Chinese silently re- 
marked his hostile demeanor towards 
them in the whole course of the dispute, 



and determined to seize the first oppor- 
tunity of inflicting vengeance. As soon, 
therefore, as the British ships and troops 
had taken their departure, the Father was 
treacherously enticed beyond the Portu- 
guese boundaries, and carried prisoner to 
Canton, where the Chinese, glorying in 
the possession of their captive, unequivo- 
cally evinced their determination to make 
him atone, with his life, for the insults 
which he had offered to the dignity of 
their empire. The Portuguese govern- 
ment, however, at Macao, feeling the ne- 
cessity of protecting their subjects, and 
perceiving that nothing but an appeal to 
force could effect the liberation of Rod- 
rigo, commanded a ship of war and an 
armed brig to be moored, as close as the 
water would admit, to the two neighbor- 
ing Chinese forts ; and, at the same time, 
marched their troops out of Macao, to 
invest the fortresses on the land side. 
Mr. Roberts, also, the senior British su- 
percargo, issued orders to all the com- 
pany's ships to suspend their intercourse 
with the shore, and to prepare for such 
offensive measures as might appear requi- 
site. These arrangements having been 
made, the Father was demanded in due 
form, with an explicit declaration, that 
unless he was delivered up without inju- 
ry, and without delay, the Chinese forts 
should instantly be assaulted, and every 
man in the garrisons made responsible, 
with his life, for the safety of Rodrigo. 
The Chinese officers, whose unreasona- 
ble caprices require to be occasionally 
met with proper firmness, perceiving the 
determination of the Portuguese to carry 
their threats into execution, prudently ac- 
quiesced in the demand, and Rodrigo was 
triumphantly restored to his freedom and 
friends. 

It is asserted, that, notwithstanding 
the restoration of our commercial inter- 
course at Canton, the principal manda- 
rins of that place have conceived a root- 
ed prejudice against the British, which 
may not easily be removed ; that they at- 
tribute every misfortune which befalls 
any of their people in their transactions 
with us, to a systematic intention on our 
part to do them an injury ; and that, upon 
the slightest pretext being afforded for 
complaint, they represent the matter to 



CHINA. 



113 



their superior tribunals in the most ex- 
aggerated form. 

Five emperors of the Tartar race in 
succession, and all of them men of good 
understanding and vigorous minds, have 
now continued, without interruption, to 
rule over the Chinese empire ; and have 
thus, it may be supposed, completely es- 
tablished their family in the supreme 
power. Recent occurrences, however, 
begin to indicate a more unsettled state 
of things in that country, and at least to 
show, that the administration of so vast 
an empire is becoming daily a more dif- 
ficult task. The Tartars, increasing in 
security, have become less attentive to 
conciUate the Chinese ; and all the high 
offices are filled with the countrymen of 
the sovereign. It is suspected, that the 
government entertain a design of intro- 
ducing the Man-tchoo language into gen- 
eral use, instead of the Chinese, as great 
attention has been paid to its improve- 
ment, and as all the children, one of whose 
parents is of Tartar descent, have been 
expressly required to be instructed du- 
ring their infancy, and to pass their pub- 
lic examinations, in the Man-tchoo tongue. 
The Emperor of China, like all oriental 
princes, shows no tendency to become 
indigenous to his adopted soil, but con- 
tinues invariably attached to his native 
caste, and systematically favors his coun- 
trymen in every possible instance. The 
Tartars in China, it has been asserted 
by an eye-witness, thus continue, from 
prince to peasant, to preserve their na- 
tive character distinct, and to hold the 
subjugated Chinese in the utmost con- 
tempt. These, on the other hand, are 
represented as daily becoming more dis- 
satisfied with the imperious manners of 
their conquerors, whom they heartily 
hate, while they are obliged to submit to 
their sway. 

A kind of piratical republic has been 
gradually forming upon the coasts, which, 
since the year 1805, has become ex- 
tremely powerful. The number of the 
rebel vessels has been stated, by recent 
accounts, as not less than 4,000 ; of which 
the largest are about 200 tons burden, 
carrying from 200 to 300 men, and from 
12 to 20 guns ; while the smallest are 
about 30 tons, with 50 or 60 men. In 
15 



the beginning of the year 1810, they 
even attempted to blockade the port of 
Canton ; and though they have not yet 
penetrated into the interior of the coun- 
try, they are said to have numerous par- 
tisans in every quarter. 

During the last forty-five years, there 
has existed in China, particularly in the 
southern and western provinces, a kind 
of sect or association of disaffected per- 
sons, who furnish the rebels with all ne- 
cessary intelligence. This association 
is named Thian-thee-ohe, which signifies 
"heaven and earth united ;" and its mem- 
bers are extremely numerous. They 
know each other by private signs, such 
as the manner in which a cup of tea, or 
a pipe of tobacco, is offered and accept- 
ed. In the form of initiation, the new 
member is placed between two naked 
sabres, which are crossed over his head ; 
and, in this position, he solemnly swears 
rather to perish than betray the secrets 
of the society. A few drops of blood are 
then drawn from him, and from the per- 
son who administers the oath, which are 
mingled in a cup of tea, of which both 
parties partake. The great principles of 
this body are, the equality of all men, 
and the obligation of the rich to commu- 
nicate of their abundance to the poor. 
In the year 1804, not less than nine pro- 
vinces of the empire were disturbed by 
the machinations of these levellers ; and 
their numbers daily increased to such a 
degree, that many of the more wealthy 
natives had become members of the as- 
sociation, and surrendered a part of their 
property to preserve the rest. Those 
who resisted their influence, and refused 
to make such a compromise, were often 
secretly seized, and kept as prisoners, 
and even threatened with death, imless 
their friends should procure their release, 
by depositing a sum of money in a place 
appointed. A sect of a similar descrip- 
tion exists in the northern provinces, un- 
der the name of Pelin-Kias, which sig- 
nifies " enemies of foreign religion ;" 
and which is founded upon discontent 
with the existing government, and dis- 
like of a foreign dynasty. These asso- 
ciations obtain numerous partisans among 
the lower classes, who are often render- 
ed desperate by their extreme indigence ; 



114 



COLOMBIA 



and, in some districts, their members have 
abandoned themselves to the most daring 
excesses, and even to open revolt. The 
government have made great exertions to 
suppress these seditions ; and it is said, 
that not less than 4,000 persons had been 
capitally punished, within a very short 
period, on account of these practices. In 
1798, one of their chiefs was proscribed 
by public proclamation, and a price of 
10,000 piastres set upon his head; but 
he took refuge in the island of Java, 
where his principles have made great 
progress among the Chinese residents ; 
but whom the dread of the European au- 
thorities has hitherto restrained from 
committing the excesses, to which their 
system has often given rise in China. 
By a recent edict of the Chinese govern- 



ment, all who were detected as members 
of the Thian-thee-ohe association, were 
condemned to have the tendons of the 
right foot cut across, and to have the left 
cheek marked with a red-hot iron ; but, 
if farther convicted of having been en- 
gaged in any disturbance, they were sen- 
tenced to be capitally punished, by being 
beheaded. The people, however, in gen- 
eral, as long as they can easily procure 
their portion of rice, and a few savory 
sauces, are in no temper for a revolt 
against their government ; and hence, it 
is the principal care of the latter to pro- 
vide magazines throughout the empire, to 
serve as a supply in seasons of scarcity or 
famine. In 1820, Kia-King was succeed- 
ed by his second son, Tara-Kwang, who 
occupies the throne at the present time. 



COLOMBIA. 



The republic of Colombia is of very 
recent origin, although the history of the 
three states, by the union of which it has 
been formed, is coeval with the era of 
Columbus. Previously to the period of 
the revolution, they were known by the 
names of the Viceroyalty of New Gren- 
ada, the Captain-generalship of Caraccas, 
and the Presidency of Quito. Of their 
annals prior to the union, a brief sketch 
will here be given. 

Quito. The provinces of Quito hav- 
ing formed a component part of the Peru- 
vian empire at the time of the Spanish 
conquest, continued to depend directly 
on the government of Peru until Septem- 
ber, 1564, when they were erected into 
a separate presidency. In 1717, the 
government was suppressed, and the 
country incorporated into the viceroyalty 
of New Grenada. In 1722, it was again 
separated, and remained so until it be- 
came a part of Colombia. The revolu- 
tion commenced, Aug. 10, 1809, when the 
president. Count Ruiz de Castilla, was 
deposed, and a junta soberana appointed 
to administer the government. He was 
reinstated the November following, and 
a second revolution took place in Septem- 



ber, 1810. But, in a few months after- 
wards, the Spaniards, under Montes, re- 
gained Quito, and continued to hold the 
presidency vmtil May, 1822, when the 
victory of Pichincha, gained by general 
Sucre, put an end to their power. 

New Grenada. The coasts of New 
Grenada, which border on the Caribbean 
sea, were first visited by Columbus, du- 
ring his fourth voyage. Ojeda and Amer- 
igo Vespucci followed Columbus in ex- 
ploring parts of the coast, and Vespucci 
gave the first regular description of the 
people who inhabited its shores. In the 
year 1508, Ojeda and Nicuessa obtained 
extensive grants in this and the adjoining 
country. Ojeda had the country from 
cape de la Vela to the gidf of Darien, 
which was to be styled New Andalusia ; 
and Nicuessa was appointed to govern 
from the gulf of Darien to cape Gracias 
a Dios ; the territory included within 
these points, to be named Golden Cas- 
tile. The province of Terra Firma in- 
cluding both the grants of Nicuessa and 
Ojeda, was given, by a subsequent char- 
ter, in 1514, to Pedro Arias de Avila. 

Under the orders of Avila, the western 
coast of Panama, Veragua and Darien, 



COLOMBIA. 



115 



was explored as far north as cape Blanco, 
and the town of Panama was founded. 
In 1536 Sebastian de Benalcazar, one of 
the officers who accompanied Pizarro in 
the expedition to Peru, effected the con- 
quest and colonization of the southern in- 
ternal provinces of New Grenada ; whilst 
Gonzalo Ximenes de Quesada, who had 
been sent by Lugo, the admiral of the Ca- 
naries, overran the nothern districts from 
Santa Martha. They met with considera- 
ble opposition from the natives, but finally 
succeeded in reducing the country, and 
the whole was formed into one govern- 
ment, and put under a captain-general, 
appointed in 1 547 ; to check whose pow- 
er the royal audience was established, of 
which he was, however, made president. 
In the year 1718 New Grenada was 
formed into a viceroyalty. This form of 
government continued until 1724, when 
the captain-generalship was restored ; but, 
in 1 740, the viceroyalty was re-establish- 
ed. Under this system, the evils of 
which were of a very grievous nature, 
the inhabitants of New Grenada contin- 
ued until the invasion of Spain by the 
French. The desire of independence 
had long been prevalent ; but it was not 
until 1810, that it began to be publicly 
avowed. The juntos then chosen were 
composed of persons generally favorable 
to independence. A congress from the 
different provinces or departments of the 
viceroyalty soon afterwards assembled, 
and, in 1811, a formal declaration of in- 
dependence was made. The country 
has, since that period, passed through 
many vicissitudes of fortune. The cause 
of freedom and that of the royalists have 
been alternately triumphant, and many 
frightful scenes of rapine and bloodshed 
have occurred. In 1816, a decisive 
action was fought between the indepen- 
dents and a Spanish army under Morillo, 
which ended in the total defeat of the 
former, and the dispersion of the con- 
gress. After remaining under the do- 
minion of the royalists for three years, 
Grenada was again emancipated by the 
army of Bolivar, who entered Santa Fe 
in August, 1819. In December, 1819, 
a union was effected with Venezuela 
into one republic. 

Caraccas, or Venezuela. The coast of 



this country was originally discovered 
by Columbus, in 1498, during his third 
voyage. Several attempts being made to 
colonize, the Spanish government came 
to the determination of settling the coun- 
try under its own direction. These ex- 
peditions were managed by priests, and 
generally ill conducted ; and it was found 
necessary to subdue the inhabitants by 
force. When this was partially effected, 
and the Spanish settlers were placed in 
some security, the proprietorship was 
sold, by Charles V, to the Weltsers, a 
German mercantile company. Under 
their management, the Spaniards and the 
natives sufiered the most grievous tyran- 
ny. The abuses of their administration 
becoming at last intolerable they were 
dispossessed, in 1550, and a supreme 
governor, with the title of captain-gene- 
ral, was appointed. From this period 
until the year 1806, Caraccas remained in 
quiet subjection to the mother country. 
In 1806, a gallant but unfortunate attempt 
was made to liberate her from the yoke. 
General Miranda, a native of Caraccas, 
formed for this purpose an expedition, 
partly at St. Domingo and partly at New 
York. A landing was effected on the 
coast, but the force proved wholly inad- 
equate to the designed object. Many 
were taken prisoners by the Spanish au- 
thorities, and several suffered death. The 
defeat was decisive, and gave an eU'ec- 
tual blow, for the time, to the project of 
independence. 

In 1810, however, Spain being overrun 
by the French troops, the opportunity 
was seized by the principal inhabitants to 
establish a freer form of government. 
For this purpose, a junto suprema, or 
congress, was convened in Caraccas, con- 
sisting of deputies from all the provinces 
composing the former captain-generalship, 
with the exception of Maracaibo. At 
first they published their acts in the name 
Ferdinand VII ; but the captain-general 
and the members of the audiencia were 
deposed and imprisoned, and the new 
government received the title of the Con- 
federation of Venezuela. The most vio- 
lent and impolitic measures were now 
adopted by the regency and cortes of 
Spain towards the people of this district. 
The congress, finding the voice of the 



116 



DENMARK. 



people decided in favor of independence, 
issued a proclamation, on the 5th of July, 

1811, formally declaring it. A liberal 
constitution was established, and affairs 
wore a favorable aspect for the cause of 
freedom, imtil the fatal earthquake of 

1812, which, operating on the supersti- 
tion of the people, led to a gieat change 
in the public opinion. Monteverde, a 
royalist general, taking advantage of the 
situation of affairs, marched against 
Caraccas, and, after defeating general 
Miranda, compelled the province to sub- 
mit. 

In 1813, Venezuela was again eman- 
cipated by Bolivar, who was sent with 
an army by the confederation of Grenada. 
In 1814, he was, in his turn, defeated by 
Bovera, and compelled to evacuate Car- 
accas. In 1816, he again returned with a 
large body of troops, and was again de- 
feated. Undismayed by reverses, he land- 
ed again, in December of the same year, 
convened a general congress, and defeat- 
ed the royalists in March, 1817, with 



great loss. In the month following, how- 
ever, Barcelona was taken by the Span- 
ish troops. The contest was maintained 
for some time afterwards with various 
success. Bolivar was invested by the 
congress with ample powers, the situa- 
tion of the republic requiring the energy 
of a dictator. On the 17th of December, 
1819, a union between the republics of 
Grenada and Venezuela was solemnly 
decreed, in conformity with the report of 
a select committee of deputies from each 
state. This confederation received the 
title of the Republic of Colombia, and the 
installation of the general congress took 
place in the city of Rosario of Cucuta. 
This occurred in May, 1821 ; and since 
that time the states have been rapidly ac- 
quiring stability and political importance. 
The helm of government has, however, 
generally been guided by military leaders, 
so that the interests of commerce have 
been neglected, but many new channels 
of trade have lately been opened for the 
industry of the people. 



DENMARK. 



The oldest inhabitants of Denmark 
were Germans, who gained their support 
from the sea. The Cimbri, who derived 
their origin from them, dwelt in the pen- 
insula of Jutland, the Chersonesus Cim- 
brica of the Romans. They first struck 
terror into the Romans by their incursion, 
with the Teutones, into the rich prov- 
inces of Gaul. After this, led by the 
mysterious Odin, the Goths broke into 
Scandinavia, and appointed chiefs from 
their own nation over Denmark, Nor- 
way, and Sweden. Skiold is said to 
have been the first ruler of Denmark. 
His history, however, and that of his 
posterity, is involved in fable. All we 
know with certainty is, that Denmark 
was divided, at this time, into many small 
states, that the inhabitants gained their 
subsistence by piracy, and spread terror 
through every sea, and along every coast, 
to which they came. When the power 
of the Romans began to decline, the 



Danes, and Northmen, as they were call- 
ed, became conspicuous in the South by 
their incursions upon the shores which 
were formerly protected by the guard- 
ships of the Romans. They landed in 
England, A. D. 832, and partially estab- 
lished themselves in the island. Under 
RoUo, in 911, they made a descent on 
the French coasts in Normandy, occu- 
pied the Faroe isles, the Orcades, the 
Shetland isles, Iceland, and a part of 
Ireland, and thence proceeded to Spain, 
Italy and Sicily. Wherever they came, 
they spread terror by their valor, ferocity, 
and rapacity. These expeditions made 
little change in their national govern- 
ment : it still continued a federative sys- 
tem of many clans or tribes, each of which 
had its own head, and all were united 
under one sovereign. When the Ger- 
man kings of the Carlovingian race at- 
tempted to interfere with their domestic 
I afiairs, the tribes entered into a closer 



DENMARK. 



117 



union, and the Norwegians and Danes 
ultimately formed two separate states. 

Gorm the Old, first subdued Jutland, 
in 863, and united all the small Danish 
states under his sceptre till 920. His 
grandson Sweyn, a warlike prince, sub- 
dued a part of Norway in 1000, and Eng- 
land in 1014. His son Canute, in 1017, 
not only completed the conquest of 
England, but also subdued a part of 
Scotland, and, in 1030, all Norway. 
Under him the power of Denmark reach- 
ed its highest pitch. Political motives 
led him to embrace the Christian reli- 
gion, and to introduce it into Denmark ; 
upon which a great change took place in 
the character of the people. Canute died 
in 1036, and left a powerful kingdom to 
his successors, who, in 1040, lost Eng- 
land, and, in 1047, Norway. The Dan- 
ish kingdom was, after this, very much 
weakened by intestine broils. Sweyn 
Magnus Estritson ascended the throne in 
1047, and established a new dynasty; 
but the feudal system, introduced by the 
wars of Sweyn and Canute, robbed the 
kingdom of all its strength under this dy- 
nasty, which furnished not a single wor- 
thy monarch except the great Waldemar, 
left the princes dependent on the choice 
of the bishops and nobility, plunged the 
peasants into bondage, caused the decay 
of agriculture, and abandoned commerce 
to the Hanse towns of Germany. Whh 
Waldemar HI, in 1376, the male line of 
the family of Estritson became extinct. 
His politic daughter Margaret, after the 
death of her son Olave IV, A. D. 1387, 
took the helm of the Danish government, 
ascended the throne of Sweden and Nor- 
way, and in 1397, she convoked the 
states of the three kingdoms at Calmar, 
where the law, called the union of Cal- 
mar, was passed. As this law was the 
cause of a long war between Denmark 
and Sweden, it will be proper to notice 
its principal clauses. The grand and 
leading proposition laid down in this 
law, was, that the union of the three 
kingdoms under one monarch, should be 
a fundamental and irrevocable law. In 
order, however, to secure to each king- 
dom its peculiar rights and privileges, it 
was expressly declared, that " the sov- 
ereign should govern the kingdom of 



Denmark according to the laws and cus- 
toms of Denmark ; and those of Sweden 
and Norway according to their respect- 
ive laws and customs." " If any person 
is justly banished from one of the king- 
doms, he shall be equally so from the two 
others ; and no person shall assist or de- 
fend him ; but, wherever he shall be fol- 
lowed and cited, they shall proceed to 
judgment against him, according to law." 
" If our lord the king shall enter into any 
agreement or treaty with any foreign 
power, in which of the kingdoms soever 
he shall then reside, he, and the senate 
who are then with him, or some deputies 
from each kingdom, shall have the pow- 
er to contract, in the name of the three 
kingdoms, every thing which shall be 
judged the most honorable and advanta- 
geous for the king and the three king- 
doms." It was likewise ordained, that 
if any sovereign had more than one son, 
one only should be declared and elected 
king of the three kingdoms, and the 
others should hold fiefs ; and if the king 
should die without any children, then 
the senators and the states-deputies of 
the three kingdoms, in concert, should 
elect him whom they believed before 
God most worthy and most capable. 
Such are the principal articles of the fa- 
mous union of Calmar ; by accomplish- 
ing which, as well as by the whole of 
her political conduct, Margaret has ob- 
tained from posterity the appellation of 
the " Semiramis of the North." This 
great princess died suddenly in 1412, 
and left Eric in peaceable possession of 
the three northern crowns. 

Soon after his accession to the throne, 
he was engaged in a war with the Count 
of Holstein, and with the Hanse Towns. 
Not being a sovereign of much talent or 
enterprise, he was totally unable to carry 
on these wars, and attend to the affairs 
of Sweden at the same time. The 
Swedes soon manifested symptoms of 
discontent ; they justly regarded them- 
selves as inferior, in the treatment they 
received from the king, to his Danish 
and Norwegian subjects. Their disaf- 
fection and discontent were soon evident 
to all but Eric, whose inattention or ob- 
stinacy were such, that he could not be 
persuaded to adopt such measures as 



118 



DENMARK. 



would have ensured the tranquillity of 
Sweden. The Swedes were still far- 
ther exasperated by the taxes he levied 
on them, in order to prosecute his war 
with the Hanse Towns. In this war 
they conceived themselves to have no 
interest or concern ; and therefore they 
thought, they should not be taxed to sup- 
port it. They had still another source 
of discontent ; Eric had appointed Dan- 
ish or German governors to nearly all 
the provinces and fortresses of Sweden. 
This of itself gave them umbrage, and 
was expressly contrary to the spirit of 
the union of Calmar. These foreign 
governors oppressed and tyrannized over 
the people ; and, when complaints against 
them were laid before the king, he treat- 
ed them with neglect or contempt. Af- 
ter patiently enduring their grievances 
for some time, the Swedes broke out in- 
to open rebellion. Eric was now seri- 
ously alarmed, and, having made peace 
with the Hanse Towns, he requested 
their intercession with his rebellious sub- 
jects ; this they granted, on condition that 
a diet, composed of the deputies of the 
three Estates, should be held at Calmar. 
The diet was accordingly held on the 
27th of July, 1436, when the Swedes 
agreed solemnly to renew the union ; the 
king, on his part, binding himself to re- 
spect their privileges, and not to entrust 
any of their strong places in future to the 
care of foreigners. Eric, however, was 
either not sincere, or he had not talents 
sufficient to perceive and follow his real 
interests ; for soon after the renewal of 
the vmion, he exercised a most tyrannical 
sway, not only over Sweden, but even 
over the Danes and Norwegians. This 
conduct united them all against him ; 
and he soon was compelled by the 
Danes to surrender the crown. During 
the reign of this sovereign, the famous 
fortress of Elsinore was built. The prin- 
cipal object in erecting it was to check 
the commercial and maritime power of 
the Hanse Towns, with whom Eric was 
then at war. These towns soon felt the 
restrictions which this fortress, command- 
ing the passage of the Sound, laid on 
their commerce ; and, in revenge, they 
ravaged the coasts of Denmark and Nor- 
way. When peace, however, was con- 



cluded, they agreed to pay the tribute 
which Eric fixed for the passage of the 
Sound. 

The Danes, having compelled Eric to 
abandon the throne, elected Christopher 
of Batavia, his sister's son, to be their 
king. After he had taken possession of 
the crowns of Denmark and of Norway, 
he directed his attention and his schemes 
towards Sweden. The Swedes, at first, 
appeared unwilling to elect him ; but at 
last, partly by intrigues, and partly by the 
privileges granted or extended to them, 
they chose Christopher king. He was 
crowned at Copenhagen, which city he 
made the royal residence, and the capital 
of Denmark, instead of Roschild, which 
had previously enjoyed those privileges. 
The first object with this sovereign, after 
he was securely seated on the throne of 
the three kingdoms, was to revise the 
laws of Denmark ; many of them had 
become obsolete, inapplicable, or insuffi- 
cient ; into others many abuses had crept, 
either in their interpretation or adminis- 
tration ; and the changed state and cir- 
cumstances of the kingdom and of the 
times, required some new enactments. 
The plan he followed was that of Valde- 
mar the Second ; and, having directed 
his deliberate and impartial attention to 
the subject, he formed a code, distin- 
guished for its wisdom, as well as for its 
leniency. In 1448, after a reign of seven 
years over Denmark and Norway, and 
six years over Sweden, during the whole 
of which he had proved himself a good 
sovereign, Christopher died. 

Immediately on this event, the Senate 
of Denmark invited the states of the two 
other kingdoms to comply with the act 
of union, by proceeding in concert to the 
election of a new king. This, however, 
the Swedes absolutely refused to do, elect- 
ing Charles Canutson, their own coun- 
tryman, and the avowed enemy of Den- 
mark, to be their sovereign. The Danes, 
irritated and surprised at this conduct, 
assembled a diet at Roschild, and chose 
Christian of Oldenberg as their sovereign. 
This Christian was the founder of the 
royal Danish family, which has ever since 
kept possession of the throne, and from 
which, in modern times, Russia, Sweden 
and Oldenberg, have received their rulers. 



DENMARK, 



119 



According to the union of Calmar, a 
diet, composed of the diets of the three 
kingdoms, ought to have chosen the sov- 
ereign, and drawn up the articles of capi- 
tulation for him to sign ; but, under the 
present circumstances, it w^as found ne- 
cessary to leave the election to a small 
number of deputies, most of whom were 
senators. The Senate, from this period, 
arrogated to themselves the right of choos- 
ing the sovereign, and only occasionally 
consulted the states out of form. 

But Sweden could not remain long 
quiet and contented ; the clergy and the 
nobles, in particidar, were dissatisfied. 
A rebellion broke out, and the archbishop 
of Upsal threw off his robes and put him- 
self at the head of a large army. Chris- 
tian, in this embarrassing predicament, 
was as much indebted to his character 
for moderation and good intentions as to 
his arms ; and at last, he succeeded in 
bringing over the archbishop and most 
of the clergy to his interests. As, how- 
ever, the nobility still held out against 
him, and tilled the kingdom with dissen- 
sions and turbulence. Christian, in a great 
measure, withdrew his attempts to subdue 
them, and employed his entire attention 
in the improvement of his other domin- 
ions. A favorite object with him was 
the establishment of a iiniversity at Co- 
penhagen ; before that, all the nobility 
and people of consequence in Denmark 
were accustomed to send their sons, at a 
great expense, to be educated at Cologne 
or Paris ; in prosecuting his scheme, 
however, he met with opposition from a 
quarter from which he did not anticipate 
it. The clergy were either indifferent or 
averse to the establishment of the propo- 
sed university ; difficulties and delays con- 
sequently occurred, and before Christian 
could complete this and other plans for 
the benefit and improvement of his king- 
dom, he died in the year 1481, and in 
the 55th year of his age. Almost all the 
contemporary liistorians concur in repre- 
senting him as a prince of great modera- 
tion, humanity and liberality ; he never 
permitted his resentment or passion to 
hurry him beyond the bounds of justice ; 
it was a favorite saying of his, that a king 
who would be great and reign well, ought to 
be more compassionate than another man. 



He was succeeded by his son John, 
whose power in Denmark was, if possi- 
ble, more hmited than that of his father. 
In Norway, too, his authority was still 
more circumscribed. In 1490, he con- 
cluded a treaty of commerce with Henry 
VII of England, by which their subjects 
obtained full liberty of traffic with each 
other. The English also bound them- 
selves to pay the duties of the Sound ; and 
were permitted to have consuls in the 
principal maritime towns of Denmark 
and Norway. Several rebellions broke 
out during Iiis reign, and it Avas not till 
1512, that he was acknowledged king of 
Sweden. He died in 1513. His son 
Christian II, ascended the throne, a cruel, 
tyrannical, but courageous prince. In 
1514, he convoked the assembly at Cal- 
mar. Deputies from Sweden were pre- 
sent on the occasion ; but they had not 
power to choose Christian king of Swe- 
den ; and by their representations on their 
return to their own country, induced the 
states of Sweden to declare openly against 
this prince, and to elect an administrator 
to hold the reigns of government. Chris- 
tian, at first, did not attempt to reduce the 
Swedes, but contented himself with aug- 
menting his power in Denmark ; in effect- 
ing this, he was, however, opposed by 
the clergy and nobility, whom his natu- 
ral disposition led him rather to oppose 
and oppress, than -to conciliate ; so that 
at the very time that he Avas at war with 
the Hanseatic towns, he found the great 
majority of his clergy and nobles at vari- 
ance with him, and only Avaiting for a fa- 
vorable opportunity to break out in open 
rebellion. Thus deprived, in a great 
measure, of the good will and support of 
his subjects, he resolved to strengthen 
and protect himself by other methods ; 
and, with this intention and hope, he mar- 
ried the sister of the Emperor Charles V. 
He also perceived that commerce had in- 
troduced into Denmark a new order of 
men, whom, by encouraging their trade, 
and promoting their interests, he might 
possibly unite to himself in his opposition 
to the nobles and clergy ; he accordingly 
gave many privileges to the merchants, 
and freed them from many vexatious im- 
positions. Before his time, they were 
obliged to send all their merchandise to 



120 



DENMARK. 



the Hanse Towns, at a very great ex- 
pense, and to permit the magistrates of 
those towns who were for the most part 
merchants, and therefore interested per- 
sons, to put a price upon their goods ; the 
obvious and natural consequence was, that 
the Danish merchants were frequently 
obliged to sell their goods to a great dis- 
advantage. In order to prevent these 
vexations. Christian issued orders that 
all the Danish merchants should send 
their goods to Copenhagen ; and as they 
might be under apprehensions of his ra- 
pacity, he placed in the hands of the 
magistrates a very large sum of money. 
To induce foreign merchants to settle in 
Copenhagen, he granted them particular 
protection, and the most extensive privi- 
leges. While he acted with this wise 
policy towards all engaged in trade, to- 
Avards the clergy, nobles, and the mass of 
the people, his conduct was tja-annical and 
oppressive ; the revenue which an in- 
creased commerce gave him was princi- 
pally expended in supporting a large num- 
ber of regular troops ; thus imitating the 
other sovereigns of Europe, who, about this 
time, first began to keep a standing army. 
With the assistance of these troops, he 
began to exercise his power with the 
greatest rigor, and to meditate the accom- 
plishment of essential changes in the con- 
stitution, by the most violent and arbitrary 
means. At first the clergy and nobility 
were silent and inactive, through surprise 
and astonishment ; and the king, thinking 
that they were intimidated, proceeded in 
his plans with still greater rapidity and 
boldness. Without the consent of the 
senate, and in direct opposition to the ca- 
pitulations that had been signed by his 
predecessors and himself, he laid on new 
and oppressive taxes ; and in order to 
strike terror, and silence the murmurs of 
the people, he ordered a gallows to be 
erected in the most public place in every 
town. In short, every action which he 
performed had for its object the breaking 
down the power of the clergy and nobles, 
and tyrannizing over the people ; he still 
retained his mistress, and his profligate 
favorites, whom he consulted in all his 
schemes, to the utter neglect of the sen- 
ate. Christian had been particularly 
blamed for his conduct to the nobility and 



lergy ; but had he been moderate and 
just to the people at large, his conduct to 
those classes might have been excused ; 
indeed it was almost called for by the 
circumstances of the times. The great- 
est part of the lands had fallen into the 
possession of the nobles, who were thus 
enabled to oppress the common people ; 
while they had nearly in an equal degree 
touched on the prerogatives of the crown. 
Christian, therefore, seems to have had 
no alternative ; he must either have sub- 
mitted to have been the slave of his no- 
bles, or have acted as he did, and reduced 
their power ; he is, however, blameable, 
in that his measures M-ere so oppressive 
and violent, and that his object was not 
to benefit the people, but himself. 

He perhaps would have found more dif- 
ficulty in curbing the pride and reducing 
the power of the clergy, had not the doc- 
trines of Luther begun to extend them- 
selves about this time. Of these Christian 
availed himself ; and had he managed the 
opportunity with less violence and with 
more caution and prudence, he might have 
completely annihilated the powers and 
privileges of the clergy ; but the natural 
impetuosity of his disposition prevailed, 
and he incensed without materially hum- 
bling them. In the mean time, the affairs 
of Sweden were in the utmost confusion ; 
the administrator, who had been just 
elected, was opposed by the clergy, with 
the archbishop of Upsal at their head, 
who formed a party to elect Christian 
king of Sweden. On the receipt of this 
unexpected and welcome intelligence, 
the king marched a body of troops to Scho- 
nen, under the command of Crumpen, an 
officer of great merit and experience. Al- 
though it was the depth of winter, such 
was the impatience of Christian, that he 
ordered Crumpen to enter West Goth- 
land, and to endeavor to bring the enemy 
to battle. The administrator had not been 
idle ; but having collected a numerous 
army, he marched to meet the Danes. 
Three battles were fought ; the first de- 
cided nothing, in the second the adminis- 
trator was wounded, and in the third the 
Swedes were completely defeated, the 
administrator dying soon after of his 
wounds. This success enabled Crumpen 
to march into the heart of the kingdom ; 



DENMARK. 



121 



and in the beginning of the following 
year, 1520, Christian, having arrived in 
Sweden, and Stockholm being reduced, 
he was formally proclaimed king. During 
his absence from Denmark, the discon- 
tented there flattered themselves with the 
hopes, that they should be able to organ- 
ize such a force, as would enable them 
successfully to oppose him ; but when 
he returned the conqueror of Sweden, 
they became silent and submissive. 

Christian soon discovered to the Swedes 
that he meant to treat them as subjects 
of a conquered country. It had always 
been customary at the coronation of their 
kings, for the new monarch to make a 
certain number of knights ; Christian com- 
plied Avith this custom in so far as to cre- 
ate the usual number, but they were all 
Danes and other foreigners ; not a single 
Swede did he advance to that honor ; 
and, that his motives might not be mis- 
understood, he publicly declared, that 
henceforward he would not show any 
mark of honor to a Swede, "because he 
owed that crown to his arms and not to 
their free-will." This was only the be- 
gining of his arbitrary and tyrannical con- 
duct to this nation. Being embarrassed 
in his finances, and despairing of raising 
money with the consent of the senate, he 
formed a plan to massacre all the mem- 
bers of it. This plan is said to have been 
suggested to him by his mistress ; it was 
communicated to the archbishop of Up- 
sal, and received his sanction. The sen- 
ate and the states of Sweden were ac- 
cused of heresy, and were taken into cus- 
tody on this accusation ; but even the 
forms and delay of a mock trial were too 
slow for Christian's vindictive temper. 
He ordered the victims to be marched out 
in the middle of the day, surrounded by 
soldiers. Among the first was Eric Va- 
sa, father of the celebrated Gustavus 
Vasa. At the place of execution, 70 sen- 
ators, lords and bishops were executed ; 
even then the cruelty of Christian was 
not glutted with blood. Being informed 
that several of those whom he had mark- 
ed out could not be found, he ordered the 
soldiers to massacre all the people of 
rank whom they met in the streets, and 
to search the houses for them. A simi- 
lar massacre took place in the provinces 
16 



on all who were obnoxious to Christian, 
or had espoused the party of the adminis- 
trator. But the day of retribution was at 
hand. Gustavus, son of Eric Vasa, roused 
the peasantry of the Swedish provinces, 
especially those of Dalecarha, to attempt 
the restoration of their country's liberty 
and independence. In vain did Theo- 
dore the king's viceroy oppose Gustavus; 
he was compelled to return to Stockholm, 
which city, in the year 1522, was invest- 
ed by the Swedish hero. To raise the 
siege. Christian sent a powerful fleet and 
army under Norby, who at first gained 
some advantages over the Dalecarlians, 
but was soon afterwards compelled to re- 
embark, having thrown supplies of men, 
stores, and provisions into the city. Gus- 
tavus, however, made little real progress 
in reducing it for want of a fleet. He 
therefore entered into a treaty with the 
inhabitants of Lubeck, who supplied him 
with a squadron. Stockholm was now 
reduced to such extremity, that Norby 
resolved to make another attempt to re- 
lieve it ; he accordingly appeared before 
it with a large fleet, and attacked the 
auxiliary squadron of GustaAiis. A storm 
put an end to the contest, and Norby 
taking shelter in a creek, his fleet was 
there fixed by a sudden frost, and thus 
exposed to the attacks of the enemy. In 
this situation, Gustavus resolved to at- 
tempt its destruction, but meeting with a 
formidable resistance, the Lubeckers re- 
treated in the very middle of the battle. 
The ice was soon after dissolved, and 
Norby took advantage of this favorable 
circumstance to effect his escape. 

Denmark in the meantime, was a scene 
of the utmost confusion, and the province 
of Jutland was in a state of open revolt. 
A general diet was held at Wyburg, by 
which Christian was formally deposed, 
and a particular decree passed, stating 
the reasons for this proceeding. As soon 
as the king was informed of his deposi- 
tion, he set out for Kolding, a town situ- 
ated on the frontiers of Holstien and Jut- 
land. Copenhagen, the islands of the 
Baltic and Norway, were still in his 
power ; but as he was conscious that he 
held them by a frail and imcertain tenure, 
and that from them he could not expect 
to draw the means of quashing the rebel- 



122 



DENMARK. 



lion in the other parts of his dominions, 
he formed the resohition of abdicating the 
throne. Before he put this resohition 
into practice, however, he went to Ring- 
stadt, where there happened to be a great 
fair ; here he harangued the populace 
with such effect, that they took a fresh 
oath of allegiance, and offered to assist 
him against all his enemies ; but he was 
now grown distrustful, and being appre- 
hensive that if he delayed any longer, 
he should not be able to escape from 
Denmark, he resolved on immediate 
flight, and retired with his family into the 
Low Countries. 

The character of this prince has been 
already sketched, and indeed it is suffi- 
ciently apparent from the whole tenor of 
his political life ; yet cruel and tyranni- 
cal as it undoubtedly was, many of his 
measures displayed considerable wisdom 
and a sense of justice. In the year 1 52 1 , 
he published a code of laws, which great- 
ly limited the power of the nobility over 
their vassals, and retrenched several 
branches of their revenues. By this code 
they were expressly forbidden to sell 
their vassals as slaves. The article 
which relates to this traffic exhibits a 
dreadful picture of the state of the peas- 
antry at that time. " The wicked and 
impious practice, which is followed in 
Zealand, Falster, Laaland, and other 
parts of Denmark, of selling the poor 
farmers, and of making a traffic of Chris- 
tians, shall be abolished for ever ; and 
when the proprietors of lands shall use 
their vassals with injustice, the latter 
shall be permitted to leave the lands of 
the former, and to settle themselves on 
other lands, as is the custom among the 
farmers in Scania, Jutland and Funen." 
In the same year he published a code of 
ecclesiastical laws, in which it is de- 
clared that a bishop shall not have more 
than 14 persons in his train when he is 
on a journey, and an archbishop not more 
than 20. Before the passing of this law, 
these prelates were generally accompan- 
ied with 100 knights and other attend- 
ants, who treated the common people 
with great indignity, cruelty and oppres- 
sion. Another law which he passed 
shall be noticed, because it not only 
throws great light on the customs and the 



state of society in Denmark at this era, 
but also exhibits the character of Chris- 
tian to great advantage. By this law, 
the practice of robbing and plundering 
ships which had been wrecked, was for- 
bidden. It was expressly ordered, that 
all the king's officers should assist the 
seamen to the utmost of their power, in 
saving the ships and cargo ; if they re- 
fused, they were liable to be hanged, and 
to have their goods confiscated ; if all 
the seamen were drowned, the country- 
men were obliged to keep the effects 
saved from the wreck, for a year and a 
day ; and if within that period the owner 
claimed them, they were to be given up 
to him upon his paying salvage ; if they 
were not claimed within a year and a 
day, they were to be divided, and two 
thirds were to be the property of the 
king, and the other third the property of 
the curate of the parish. Even the wa- 
ges of those who might be employed in 
saving the effects was fixed by law ; and 
if the owner of the ship was forced to sell 
any part of the cargo in order to pay 
these men, the king's officer was obliged 
to render to him faithfully all the money 
that might arise from such sales ; if he 
did him injustice, he was liable to suffer 
death. 

This law was particularly disagreea- 
ble to the Danes, especially the nobility 
and clergy. Before it was passed, many 
of them made a considerable revenue by 
plundering ship-wrecked vessels. The 
Bishops of Borghum in Jutland frequent- 
ly employed 300 men on the sea coasts, 
when there was any appearance of a tem- 
pest which might drive ships ashore, in 
order to compel the seamen to suffer their 
goods to be plundered without making any 
resistance, or if they made resistance, to 
massacre them. " Herman Grice, one 
of the senators, having represented to the 
king the wrong which he did himself by 
this law, as he would lose thereby a con- 
siderable revenue from Jutland alone, be- 
sides what he would lose in the other prov- 
inces," Christian returned him the follow- 
ing answer. "I would rather lose all 
the revenues of which you speak, than 
suffer those unhappy people to be so 
unjustly treated." One of the bishops 
likew^ise complained to the king of the 



DENMARK. 



123 



wrong which he had done him in particu- 
lar by this law, and demanded permis- 
sion to follow the ancient customs of the 
country with regard to this matter ; to 
which Christian answered, that his in- 
tention was not to make any change in 
those customs, except in such as he found 
to be contrary to the divine laws ; where- 
upon this conscientious prelate replied, 
by asking, " How the ancient customs of 
the kingdom, respecting shipwrecks, were 
contrary to the divine laws ?" To which 
the king again replied, " Thou shalt not 
kill, thou shalt not steal." 

As soon as the flight of Christian was 
known, Denmark and Norway elevated 
his uncle, Frederick I, duke of Holstein, 
to the throne. Under this prince, the 
aristocracy gained the entire superiority 
— bondage was established by law, — 
the reformation was introduced, — and in 
1522, Norway, was united with Denmark. 
Frederick died in 1533, leaving two sons, 
Clu-istian and John ; the latter had been 
brought up in the Catholic religion ; the 
former was a Protestant. The bishops, 
who had repented of their opposition to 
Christian II, when they perceived that 
Frederick favored the reformed religion, 
were desirous that John shoidd suc- 
ceed his father. As soon as Frederick's 
death was known, the senate convoked 
the deputies of the different orders of 
the states at Copenhagen. The bishops 
opened the debate, by inveighing, with 
great zeal and warmth, on the subject 
of religion ; and when they found that 
the lay senators did not coincide with 
their opinions, they demanded that the 
decree of the diet of Odensee, which had 
given the nobles such extensive power 
over their farmers, should be annulled. 
The nobility were alarmed, and endea- 
vored to sooth the clergj', but the latter 
feeling their weight in the assembly, car- 
ried their point so far, that the tenths were 
restored to them. The next subject dis- 
cussed, related to the choice of a successor 
to Frederick ; the Catholic and ecclesias- 
tic senators declared for John ; the lay 
and Protestant senators for Christian ; de- 
bates ran high, till at last it was proposed 
that the states of Norway should be invi- 
ted to send their deputies. Although 
these were all Roman Catholics, yet the 



proposition was so fair, that the Protest- 
ant senators could not object to it. The 
bishops considering the election of John 
as now secure, began to persecute the 
reformists, and to harass the people with 
heavy taxes. The friends of Christian 
II, considering this a favorable opportu- 
nity to endeavor to reinstate him, made 
an attempt to that effect; but this attempt, 
though at first successful, ended in the 
election of Christian III ; for the bish- 
ops, alarmed at the endeavors to re- 
instate Christian II, and perceiving that 
their former conduct had incurred the 
indignation of the nation at large, con- 
sented to the election of Christian III, 
on the condition that the privileges 
and rights of the senate and states 
should be confirmed, and that he should 
not be the enemy of their religion. The 
rights of all classes, except those of the 
farmers, were amply secured by the ca- 
pitulation which Christian signed, when 
he ascended the throne ; but the farmers 
were, if possible, in a still worse and 
more oppressed condition than they had 
ever been before. 

Christian found the state of public af- 
fairs such as required the display and 
exercise of considerable energy and ac- 
tivity, united to moderation and forbear- 
ance. The differences on religious sub- 
jects still existed. The army that had 
been sent to reinstate Christian II, Avas 
still in possession of some part of the 
Danish dominions, and had been joined 
by all the discontented. The province 
of Fioni demanded his first and princi- 
pal attention. The Count of Oldenberg, 
who was at the head of the invading 
army, had reduced nearly the whole of it, 
and though it was restored by a victory 
which Christian gained over this general, 
yet no sooner did the king leave it to 
prosecute the war in other parts, than the 
Count returned, and being assisted by the 
whole body of farmers, again subdued 
the whole province, and made them take 
a new oath of fidehty to Christian II. 
In this situation of aflairs. Christian III, 
had recourse to the King of Sweden, 
who coming himself at the head of a 
large force, turned the fortune of war 
in favor of his ally. The troops of the 
Count of Oldenberg were soon driven 



124 



DENMARK, 



out of Jutland, and afterwards out of 
Fioni, by Christian's army ; while Gus- 
taviis reconquered Scania. The Count 
was now obliged to act on the defensive, 
and to retire into Zealand, where he shut 
liimself up in Copenhagen. The siege 
of this place was immediately underta- 
ken. It made a long and obstinate de- 
fence, but at last it was reduced, and 
the Count of Oldcnberg was taken pris- 
oner. 

As soon as Christian III, was firmly 
seated on the throne, he turned his 
attention to the state of religion ; and 
resolved to carry into execution a plan 
which had been communicatad to him by 
Gustavus, for reducing the power of the 
clergy. He accordingly assembled the 
senate with great secrecy, and they im- 
mediately came to the resolution to annex 
all the church-lands, towns, fortresses, 
and villages, to the crown, and to abolish 
for ever the temporal power of the clergy. 
All the bishops in the different parts of 
the kingdom were arrested about the 
same time ; and that the nation might 
not be alarmed by this extraordinary 
measure, the king convoked the states 
at Copenhagen ; the nobility were order- 
ed to be there in person, and the commons 
by their deputies, but the clergy were 
not summoned to attend. After a strong 
speech from the king against the rapacity 
of the clergy, the senate confirmed the 
decree of the diet, and the power and 
privileges of the clergy were declared to 
be annihilated for ever. The senate next 
settled the succession in the person of 
Duke Frederick, the king's eldest son. 
In return for these concessions, the king 
confirmed the nobility in all their rights, 
particularly in what they called the right 
of life and death over their vassals, and 
of punishing them in what manner they 
thought proper. Thus was the power 
of the clergy for ever destroyed in Den- 
mark ; but the conclusion which the no- 
bles drew from this, that their own author- 
ity and power would be so much the more 
augmented, was soon proved to be erro- 
neous : for as a great part of the crown 
lands had fallen into the hands of the 
clergy, these lands being again annexed 
to the crown, the royal authority was 
considerably increased. The oppression 



of the farmers still continued, and the 
nobles displayed a restless and increas- 
ing desire to prevent them from ever rising 
in the state ; for the senate passed a law, 
forbidding any person, either ecclesiastic 
or secular, who was not noble, to buy 
any freehold lands in the kingdom, or to 
endeavor to acquire such lands by any 
other title. 

Norway was still unwilling to acknow- 
ledge Christian ; the Catholic religion kept 
its ground there longer and more firmly 
than it did in Denmark. The states of 
the former kingdom being assembled at 
Drontheim, in the beginning of the year 
1536, Christian sent notice to them that 
he was king of Denmark, and demanded, 
by virtue of the union of the two king- 
doms, to be elected their king also ; but 
the clergy representing this demand as 
haughty, and the presage of a tyrannical 
government, the people rose in a tumul- 
tuous manner, massacred several of the 
king's friends, and compelled the rest to 
quit the kingdom. Christian on this re- 
solved to have recourse to the most de- 
cisive measures. He accordingly march- 
ed an army into Norway, and before the 
end of the year, the whole kingdom wac 
reduced to a state of obedience and tran- 
quillity. The Danish nobility persuaded 
the king to take advantage of the subju- 
gation of Norway, to strip this kingdom 
of its independence ; and a decree was 
accordingly passed, stating, that as the 
kingdom of Norway had declined in its 
power and resources, so as to be no lon- 
ger capable of supporting a king ; and as 
the greatest part of its senators had shown 
themselves enemies to the crown of Den 
mark ; therefore, the said kingdom of Nor- 
way shall be, and for ever remain sub-, 
jected to the crown of Denmark ; so that 
in future it shall no more be a kingdom 
apart, nor shall it any more be so called, 
but shall be a part of the kingdom of 
Denmark. It was, however, stipulated, 
that in case Norway should be engaged 
in war, the senate and the estates of Den- 
mark should assist them. This decree 
was carried into immediate and full exe- 
cution. The senate of Norway was sup- 
pressed, the states no longer had any in- 
fluence in the elections, and the Danish 
nobility were appointed to most of the 



DENMARK. 



125 



places of confidence and emolument in 
that kingdom. 

Christian II died in 1558, and was 
succeeded by Frederick II. The Danish 
monarchs having gradually increased the 
duties of the Sound, and laving fre- 
quently exacted them with unnecessary 
strictness and rigor, the English, Dutch, 
Lubeckers, and Hanse Towns, remon- 
strated against them entirely, in the year 
1583; but their remonstrances were in 
vain, and they were under the necessity 
of submitting to the mode and extent of 
these exactions. Towards the conclu- 
sion of Frederick's reign, Denmark be- 
gan to rise in importance among the Eu- 
ropean powers. An embassy came from 
Elizabeth, Queen of England, with the 
order of the garter for the Danish sover- 
eign ; and in 1588, a treaty of marriage 
was proposed between a Princess of Den- 
mark and James VI, King of Scotland. 
Soon after this, Frederick died, in the 
54th year of his age, and in the 29th of 
his reign. 

Christian IV was only eleven years 
old when his father died. In 1621, a 
treaty of alliance was concluded between 
the Kings of England, Denmark, and 
Sweden, several of the princes of the 
empire, and Holland. The object of 
this treaty was to support the Elector 
Palatine, in whose favor, in 1623, Chris- 
tian took up arms, and was appointed 
head of the league, and commander of 
the forces of Lower Saxony. He was, 
however, not equal in military talents or 
experience to the Imperial general, 
Count Tilly, by whom he was completely 
defeated near Rottenburgh, in 1626. He 
died in the month of February, 1648, at 
the age of 71, and in the 60th year of his 
reign, and was succeeded by his son 
Frederick. 

The state of Denmark at this period 
required a monarch of great talents ; 
firmness, economy, and moderation, were 
absolutely requisite ; the army of Den- 
mark had been nearly annihilated by the 
wars in the last reign ; her marine was 
in a condition little better than the army ; 
there was scarcely any money in the 
treasury ; the nobles were exempted 
from the payment of taxes ; and the peo- 
ple were so poor, or so discontented, 



that to levy the necessary taxes on them 
would have been impracticable, and the 
attempt excessively dangerous. The 
states of Norway seemed disposed to 
throw off their dependence on Denmark, 
and assume a republican form of govern- 
ment ; and Sweden was evidently pre- 
paring to take advantage of the reduced 
and humble condition of her rival. 

In 1655, the jealousies between Swe- 
den and Denmark increased. Charles 
Gustavns was now on the throne of the 
latter kingdom, a monarch in the prime 
of life, of great and aspiring ambition, 
and of considerable enterprise and tal- 
ents. The Swedish king having ob- 
tained a number of successes in the wars 
against the Danes, turned his plans to- 
wards the reduction of Copenhagen by 
famine ; but while part of his fleet was 
cruising for the Dutch squadron, supplies 
of provisions were introduced into Copen- 
hagen. Part of this city is built upon 
the isle of Amak, which is peopled by 
the descendants of a colony from East 
Friesland, to whom the island was given 
by Christian II, at the request of his 
queen, the sister of Charles V, for the 
purpose of supplying her with vegeta- 
bles, cheese, and butter. It is entirely 
laid out in gardens and pastures, and the 
produce brought to the market of Copen- 
hagen. This island Charles resolved to 
get possession of, if he possibly could, 
and he accordingly made a sudden de- 
scent upon it at the head of a large body 
of forces ; he was opposed by Frederick, 
who sallied out of Copenhagen, broke 
through the .Swedish lines, threw them 
into confusion, and obliged Charles to 
throw himself into a boat, and regain his 
fleet. The next day the Dutch fleet that 
had been sent to the assistance of their 
allies entered the Sound. Charles im- 
mediately ordered his fleet to oppose 
their advance to Copenhagen, and a most 
dreadful battle was the consequence, 
which terminated in the Swedes draw- 
ing off", under the protection of the can- 
non of Lanskroon, and in the Dutch ad- 
miral succeeding in his purpose of land- 
ing a large supply of provisions and 
ammunition, as well as a considerable 
reinforcement of men at Copenhagen. 
The Swedish monarch, disappointed at 



126 



DENMARK. 



the issue of this battle, was soon after- 
wards alarmed by the advance of the 
elector of Brandenburg and the other 
allies of Frederick into Holstein, where 
they gained several advantages. The 
militia of Norway also invaded Dron- 
theim, which, by the last treaty, had 
been ceded to Sweden ; and the people 
of this province still retaining their par- 
tiality for their native sovereign, it was 
soon reduced. However, neither the ad- 
vance and success of the Danish allies, 
nor the conquest of Drontheim, turned 
Charles aside from his designs against 
Copenhagen; and in 1659, having con- 
cluded a peace with the Czar, he deter- 
mined to make a vigorous and general 
effort to gain this city, before the frost 
should enable the elector of Brandenburg 
to pass over on the ice to Zealand. On 
the 10th of February, his measures be- 
ing taken, and his preparations complete, 
he commanded the city to be stormed. 
In order to conceal the march of his 
troops on the snow, he ordered them to 
put shirts over their clothes, and they 
were thus enabled to come so near the 
besieged, as to touch them with their 
arms before they were perceived. Three 
attacks were made, but they were all un- 
successful : the first was led on by Stein- 
boch, but his troops having lost all their 
officers, became daunted and fled ; the 
second attack, led on by Colonel Smidt, 
had nearly succeeded on the side of the 
isle Amak, when the Colonel was slain 
and his troops repulsed ; Bannier, one 
of the most celebrated of the Swedish 
generals, commanded the third attack, 
but he was taken prisoner, and his divi- 
sion totally defeated. 

Within a very few months after peace 
was concluded, Frederick effected a com- 
plete change in the constitution of the 
government of Denmark. By his con- 
duct during the war, he had raised him- 
self very much in the opinion of all 
classes of his subjects, for his firmness 
and his attachment to the interests of his 
country. But he was particularly dear 
to the common people ; he had placed 
himself, in many instances, as a barrier 
between them and the insolent oppres- 
sion of the nobles. The circumstances 
of the times, too, had rendered the no- 



bility less formidable and powerful. Com- 
merce had begun to produce its usual 
effects in Denmark as well as in other 
countries ; it had rendered power and 
wealth more equal, by introducing new 
wants and desires among the privileged 
classes, and the ability to gratify them 
among those who hitherto had not been 
privileged, it brought them nearer to a 
level. Before, however, Frederick could 
take advantage of this state of things, it 
was necessary to investigate the condi- 
tion of the kingdom ; and it was found 
truly deplorable. The army had not 
been paid for a considerable length of 
time, consequently there was much dis- 
satisfaction among the soldiers ; scarcely 
any of the ships of war were fit to put to 
sea ; and the public treasure was nearly 
exhausted by the avarice and extrava- 
gance of the nobility. To consider and 
remedy these evils, an assembly of the 
states was convoked on the 8th of Sep- 
tember, 1660. Notwithstanding the real 
power of the nobility was much curtailed, 
they were disposed to be as presuming 
and overbearing as formerly ; but the 
citizens of the great towns now began to 
feel their weight and importance in the 
state, and particularly those of Copen- 
hagen, to whom, as a reward for their 
patriotic and gallant behavior during the 
siege, several of the rights of nobility had 
been granted. 

Frederick, aware of all these circum- 
stances, determined, during the sitting of 
this assembly, to reduce the power of 
the nobles, and to extend his own power 
on the ruin of theirs. In this plan he 
was most zealously and successfully 
assisted by the queen, a woman not only 
of great fortitude, but of uncommon tal- 
ents. She brought over to the king's 
party and interest, the field-marshal and 
some other noblemen ; but she principally 
depended on the exertions and intrigues 
of the bishop of Zealand, the burgomaster 
of Copenhagen, Gabel a German, the 
king's private secretary, and also secre- 
tary to the privy council, and Lenthe, 
who was likewise a German. 

From the year 1660 till 1670, when 
Frederick died, he was almost occu- 
pied with the internal affairs of Den- 
mark ; he re-established the finances on 



DENMARK. 



127 



an equitable and productive footing ; gave 
encouragement to trade and commerce ; 
and in a more especial manner promoted 
agriculture. In the midst of these wise 
and benevolent plans, he was carried off 
by a disorder, which he is supposed to 
have contracted during the siege of Co- 
penhagen. 

He was succeeded by Christian, his 
oldest son, who assisted by the Elector 
of Brandenberg and the Dutch, was en- 
gaged in warfare M'ith the Swedes, for a 
considerable part of his reign. He died 
in 1699. 

Christian was succeeded by Frederick 
IV. This prince was tempted, by the 
extreme youth of Charles XII, King of 
Sweden, to commence hostilities against 
that monarch ; but as he had no direct 
ground for a war with Sweden, he re- 
newed his claims to Holstein, the duke 
of which had married the sister of 
Charles XII. Accordingly, he invaded 
this province, and laid siege to Toningen. 
Charles lost no time in assisting his rela- 
tion ; he sent 8,000 men into Holstein, and, 
at the same time, he himself, at the head of 
20,000 men, landed in Zealand, and laid 
siege to Copenhagen. The inhabitants, 
in the absence of their sovereign, sent de- 
puties to Charles, to request that he would 
not bombard the tOAvn ; to this request he 
gave his consent, on condition that they 
paid him immediately about je80,000, 
and brought regidarly to his camp all 
kinds of provisions, for which, however, 
he engaged to pay punctually. As soon 
as Frederick learned that his capital was 
in such imminent danger, he published 
an edict, in which he promised freedom 
to all those in every part of his domin- 
ions that should take up arms against the 
Swedes. Charles, upon this, informed 
his Danish majesty, that he only made 
war to oblige him to make peace ; and 
that he must resolve to do justice to the 
duke of Holstein, or to see Copenhagen 
destroyed and his kingdom laid waste by 
fire and sword. Frederick eagerly ac- 
cepted the conditions, and the peace of 
Travendahl was concluded, by which 
the full right and sovereignty was con- 
firmed to the duke of Holstein. His Dan- 
ish majesty agreed to pay him 260,000 
crowns ; and liberty was given to the 



chapter of Lubeck, to elect, as their 
bishop, a prince of Holstein. 

Christian Frederick, better known un- 
der the appellation of Christian VI, suc- 
ceeded his father, Frederick IV. During 
nearly the whole of his reign, Denmark 
enjoyed a state of profound peace ; and 
Christian took advantage of this circum- 
stance to improve his territories and 
benefit his subjects ; hence no sovereign 
is a greater favorite with the Danish 
people. He died in 1746, after a happy 
and prosperous reign of sixteen years, 
and was succeeded by his son Fred- 
erick V. 

In 1743, Frederick had married Lou- 
isa, daughter of George II, of England. 
He was very fortunate in two of his 
ministers. Count Bcmstofl', and Coimt 
Schimmellman, both noblemen of very 
superior talents and information, and 
anxious to employ them for the benefit of 
their sovereign and his subjects. Under 
their guidance, Frederick applied himself 
to carry on the plans which his father had 
begun, and by the assistance of the latter 
nobleman, more particularly, the finances 
of Denmark were completely restored to 
order, and the taxes were rendered lucra- 
tive, without being burdensome or oppres- 
sive to the people. 

The commencement of the reign of 
his son Christian VII, Avas auspicious ; 
all the peasants on the crown lands, who 
hitherto had been in a state of the most 
abject vassalage, were emancipated by 
the first edict which he issued. The 
negotiation with Russia respecting Hol- 
stein was resumed, but it could not be 
finall)^ adjusted, till Paul Petrowitz, who 
was heir to the German possessions of 
Peter, attained his majority. This event 
did not happen till the year 1773, when 
a treaty was signed, by which the coun- 
ties of Oldenburgh and Delmenhorst 
were ceded to the grand duke of Russia, 
and the king of Denmark, as a compen- 
sation, was put in possession of the whole 
of Holstein. 

Frederick V, after the death of his 
first wife, by whom he had Christian VII, 
married a daughter of the duke of Bruns- 
wick Wolfenbuttle ; this princess was 
of an ambitious disposition, and was not 
restrained by any sense of justice, ox 



128 



DENMARK. 



feeling of moderation, from pursuing those 
measures to which her ambition prompted 
her. She had by her husband a son 
named Frederick, and her most anxious 
wish was to place him on the throne, 
after the demise of Christian ; but Chris- 
tian had married Matilda, the youngest 
sister to George III, and as issue was 
likely to proceed from the marriage, the 
Queen-dowager was afraid that her fa- 
vorite scheme would be defeated. She, 
therefore, in the beginning of January, 
1772, formed, along with her son, a 
strong party at Copenhagen, who com- 
menced their intrigues, by endeavoring 
to create dislike and mistrust between 
the king and queen. Their first plan 
seems to have been to infuse into the 
mind of the queen a disgust of her con- 
sort ; and, for this purpose, the king, who 
was a man of a very weak mind, was 
surrounded by persons who kept him in 
a constant stale of debauchery, and Avho 
took care that the queen should be per- 
fectly acquainted with his behavior. Ma- 
tilda, however, either suspecting their 
designs, or hidifferent about the manner 
in which the king conducted himself, 
paid no attention to their representations. 
The queen-dowager perceiving that the 
scheme they had hitherto pursued would 
not answer, determined to excite the sus- 
picion and jealousy of the king against 
his spouse ; and the unguarded behavior 
of Matilda unfortunately aflbrded her the 
opportunity she wished for. She mani- 
fested an improper partiality for Count 
Struensee. This nobleman had been 
originally a German physician, who, 
having ingratiated himself into the favor 
of Frederick, had been raised to the digni- 
ty of a count, and appointed his prime 
minister. He had neither talent, strength 
of mind, nor prudence sufficient to con- 
duct himself properly in his new situa- 
tion, but alarmed and disgusted the old 
nobility, by the unnecessary and inju- 
dicious reforms which he attempted to 
introduce. To this unpopular and weak 
man, Matilda discovered an eA-ident par- 
tiality ; and on this circumstance the 
queen-dowager built her plans. The 
lung was persuaded that his consort, in 
conjimction with Struensee and his friend 
count Brandt, had formed a design to set 



him aside, on the pretext of incapacity, 
and of course, according to the royal 
law of 1660, to declare the queen-con- 
sort regent during the minority of his 
successor ; they suggested to him the 
absolute necessity of immediately signing 
an order for confining the queen and her 
associates in separate prisons ; but they 
met with much opposition and reluctance. 
It was, therefore, advisable to conduct 
this part of the business with more cau- 
tion, and to wait for a favorable opportu- 
nity of still farther exciting the suspicion 
and jealousy of the king against his con- 
sort and Struensee. This opportunity 
oflered itself on the 16th of January. 
On the evening of that day, a masked 
ball was given at court, from which Ma- 
tilda, after having danced the greatest 
part of the night with Struensee, retired 
about two o'clock in the morning. The 
queen-dowager and prince Frederick, who 
had undertaken to surprise the king and 
make him sign the order, entered his 
apartment soon after Matilda had left the 
ball room, waked his majesty out of his 
sleep, and told him that his consort, and 
the counts Struensee and Brandt, were 
at that very moment drawing up the act 
of renunciation, which they would com- 
pel him to sign ; and that if he wished 
to save himself, he must give instant 
orders for their arrest. Frederick still 
hesitated, till they actually threatened 
him into compliance. The queen-con- 
sort was innnediatcly taken out of bed, 
and with her infant princess conveyedjto 
the castle of Cronenberg, while counts 
Struensee and Brandt were confined in 
separate dungeons, and treated with the 
utmost severity An extraordinary com- 
mission was appointed to try the supposed 
criminals. The queen was accused of a 
criminal conversation with Struensee ; 
and this nobleman was accused of hav- 
ing abused his authority, and of having 
applied a great part of the public money 
to his private emolument ; but no wit- 
nesses were found to substantiate either 
of these charges, or the more heinous 
charge of having had designs to deprive 
the king of his authority. The queen- 
dowager, however, resolved to proceed ; 
and though, by the laws of Denmark, the 
torture was forbidden to be used for the 



DENMARK. 



129 



purpose of extorting confession, yet Stru- 
ensee was threatened with it, unless he 
confessed every tiling that was demanded 
of him respecting the queen. The fear 
of the rack produced from him the con- 
fession which the queen-dowager want- 
ed ; he acknowledged that he had been 
intimate with the queen. Struensee and 
his friend Brandt, after having been un- 
der examination nearly two mouths, at 
last received sentence. The sentence of 
the former states, that he had confessed 
himself guilty of a crime, which compre- 
hended the crime of treason in the high- 
est degree ; and that he had defrauded 
the king, and applied the public money 
to his own use. The last accusation 
they had not been able to substantiate by 
witnesses, nor had Struensee acknow- 
ledged its truth ; but by obtaining pos- 
session of his private papers, it appeared 
that he had made a charge of .120,000 
rix dollars for an article of expense, which 
could not amount to 20,000 rix dollars. 
When Struensee was examined on this 
head, he acknowledged that the papers 
were in his hand-writing, but that this 
charge, as well as several others, had 
been falsified by some other person. The 
sentence of Brandt accused him of hav- 
ing given the king a blow, and otherwise 
ill treating him. They were both con- 
demned to be beheaded, after having 
their right hands cut off; the sentence 
was carried into execution on the 28th 
of April, 1772. The English coiu-t in- 
terfered in behalf of the queen-consort ; 
and she was liberated from her confine- 
ment, and permitted to spend the re- 
mainder of her life at Zell, in Hanover. 
The queen-dowager having thus accom- 
plished part of her object, by means, 
however, which excited great indigna- 
tion, placed about the king count Guld- 
berg, one of her associates. In order to 
draw off the public thoughts from the re- 
cent transactions, this minister passed 
several laws much in favor of the great 
body of the people, particularly one law 
which gave to the natives of Denmark 
very special privileges, and which was 
declared to be a fundamental law of the 
kingdom. 

In 1780, Denmark, persuaded or in- 
timidated by the empress Catharine, 



joined the armed neutrality of the North. 
f>om this time till the year 1784, no- 
thing remarkable happened ; the king's 
imbecility of inind grew every day more 
apparent, and intrigues were set on foot 
to take advantage of it. The kino- of 
Prussia, who was nearly related to the 
queen-dowager, by her means, gained an 
almost absolute sway in the cabinet of 
Denmark ; the only minister who op- 
posed his views was count BernstotT, 
and he was soon dismissed from his em- 
ployments, and obliged to retire into 
Germany. But in order still farther to 
strengthen his party, it was necessary 
to keep the prince royal out of the privy 
council. By the laws of Denmark, he 
could not be sworn in a member till he 
had taken the sacrament, and he could 
not take the sacrament till he had under- 
gone a public examination ; this the 
ruling party contrived to put off, under 
the pretext that he was not yet sufficient- 
ly instructed in religion. As soon, how- 
ever, as he arrived at the age of 16, they 
were obliged to consent to his admission 
into the privy council ; and the first step 
he took was to advise the king to dismiss 
his ministers, and to reinstate count 
Bernstoff. The other party endeavored 
to intimidate him ; but he was resolute, 
and carried his point. A new council 
was formed ; and as they apprehended 
that the queen-dowager might again take 
advantage of the king's imbecility, they 
passed an order, that no instrument signed 
by him should be valid, unless it were 
countersigned by the prince. One of 
the first acts of his administration ren- 
dered him extremely popular ; he com- 
pletely emancipated all the peasants on 
the estates of the crown, Avith so much 
prudent and cautious preparation, that no 
evil consequences resulted from this 
change in their condition. His example 
was followed by some of the nobility, but 
by no means to the extent that he wished 
or expected. The slave trade was also 
abolished, principally by the advice and 
exertion of count Schimmellman, who 
himself possessed large estates in the 
West Indies. 

For a considerable time after the com- 
mencement of the French revolution, 
Denmark remained tranquil, wisely re- 
17 



130 



DENMARK. 



fusing to engage in the wars produced by 
that event. At length in 1801, the mad- 
ness of the emperor Paul obliged her to 
accede to the confederacy against Great 
Britain, formed by Russia and Sweden. 
In consequence of this. Great Britain 
sent a formidable fleet into the Baltic. 

The defeat of the Danes, and the death 
of Paul, dissolved the confederacy ; aad 
the Danish possessions in the East and 
West Indies, which the British had cap- 
tured, were restored. When the war 
between Britain and France recom- 
menced in 1803, Denmark resolved, if 
possible, to adhere strictly to her system 
of neutrality ; but it was soon apparent 
that tlie success of the latter power in 
Germany would place her in a perilous 
situation, or compel her to take an active 
part in the contest. But she escaped till 
the year 1807, when the peace of Tilsit 
convinced the British cabinet, that Den- 
mark, even if she were well disposed to 
resist the importunities of France to unite 
herself against England, was no longer 
capable of acting as an independent 
power. 

At length in 1807, this state was in- 
cluded in Napoleon's continental policy. 
A French army stood on the borders of 
Denmark, Russia had adopted the con- 
tinental system at the the peace of Tilsit, 
and England thought it her duty to pre- 
vent the accession of Denmark to this 
alliance. 

A fleet of twenty-three ships of the 
line was sent up the Sound, August 3d, 
which demanded of Denmark a defen- 
sive alliance, or the surrender of her fleet, 
as a pledge of her neutrality. Both were 
denied. Upon this, a British army land- 
ed, consisting of 25,000 men, under lord 
Cathcart ; and, after an imsuccessful re- 
sistance on the part of the Danes, Avho 
were unprepared for such an attack, Co- 
penhagen Avas surrounded, Aug. 17. As 
the government repeatedly refused to 
yield to the British demands, the capital 
was bombarded for three days, and 400 
houses laid in ashes, in the ruins of which 
1300 of the inhabitants perished. Sep- 
tember 7th, Copenhagen capitulated, and 
the whole fleet, completely equipped, and, 
including eighteen ships of the line, fif- 
teen frigates, &c. was delivered up to 



the British, and carried off" in triumph. 
The crews, who had fought on those 
days with distinguished bravery, were 
made prisoners of war. Great Britain 
now offered the crown-prince neutrality 
or an alliance. If he accepted the first, 
the Danish fleet was to be restored in 
three years after the general peace, and 
the island of Heligoland was to be ceded 
to the British crown. The crown-prince, 
however, rejected all proposals, declared 
war against Great Britain in October, 
1807, and entered into a treaty with Na- 
poleon, at Fontainbleau, October 31. 
Upon this, Bernadotte occupied the Dan- 
ish islands with 30,000 men, in order to 
land in Sweden, against which Denmark 
had declared war in April, 1808. This 
plan was defeated by the war with Aus- 
tria, in 1809, and the hostilities against 
Sweden in Norway ceased the same 
year. The demand made by the court 
of Stockholm, in 1813, of a transfer of 
Norway to Sweden, was followed by a 
new war with this crown, and a new al- 
Uance with Napoleon, July 13, 1813. On 
this account, after the battle of Leipsic, 
the northern powers, who were united 
against France, occupied Holstein and 
Sleswick. Gluckstadt and other fortica- 
tions were captured, and the Danish 
troops driven beyond Flensburg. Den- 
mark now concluded a peace with Eng- 
land and Sweden, Jan. 14, 1814, at Kiel. 
She also entered into an alliance against 
France, and contributed a body of troops 
to the allied forces. She was obliged to 
cede Heligoland to Great Britain (receiv- 
ing in exchange several West India 
islands,) and Norway to Sweden, (for 
which she was compensated by Swedish 
Pomerania and Rugen.) A peace was 
concluded with Russia in February, 1814. 
Jan. 14, 1815, Denmark ceded Swedish 
Pomerania and Rugen to Prussia, and 
received for them Lauenburg and a pe- 
cuniary compensation. June 8, 1815, 
the king entered into the German confed- 
eracy with Holstein and Lauenburg, and 
received in it the tenth place, and three 
votes in the general assembly (the ple- 
num ;) after Avhich, by the appointment 
of a decemviral commission, preliminary 
measures were taken to introduce a rep- 
resentative government into Holstein. 



EGYPT. 



131 



EGYPT, 



Among all the ancient nations which 
have been distinguished in history, there 
is none more worthy of our notice than 
the kingdom of Egypt. If not the birth- 
place, it was the early protector of the 
sciences ; and cherished every species 
of knowledge, which was known or cul- 
tivated in remote times. It was the prin- 
cipal source from which the Grecians 
derived their information ; and, after all 
its windings and enlargements, we may 
still trace the stream of our knowledge 
to the banks of the Nile. Every ancient 
nation lays claim to a higher origin than 
legitimate history can sanction ; and 
Egypt extends its claims to a fabulous 
period. 

Menes is the first king of Egypt Avho 
is presented to our notice ; but the cir- 
cumstances of his reign distinctly imply, 
that the age in which he lived was an 
advanced period of the Egyptian history. 
The arrangements which he made did 
not belong to rude times ; the wealth and 
the luxury of his court, were far removed 
from the savage state, and the magnifi- 
cence which he introduced into the ser- 
vices of religion, manifest an improve- 
ment in the arts, and a progress in the 
splendor of society. Sir Isaac Newton 
ascribes to him the building of Memphis, 
wliich was not founded, or at least not 
famous, in the time of Homer ; for it was 
Thebes, and not Memphis, which he 
celebrated as the glory of Egypt. Nor- 
den supposes that the latter was adorned 
from the ruins of the former ; but even 
if this be true, it would not imply that 
Memphis was unbuilt till Thebes was in 
ruins. It will only show, that, as the an- 
cient capital was deserted, the new city 
was adorned with some works of art, 
which had been admired in the city of 
Thebes. 

Osymandias is the next Egyptian king 
whose history has assumed any probable 
shape ; and yet the narrative of his reign 
is doubtful and imperfect. While he was 
upon the throne, the city of Thebes was 
still in its glory, and some of its most 
remarkable ornaments are attributed to 



this prince. His palace was an edifice 
of exquisite workmanship ; and in the 
maimer of those times, it was of vast ex- 
tent. In front there was a court of an 
immense size ; adjoining this space there 
was a portico of 400 feet long, the roof 
of which was supported by animal fig- 
ures of fifteen cubits high. This portico 
led into another court similar to the first, 
but more superb. Here, among other 
ornaments, were three statues of vast 
size, which is alone sufficient to show 
the antiquity of Osymandias' reign. 

In the infancy of science, every thing 
is vast ; and to command admiration 
among the uncultivated, immensity is 
better calculated than beauty, deep de- 
sign, or elegance of workmanship. These 
statues are said to have represented Osy- 
mandias and some of his family ; but 
this is of little importance to the history 
of those times, which leads us to approxi- 
mate the period of society in which Osy- 
mandias lived, by the state of literature 
and science which belong to the period 
of his reign. Sculpture and the art of 
building had evidently arrived at con- 
siderable improvements. For the style 
of architecture, as well as the art of the 
statuary, which the ruins of Thebes have 
disclosed, have justly commanded the 
admiration of the curious and discerning. 
There were other courts, and other por- 
ticoes, together with piazzas, halls, and 
galleries, which excelled in workmanship 
as well as in extent. There the chisel 
had sculptured, with wonderful art, the 
triumphs of the king, the sacrifices which 
he offered, the administration of justice 
in the courts of law, and many other em- 
blems of his transactions and reign. But 
his tomb has been celebrated above all 
other buildings at Thebes ; and it has 
been chiefly remarkable for the emblems 
of astronomy which it bore. It was en- 
compassed with a golden circle of 365 
cubits in circumference, to represent the 
number of days which were then inclu- 
ded in the year, and shows that the solar 
year was not then distinctly understood. 
Here the rising and the setting of the 



132 



EGYPT. 



stars Avere represented to A'iew ; various 
parts of the ceiling in the pubUc build- 
ings of Osymandias were painted bhie 
and bespangled with stars, to exhibit an 
idea of the firmament ; and a hall was 
stored with the most valuable writings of 
those times, and was significantly de- 
nominated the dispensary of the mind. 
From the whole it appears, that the reign 
of Osjnnandias, though remote and not 
accurately defined, was in a period of 
considerable improvement. 

His lineal descendants are said to have 
reigned in Egypt during the course of 
eight generations ; but their transactions, 
and even their names, are not distinctly 
known. Uchoreus was the last of that 
race ; and in his time the city of Mem- 
phis appears to have become the success- 
ful rival of the ancient and venerable city 
Thebes. It is indeed added, that he 
transferred the abode of the Eg}''ptian 
kings from Thebes to Memphis. 

Passing by other sovereigns, who arc 
rather alluded to than specified in the 
conjectural parts of this history, we shall 
take notice of Maoris, who would proba- 
bly have beei» left in the same obscurity 
as many other ancient kings of Egypt 
have been, had not the lake which beai-s 
his name preserved his memory. That 
work of stupendous labor may be con- 
sidered as a remnant of those mighty 
works which Moeris did to aggrandize 
his kingdom. He adorned the temple of 
Vulcan at Memphis, and must be sup- 
posed to have been the author of many 
important improvements, which have been 
lost in the lapse of time, and forgotten 
among the changes of early and obscure 
events. He was the 330lh king from 
Menes ; and the immediate predecessor 
of Sesoslris, whose history is now to 
claim our attention. 

Sesostris is known by various other 
names, according to the variety which 
diftVrent languages and other circum- 
stances are calculated to produce, such 
as Sesonchis, Sesoosis, and Sesothis. 
He has also been supposed to be the Se- 
sac or Shishak, who took Jerusalem in 
the reign of Rehoboam ; while others 
have supposed that he was the Pharaoh 
who reigned in Egypt, and who was 
drowned in the lied Sea, when pursuing 



the Israelites to bring them back ; but 
these are conjectures and not historical 
facts — they may amuse, but they cannot 
instruct. Under the pretext of a dream, 
his father adopted measures Avliich, in 
his view, were calculated to furnish his 
son with certain means of conquest and 
power. Exercising the influence which 
he seems to have possessed, he collect- 
ed a number of youths of the same age 
with his son, and trained them up to- 
gether at his own expense, that they 
might be attached to the person of Se- 
sostris ; and that, by being trained up in 
a hardy and active manner, they might 
be able to brave dangers, and be the 
means of honor and aggrandizement to 
his son. 

Having made successful inroads into 
Arabia, and being led to put confidence 
in his own resources and skill, Sesostris 
returned into Eg}'pt, and devised meas- 
ures for such campaigns and conquests 
as have perpetuated his fame. Being 
resolved to take the field in person, and 
having the prospect of being a long time 
absent from his kingdom, he adopted pru- 
dential means for preserving tranquillity 
while he was abroad. By promises and 
salutary arrangements, he attached the 
army to his interest ; and he provided 
carefully for the internal peace of the 
state. He divided the empire into 36 
provinces, and having appointed a gov- 
ernor to each, he constituted his brother 
regent of the kingdom, with supreme 
power till he himself should return. He 
fitted out two fleets, one in the Mediter- 
ranean, and the other in the Red Sea. 
With the former he conquered the islands 
of Cyprus, together Avith several islands 
of the Cyclades, and the whole coast of 
Phoenicia ; and with the latter he scour- 
ed the Red Sea, and entered the Indian 
ocean. 

His army was in great force. It con- 
sisted of 600,000 foot, 24,000 horse, and 
27,000 chariots. The 1,700 youths Avho 
had been trained up along with him from 
his infancy, and accustomed to toil and 
] military exercise, Avere Avell fitted to have 
i the chief places of trust in that mighty 
j army, both from their attachment to their , 
I sovereign, and their military ardor. With 
: this numerous host, he overran the Ethi- 



EGYPT. 



133 



opians, and traversed Africa, till he reach- 
ed the shores of the Atlantic. Being en- 
couraged by success, he penetrated Asia, 
and crossed the Ganges. Returning in- 
to Europe, he invaded Scythia as well 
as Thrace ; but, according to some his- 
torians, these warlike people resisted his 
invasion, and after he had made several 
conquests, compelled them to retire. A 
colony of Egyptians was planted by him 
in Colchis, or a part of his army settled 
there of their own accord ; and pillars 
recording his triumphs have been found 
in various parts of the world. 

He appears to have aimed at universal 
conquest ; but though his movements 
were rapid, and his successes great, yet 
he was forced to return to Egypt, and 
abandon the kingdoms he had acquired. 
There is a certain compass, beyond 
which the powers of man cannot pre- 
vail ; and it was never intended b}' na- 
ture, that one man should lord it over the 
whole earth. There are limits to the 
powers of the mind, and there are Iioun- 
daries among the empires and kingdoms 
of the earth, which it is cruel and unjust 
to pass. While Sesostris was employed 
with conquest abroad, his brother was 
perverting his authority at home, and sub- 
verting the power and honor of the king. 
Being informed of these transactions, 
Sesostris hastened his return to Egypt ; 
and having resumed the reins of his king- 
dom, overthrew the proceedings of his 
brother, tranquillized the country, and 
completely re-established his own power. 
It is said in honor of his humanity, that 
he saved the life of his rebel brother, 
who, it has been asserted, lied into 
Greece, and was the Danaus of that 
country, whose story seems to be partly 
true, and partly fabulous. 

From this time forward, Sesostris aban- 
doned a life of warfare, and employed his 
leisure as well as his riches in adorning 
his kingdom, and improving the condition 
of his people. He provided for the re- 
pose of the soldiers, who had been his 
companions in arms ; and he enriched 
the temples of the gods, whom the peo- 
ple worshipped. He fortified the king- 
dom in the most commodious parts ; im- 
proved the state of Lower Egypt or the 
Delta, and in general meliorated the state 



of the kingdom. He either divided the 
people into casts, or rendered the division 
more complete, which appears to have 
been a favorable arrangement in those 
times and circumstances, though it has 
created a host of prejudices unfavorable 
to successive improvements. It is re- 
corded to the disgrace of Sesostris, not 
only that he retained the kings captive 
whom he had taken in war ; but also, that 
he took a cruel pleasure in exposing their 
fallen state to public observation, making 
them feel, in a most sensible manner, the 
degradations of their captive condition. 
In the midst of these severities, one of 
his captive sovereigns reminded him, by 
the emblem of a wheel turning rapidly 
upside down, that fortune was capricious, 
and that he who sat upon the throne might 
soon, like him, be ranked amongst slaves. 
The remark did not fail of its naturel im- 
pression ; and from that time the captive 
princes were set free. So true is it, that 
health is followed by sickness, and pros- 
perity by pain, that Sesostris lost his 
sight, and sinking into despair, he put a 
period to his own life. 

The first king who is mentioned in the 
Egyptian history, after the preceding 
sovereign, is Gnephactus, who is of no 
celebrity in the annals of his country. 

Sethon is the next king of Egypt, who 
lays claim to our consideration. He was 
a person of the sacerdotal order, and be- 
longed to the temple of Vulcan. He had 
no warlike dispositions, nor was he at all 
habituated to the use of arms. Till this 
period the soldiery had been cherished, 
and were a conspicuous body of men in 
Egypt ; and, therefore, being neglected 
by Sethon, they were dispersed, and hos- 
tile to hi« interests. The kings of As- 
syria being at this time bold and success- 
ful warriors, and fmding Eg\'pt in a feeble 
and unprotected state, they entered that 
country in a hostile maimer, and filled 
the nation with alarm. The soldiers 
being scattered and disgusted, Sethon's 
army consisted only of raw and undisci- 
plined troops, who were unable to meet a 
host of victorious invaders. Sennacherib, 
king of Assyria, with a numerous army, 
entered Egypt, and committed great de- 
vastations. 

In this threateninsr and dangerous situ- 



134 



EGYPT. 



ation, when ruin was apparently ready 
to burst upon the head of the Egyptian 
king, a host of rats in one night gnawed 
the bow-strings and shield-straps of the 
Assyrian army ; and being thus deprived 
of their weapons of warfare, they fled 
before the Eg}'ptians with great slaugh- 
ter. A story somewhat alike to this 
Egyptian representation, is handed down 
to us in the history of Palestine, where 
185,000 men of Sennacherib's army were 
found dead by some sudden disaster. 
The better authenticated Jewish liistory 
would lead us to suppose, that the story 
is the same, but misapprehended and dis- 
guised in the obscurer annals of Egypt. 
The Babylonish Talmud supposes, that 
tliis sudden destruction was brought upon 
the Assyrians by the effects of lightning ; 
while others are of the opinion, that the 
disaster was occasioned by the sumiel or 
hot wind of the desert, which is known 
to be so destructive and so sudden in its 
effects ; and this idea seems to corres- 
pond with the language of our sacred 
books. " Behold, I will send a blast 
upon" Sennacherib, and he " shall return 
to his own land." But to whatever cause 
we ascribe the destruction of Sennache- 
rib's army, it was equally the work of 
God ; for all the parts and elements of 
nature minister to his will. 

Soon after this, the government was 
entrusted to twelve princes, who appear 
to have entered upon their high office, 
with every resolution of concord and pub- 
lic spirit ; but, like all common alliances, 
the harmonious union was soon dissolved. 

Psammeticus, one of the twelve, was 
soon raised to the sovereign power, 
B. C. 679, and his colleagues were over- 
thrown. The story runs of an oracle 
having asserted, that if any of the twelve 
governors should offer a sacred libation 
in a brazen helmet, that person should 
ascend to the sovereign power. The 
story adds, that upon a festival of Vulcan, 
when all the twelve governors were to 
offer libations to the god, eleven vessels 
through mistake were only provided, upon 
which Psammeticus presented his liba- 
tion with his own helmet of brass. The 
prediction of the oracle was remembered ; 
and Psammeticus claimed the sovereign 
power. 



If the story of the helmet be not a fic- 
tion, it was probably contrived beforehand 
by the friends of Psammeticus, to be a 
signal for the powerful rising and de- 
claration in his favor, as the destined 
sovereign of Egypt. 

But he seems to have acquired the 
aid of foreign power to place or establish 
him upon his throne ; and his reign was 
distinguished by an intercourse and friend- 
ship with Greece. The soldiers of Egypt, 
who are said to have retired in disgust 
into Ethiopia, were probably the adhe- 
rents of the eleven governors whom 
Psammeticus had deprived of their pow- 
er, and the remaining supporters of the 
surreptitious kings, who had reigned be- 
tween them and his father Nechus. The 
restoration of the legitimate family ap- 
pears to have been the means of remov- 
ing the factious and discontented from 
the bounds of the kingdom. Psammeti- 
cus, in order to be more secure from the 
dangers of intestine commotions, retired 
to a residence near Bubastis, on the Pe- 
lusian branch of the Nile ; and, by culti- 
vating commerce, he enriched the nation. 

His son Nechus succeeded him on 
the throne, who was called in Scripture, 
Pharaoh Necho. He prosecuted with 
vigor the system of navigation, which 
some of his predecessors had begun; and, 
by the assistance of Phoenician sailors, 
he not only investigated the coasts of 
the Mediterranean, but, fitting out a fleet 
in the Red Sea, passed through the 
Straits of Babelmandel, doubled the Cape 
of Good Hope, and returned to Egypt 
through the Straits of Gibraltar. Owing 
to inexperience in naval affairs, this 
voyage, which could now be performed 
in three months, cost the Egyptians as 
many years. 

His expeditions by land were no less 
enterprising and grand. He made war 
upon the Medes and Babylonians, who, 
according to Josephus, had jointly over- 
thrown the Assyrian throne. 

Besides his enterprising by sea and 
land, Nechus attended to the improve- 
ment of his kingdom ; and, among other 
undertakings, he attempted to join the 
Red Sea and the Nile, by means of a 
broad and deep canal. The enterprise 
failed ; and owing, we may presume, to 



EGYPT. 



135 



inexperience, muclx money was uselessly- 
expended, and 12,000 men were lost. 
After having reigned for sixteen years, 
this active prince terminated his career 
about 600 years before the birth of 
Christ ; and was succeeded by Psammis, 
who only reigned six years, and left no- 
thing of consequence for the historian to 
record. 

Amasis, who was called unexpectedly, 
and without any pretensions, to the 
throne, began his reign by attempting to 
improve the moral condition of the coun- 
try. He appears to have lived freely, as 
well as sometimes riotously, while he 
filled an inferior station ; and he was 
sometimes devoted to excess, even after 
he had ascended the throne ; but he was 
nevertheless aware how important it is 
for good order, that the habits of society 
should be sober. To attain this end, he 
required every inhabitant of Egypt once 
a year to inform the government by what 
means he obtained his living. But while 
he was endeavoring to establish order at 
home, preparations were making abroad 
to invade Egypt, and overthrow its gov- 
ernment. The Persian king was making 
vast movements, in order to enter that 
coimtry, and get possession of its do- 
minions. 

Wc cannot ascertain the reasons of 
this projected invasion in the court of 
Persia ; for while no well authenticated 
records remain, we cannot speak Avith 
certainty from traditionary tales. It 
might be ambition, and it might be re- 
venge, or a mixture of passions and 
motives, which incidents and unknown 
events might bring into action. The 
story runs, that instead of permitting his 
daughter to be numbered amongst the 
women of the king of Persia, he had sent 
Nitetis, the daughter of A pries, the for- 
mer Iving. This affront and double 
dealing being discovered at the Persian 
court, Cambyses made war upon Egypt. 
Several circumstances occurred to render 
the invasion of Cambyses successful ; and 
of these occurrences, Amasis himself, 
appears to have had a share. Phanes, 
a Grecian general of considerable note, 
Avho was engaged in the service of the 
Egyptian king, fled to the court of Per- 
sia, and assisted Cambyses to conduct 



his operations against the interest and 
power of his former master. Polycrates, 
the successful sovereign of Samos, was 
formerly the ally of Amasis ; but the 
king of Egypt seems imprudently to have 
forfeited his favor, and he also joined 
with the Persian king. While these pre- 
parations and adverse circumstances were 
going on, the king of Egypt died, and 
escaped from the disasters which fell 
immediately upon his devoted country. 
In the year 525, before the birth of 
Christ, Psammenitus, the son of Amasis, 
succeeded to the kingdom ; and he was 
scarcely invested with the powers of 
royalty, when Cambyses approached the 
frontiers of Egypt. The new king pre- 
pared for defence, and the king of Persia 
laid siege to Pelusium. Taking advan- 
tage of the Egyptian superstition, the 
invaders placed in the front of their 
army a variety of dogs, cats, and other 
animals, which were held sacred by the 
besieged ; and the Egyptians not daring 
to injure the sacred animals, the Persians 
entered Pelusium without resistance. 

Scarcely had Cambyses taken posses- 
sion of the city, when the army of Psam- 
menitus drew nigh ; and the Greeks, 
who were in the service of the Egyptian 
king, to revenge the defection of Phanes, 
their countryman and former general, 
brought forth his children into the camp, 
and put them to death before the eyes of 
their father. Then, in conformity to the 
Grecian manner, they tasted of the blood 
mixed with wine, in token of execration. 
Enraged at this scene of horror, the Per- 
sians put the Egyptian soldiers to flight, 
and chased them with great slaughter to 
the very gates of Memphis. Having 
sent a vessel up the Nile towards Mem- 
phis, with a demand to surrender the 
city, the messenger and the crew were 
assaulted and torn to pieces. Memphis 
was soon after taken ; the adjoining 
countries to the Avest of Egypt readily 
submitted to the conqueror ; and now 
Cambyses, in his turn, did more than fill 
up the measure of retaliation upon the 
king of Eg)-pt and his devoted subjects. 
Placed in a particular situation in the 
suburbs of Memphis, Psammenitus was 
forced to behold the misery, the degra- 
dation, and even the death of some of his 



136 



EGYPT. 



family, and many of his nobles. The 
grief was too great to permit the feelings 
of the king to be otherwise expressed 
than by oppressive silence, till last of all, 
an intimate companion, old and infnm, 
was presented before him, begging his 
bread ; and then the afflicted monarch 
burst into tears. 

In his madness for conquest, Camby- 
ses despatched an army of 50,000 men 
from Thebes in Upper Egypt, to seize 
upon the temple of Jupiter Amnion in the 
deserts of Africa ; but after suffering 
every hardship, and losing nearly the one 
half of his army, he wreaked the ven- 
geance which should have been directed 
towards his own folly, upon the afflicted 
and despairing Egyptians. He reached 
Memphis at the time of a high festival, 
and, with that jealous violence which 
belongs to tyranny, he was transported 
with rage, and would not be convinced, 
that the public rejoicings were not occa- 
sioned by his disappointment and defeat. 
Under this persuasion, he scourged the 
priests, put the magistrates to death, and, 
with his own hand, slew the god Apis, 
whose festival the Egyptians were ob- 
serving. But a period was soon put to 
his cruelty and his life ; for having re- 
turned to Persia to quell an insurrection 
in his own kingdom, he appears to have 
been assassinated ; or, as the incident is 
generally related, he was mortally wound- 
ed by his own sword, from which the 
scabbard had dropped, as he was eager- 
ly mounting his horse. Thus died Cam- 
b)'ses, an object of hatred to his subjects, 
and a detested tyrant to the Egyptians. 

Egypt remained subject to Persia un- 
til the time of Alexander the Great. In 
returning from Persia, he passed as a 
conqueror through Syria, took Sidon, 
and compelled Tyre to surrender. Con- 
tinuing his march, he was received in 
Egypt rather as a friend than a conquer- 
or ; but his vanity led him to the temple 
of Jupiter Amnion, Avhere he was de- 
clared to be the son of that deity. When 
he returned into Eg}^pt, he founded the 
city of Alexandria, as a good commercial 
station, and connected it by canals with 
the river Nile. On the eve of his de- 
parture, he invested Doloaspes, a native 
Egyptian, with the sovereign power, 



and he carried along with him, the af- 
fections and the regret of the Egj'ptian 
people. 

After the death of Alexander, B. C. 
323, Perdiccas, who had been a favorite 
of Alexander, assumed the regency, trust- 
ing to his address and influence for the 
establishment of his power. But this 
step raised violent commotions among 
the generals of Alexander ; and after a 
battle which was fought in Phrygia, the 
empire of Alexander was divided into 
separate portions. Ptolemy Lagus, who 
was afterwards denominated Soter, was 
entrusted with the government of Egypt. 

It was in the year 3C8 that Ptolemy 
took upon him the sovereign authority in 
Egypt ; and though he was not till after- 
wards honored with the name of king, 
yet he was under no control, and he ex- 
ercised his power for the good of the 
state. Having added Palestine, Syria, ^ 
and Phoenicia to his new dominions, he 
proceeded to acquire Cyprus, which 
abounded with wood, for the building of 
ships ; but he was interrupted in these 
proceedings by the invasion of Antigonus, 
whose capital was Babylon, and whose 
possessions were immense. He made a 
successful inroad into the dominions of 
Ptolemy ; and Gaza, Joppa, and Tyre, 
were subdued. After various struggles, 
and interchanging successes between An- 
tigonus and Ptolemy, the former was 
slain in battle, and his son Demetrius, 
after various reverses, was taken a pris- 
oner of war, and retained a captive till 
he died. Ptolemy Soter was of a litera- 
ry character, as well as a skillful and 
intrepid general. He wrote the life of 
Alexander the Great, which was lost 
amid the ravages of time ; but from com- 
ments and observations which remain, it 
appears to have been elegant and much 
esteemed. 

His taste for literature, and his love 
of science, appeared in the exertions 
which he made to promote knowledge 
and inquiry. He founded a college or 
museum, which became the abode of 
learned men ; and he formed a library, to 
assist the cultivation of science. Among 
the men of leaniing who flocked to Alex- 
andria upon the invitation of Ptolemy, 
was Demetrius Phalerius, the Athenian. 



EGYPT. 



137 



He was a wise and a favorite governor 
in that city ; but upon Athens being taken 
by Antigonus, the people received the 
conqueror with extravagant demonstra- 
tions of joy, and they banished Deme- 
trius with threatenings of death. In this 
situation he fled to the court of Ptolemy, 
deeply afflicted with the changeable tem- 
per, the ungrateful and hasty proceedings 
of the populace, when the government is 
invested in their hands. The accom- 
plished Demetrius took charge of Ptole- 
my's library, and assisted his royal mas- 
ter in literary arrangements. 

The mimificence of Ptolemy was mani- 
fest in the splendid buildings of the mu- 
seum, as well as in the magnificent 
temple which he reared for Serapis in 
Alexandria, and in the watch-tower of 
Pharos, which he constructed for the 
commercial interests of the country. In 
the mean time, Ptolemy Soter was far 
advanced in years ; and, by the influence 
of his favorite wife Berenice, her son 
Philadelphus was nominated his succes- 
sor, to the prejudice of Ceraunus his 
eldest son. 

Ptolemy Philadelphus obtained full 
possession of the throne, upon the de- 
mise of his father ; and his accession 
was celebrated with uncommon splendor. 
At this time the empire of Asia was en- 
gaged in war, by Seleucus and Lysi- 
machus, the only surviving generals of 
Alexander the Great. Ceraunus, the el- 
der and disappointed brother of Ptolemy 
Philadelphus, had left Egypt, either from 
choice or necessity ; and he took an ac- 
tive part in the wars which were sub- 
sisting between Seleucus and Lysima- 
chus. By his artifice, the ruin of Lysi- 
machus was accomplished ; and he put 
Seleucus to death with his own hand. 
Having perpetrated these deeds, and 
being supported by a multitude of adhe- 
rents, he obtained the throne of Macedo- 
nia ; but just retribution soon overtook 
him, for he was slain in battle, and his 
dead body was treated with indignity. 

During the reign of Philadelphus, the 
Romans attracted the public notice, in 
their disputes with the city of Tarentum ; 
and the king of Egypt solicited their 
friendship. Hence a close alliance was 
formed between the courts of Rome and 
18 



Alexandria. Ptolemy Philadelphus at- 
tempted to assist the Greeks, when they 
were invaded by the Macedonians ; but 
the assistance he granted was unsuc- 
cessful, and his aff'airs at home assumed 
a gloomy aspect. His brother Magas, 
who was governor of Lybia and Syrene, 
took advantage of his perplexing condi- 
tion, and, by the assistance of his father- 
in-law Antiochus Soter, king of Upper 
Syria, he attempted to wrest the kingdom 
of Egypt from the hands of Ptolemy Phi- 
ladelphus. During these preparations, 
and while the king of Egypt was em- 
ployed abroad, there was a revolt in the 
bosom of his kingdom by 4,000 Gauls 
whom he had employed in his service ; 
but overcoming all these difliculties, he 
finally established his throne. From 
fear, or a sense of duty, his brother Ma- 
gas was desirous of being at peace with 
Ptolemy ; and, as a bond of union, pro- 
posed that his daughter Berenice should 
be united in marriage to Ptolemy, the 
son of Philadelphus, that the possessions 
of both brothers should at length centre 
in one family. This proposal was car- 
ried into effect ; but in the mean time 
Magas died, and did not see the marriage 
solemnized. This settlement was op- 
posed by Apania, the mother of the young 
princess ; and she stirred up Antiochus 
Soter to declare war upon Egypt. But 
the threatening storm passed away, and 
Ptolemy Philadelphus was left at peace. 

This sovereign of Egj'pt built many 
cities, and erected various temples. He 
had even a share in constructing the 
celebrated Pharos of Alexandria ; for 
that watch-tower was built in the latter 
end of the former reign, when he was 
united with his father in the kingdom. 
He finished the canal from Suez to the 
Nile, and watered the deserts of Lybia 
by reservoirs and ductile streams. The 
comt of Philadelphus might be called 
the seat of learning and politeness ; for 
strangers and the unfortunate were re- 
ceived with courtesy, learning flourished, 
and books were increased. 

Ptolemy HI raised the kingdom of 
Egypt to a very commanding height of 
power ; for, besides his immense influ- 
ence by land, he was powerful at sea, 
and had extended his conquests to the 



138 



EGYPT. 



straits of Babelmandel. His assistance 
was requested by the members of the 
Achaean league ; but Arratus having form- 
ed a connection with Antigonus of Ma- 
cedon, Ptolemy was ofiended, and lent 
his aid to Cleomenes, king of Sparta. 
But his new ally being defeated and 
overthrown in the battle of Sellasia, fled 
into Egypt, and received protection. 
Amid the spoils which Ptolemy acqui- 
red in his Eastern conquests, besides 
immense sums of gold and silver, he re- 
covered a prodigious number of statues, 
gold and silver shrines and images, which 
Cambyses had carried away from the 
temples and palaces of Egypt. These 
valuable and revered relics, Ptolemy re- 
turned to their proper places ; and hence 
he was styled Euergetes, or the Bene- 
factor. While Ptolemy Euergetes was 
absent on these expeditions, his affec- 
tionate Queen Berenice was alarmed for 
his safety ; and vowed, if he should be 
restored to her wishes, she would conse- 
crate her hair in the temple of Zephyri- 
um. Ptolemy returned, and the sacrifice 
was made ; but, by some accident, the 
consecrated hair was lost. The king was 
ofiended, and the priests were in danger ; 
for the female hair was the chief orna- 
ment of the Egyptian as well as the 
Eastern ladies ; and the sacrifice had ac- 
quired an additional value, because it was 
consecrated as a momunent of Berenice's 
aftection for her lord. But the supersti- 
tion of the times, and the address of 
Conon, the celebrated mathematician of 
Samos, delivered the priesthood from 
their fear. In those days, heroes were 
deified, and sometimes had a place as- 
signed them in the starry heavens ; but 
Conon's fancy took a wilder flight, and 
aftirmed, that the consecrated hair of 
Berenice had been translated to the fir- 
mament, and composed the seven stars 
in the tail of Leo. 

In the former reign, the Romans had 
renewed their friendship at the Eg^^ptian 
court ; and the adherents of young Ptole- 
my, a descendant of Ptolemy III, on this 
occasion, applied to Rome for assistance 
and direction. This was the more ne- 
cessary, because the infancy of Ptolemy 
required protection ; and because Antio- 
chus and Philip of Macedon had deter- 



mined, in the feeble state of the Egyptian 
government, to dismember that empire, 
and divide it amongst themselves. The 
aid of the Roman government was given 
with readiness and eflect. An ambassa- 
dor was sent from Rome to each of the 
confederated hostile kings, and M. ^Emi- 
lius Lepidus hastened to Alexandria to 
manage the aflairs of the Egyptian court. 
Having placed them in a state of proper 
direction, he returned to Rome, and set 
the prudent Aristomenes at the head of 
the Egyptian government. 

From this period to that of the Roman 
civil wars, the history of Egypt contains 
but little else than a narration of the 
struggles of the competitors for the 
throne, some of whom were monsters of 
cruelty. At the period of the civil wars, 
Ptolemy Dionysius was the legal suc- 
cessor to the throne of Egypt ; but being 
too young for managing the afi'airs of 
state, he, and the other children of the 
late king, were under the superintendence 
of the Roman senate, and the government 
of Egypt was also conducted by them. 
But as soon as the young prince was 
thought to be capable of managing the 
state, he was admitted to the throne ; and 
he associated with him, in the govern- 
ment, his sister Cleopatra. But their 
friendship and union were of short con- 
tinuance ; and each having their parti- 
sans, a civil war ensued. During the 
occurrence of these events, the aflfairs. 
of Rome had suffered wide and impor- 
tant changes. A civil war had broken 
out, headed on the one side by Pompey, 
and on the other by Julius Caesar. In the 
memorable battle of Pharsalia, B. C. 48, 
Csesar was victorious, and Pompey was 
put to flight. 

In terror of pursuit, and without pro- 
tection, he directed his course to Egypt, 
where he hoped for a ready and welcome 
reception ; because through his influence 
and schemes, Ptolemy Auletes, the late 
king, had been restored to his kingdom ; 
but he was betrayed and put to death. 
The counsellors of the young king were 
either afraid of giving offence to Caesar, 
or they were suspicious that Pompey, 
even in his fallen state, might regain 
some of that influence which he formerly 
possessed in Egypt ; and either lessen 



EGYPT. 



139 



their power with Ptolemy Dionysius, or 
espouse the cause of Cleopatra, who 
was now driven from the kingdom ; and 
therefore, without any justice or feeling, 
Pompey was beheaded as he landed on 
the shore. 

Immediately after the victory of Phar- 
saha, Caisar pursued Pompey ; and with 
a chosen band of soldiers, landed at 
Alexandria. There he found his enemy 
had been put to death, and being pre- 
sented with his head, he was much af- 
flicted ; and, instead of being gratified, 
as the assassins supposed, he wept at the 
sight, and commanded the remains of 
Pompey to be honored. 

The kingdom of Egypt, which had 
long been agitated by intestine divisions, 
was now in a complete state of turbu- 
lence and misrule. Cleopatra, with some 
of her adherents, had fled into Syria, and 
Ptolemy had assembled an army between 
Pelusium and Mount Cassius, in order 
to oppose Cleopatra, who was returning 
to Egypt with an armed force. On the 
frontiers, every thing was warlike ; in 
the interior, all was confusion. In the 
capacity of guardian to the children of 
Ptolemy Auletes, Caesar being then in- 
vested with the supreme authority of 
Rome, commanded a statement to be 
laid before him of the diff'erences which 
continued to agitate the kingdom, that he 
might pass sentence thereon, and com- 
pel the parties to abide by his decision. 
The power of Cssar was too great to 
have his will opposed ; and therefore 
advocates for each side were chosen, and 
every arrangement made to have the mat- 
ters in dispute brought to an issue. But 
Cleopatra, being anxious for the success 
of her own claims, and aware what in- 
fluence her presence and personal charms 
might have upon Caesar, set out from Phoe- 
nicia, and arriving in the bay of Alexan- 
dria, was secretly conveyed into the pre- 
sence of Caesar. 

Ptolemy having discovered his sister's 
arrival, was frantic with rage at her ac- 
cess to the arbiter of his destiny, and the 
whole city was in commotion. To avert 
the storm which was gathering, and re- 
store the people to confidence, Caesar 
passed a decree, that Ptolemy Dionysius 
and his sister Cleopatra should reign 



jointly upon the throne. And further to 
conciliate the affections of the people, 
he restored the Island of Cyprus, and 
submitted its government to the younger 
son and daughter of the late king. But 
the friends of Ptolemy were suspicious 
of Cleopatra's power, especially as she 
was obviously the favorite of Caesar, 
and could support her interests by the 
power of Rome. At the instigation of 
Photinus, Achillas, the commander-in- 
chief, filled the city of Alexandria with 
troops, and attempted to block up the har- 
bor, that he might thereby cut off" the 
Roman supplies. The attempt was frus- 
trated by burning the Eg^'ptian ships ; 
but the flames reached a part of the city, 
which was called Bruchium, and its 
noble library was destroyed. Photinus, 
the fomenter of these evils, was put to 
death ; but Ganymedes, his associate, a 
deep designing man, continued to main- 
tain the strife, and combat the Romans. 

On various occasions, Caesar was in 
imminent danger, and upon a time while 
he was hastening from the Mole of the 
Pharos, the boat in which he was pass- 
ing sunk by an over-pressure of soldiers, 
who fled from pursuit. But Caesar swam 
to a neighborhig vessel, and his life was 
preserved. Upon a promise of peace, the 
king of Egypt was liberated from that 
bondage into which Caesar had thrown 
him, while he had drawn the sword 
against him and Cleopatra. But all his 
promises were soon violated ; and the 
war acquired new strength from the pre- 
sence of the king. But the Roman dis- 
cipline and address overcame the num- 
bers, as well as the rancor of the Eg}-p- 
tians ; and Ptolemy himself perished 
while crossing a branch of the Nile. 

A fair opportunity now occurred of 
Cleopatra obtaining the sovereign power ; 
but Caesar, attending to the prejudices 
of her people, joined with her in the gov- 
ernment her younger and only surviving 
brother, who had been formerly appointed 
to the government of Cyprus. But this 
nomination was a mere show of limiting 
the power of Cleopatra ; for the young 
prince was but in the eleventh year of 
his age ; and, according to the accursed 
maxims of those times, he was soon put 
to death by treachery and poison. His 



HO 



EGYPT. 



younger sister Arsinoe was sent to Rome, \ 
that she might acquire no partisans, nor 
be the means of any disorders in Egypt. I 

Hitherto, Caesar had continued in , 
Egypt, with the professed intention of 
settling its aftairs ; but his remaining at 
Alexandria after Cleopatra was seated 
firmly upon the throne, clearly betrayed 
an illicit and degrading attachment to the 
queen. In various parts of the Roman 
dominions, the power of Caesar was 
threatened ; but he could not be induced 
to leave Cleopatra, till his fortune seemed 
to be upon the verge of despair. Then his 
usual activity returned, and from place to 
place he carried victory and triumphs. 
Having suppressed the insurrections in 
Syria, he hastened to Africa, and over- 
threw the partisans of Cato, and the king 
of Numidia, in the celebrated battle of 
Thapsus. Then, having conquered the 
remainder of Pompey's party in Spain, 
he returned to Rome, and enjoyed for a 
while the fruit of his triumphs. But still 
his aflections centered in Cleopatra ; and, 
it is said, that he had taken some steps to 
remove an obstacle, which the Roman 
law placed in his way, for making her 
his wife. But soon after this, he was 
murdered in the senate-house by a band 
of conspirators, headed by Cassius and 
Brutus, B. C. 44. 

A scene of confusion now ensued at 
Rome, and it was difficult to say what 
hardships were to be endured, or what 
form of government was then to be adopt- 
ed. Antony, Lepidus, and Octavius, Avho 
had assumed the name of Octavianus, 
formed a coalition, with the professed in- 
tention of avenging Caesar's death ; but 
chiefly with the view of aspiring sepa- 
rately to the sovereign power. Conse- 
quently, the triumvirate was soon broken, 
and Lepidus falling into neglect, Antony 
and Octavianus strove for the mastery. 
But Antony was peculiarly conspicuous 
at the battle of Pliilippi, where the cause 
of the republicans was lost, with the lives 
of Brutus and Cassius. 

Victorious and i'uU of hope, Antony de- 
parted to Syria ; and viewing himself as 
the master of Rome, he travelled into Sy- 
ria, which, with the other provinces of 
the East, was committed to his govern- 
ment ; and having arrived at Tarsus, he 



commanded Cleopatra to leave Egypt, 
and appear before him. 

Though the kingdom of the Ptolemies 
had lately been secured to her by the in- 
terest of Rome, yet it is obvious, that she 
did not obey the commands of Antony to 
acknowledge his authority, but perhaps to 
pay respect to the avenger of Caesar ; and 
who knows, but the licentiousness of 
Cleopatra might induce her to expect an- 
other admirer in the Roman hero 1 The 
meeting of Antony and Cleopatra was 
splendid beyond example ; they indulged 
in costly presents, and their feastings were 
numerous and extravagant. At her soli- 
citation, and to remove every fear of a 
rival, her sister Arsinoe was put to death. 
Like Cajsar, Antony was lost amidst the 
fascinating manners of Cleopatra ; and he 
divorced his wife Octavia, the most vir- 
tuous of women, to remove the jealousy, 
and enjoy the favors of the abandoned 
Cleopatra. Having subdued his enemies 
in the East, he returned towards Rome 
to oppose the growing power of Octavia- 
nus, which his own misconduct had tend- 
ed to enlarge. 

Had Antony marched directly to Rome, 
the power of Octavianus might have been 
overthrown ; but being enervated with 
effeminate pleasures, he listened to the 
voice of Cleopatra rather than the coun- 
sels of his wiser friends ; and having haz- 
arded a naval battle near Actium, his fleet 
was vanquished, and he fled first to Ly- 
bia, and then to Alexandria. But he was 
not to be consoled by the presence of 
Cleopatra, and the consciousness of her 
own errors disquieted the mind of that 
ambitious woman. She fled from the 
presence of Antony, and retired to a se- 
pulchral monument near the tombs of her 
fathers. Previous to this, Octavianus had 
followed up his triumphs over Antony, 
and was then victorious in the city of 
Alexandria. Believing a report that Cle- 
opatra had put an end to her life, and see- 
ing himself upon the point of falling into 
the hands of his rival and inveterate foe, 
Antony fell upon his sword. But not 
having instantly expired, and finding that 
Cleopatra was still in life, he was con- 
veyed to her retreat, and after an affect- 
ing farewell, immediatel)'' expired. 

Cleopatra could no longer escape the 



EGYPT 




Death of Cleopatra. 



power of Octaviaims, and she attempted 
to win his heart, and gain her Uberty ; but 
her attempt was ineflectual ; and though 
she was treated with many marks of ap- 
parent respect, yet she was still detained 
a prisoner, and she had good reason to 
believe that the Roman conqueror intend- 
ed her to complete his triumphs at Rome. 
She determined to escape this ignominy 
by a voluntary death. Maintaining an 
appearance of confidence and good spir- 
its, she ordered a splendid feast to be 
prepared, desired her attendants to leave 
her, and put an asp, which a faithful ser- 
vant had brought her, concealed hi a 
basket of flowers, on her arm, the bite 
of which caused her death almost imme- 
diately, B. C. 30. 

Thus died Cleopatra, who, to the beau- 
ty and gracefulness of her person, added 
the charms of wit, extensive knowledge, 
and aflable manners. She was the pa- 
tron of letters, and added a valuable col- 
lection to the hbraries of Alexandria. 
She Avas licentious and vain ; but she 
was born in the midst of a dissipated 
court, and placed in circumstances pecu- 
liarly seductive. 

By the death of Cleopatra, the dynasty 
of the Ptolemies was finished after it had 



lasted about 294 years, and Egypt was 
converted into a province of Rome. That 
the people of that country might continue 
united to the Roman government, none 
of the noblemen were allowed to have in- 
tercourse with the Egypti.-in people. The 
kingdom of the Ptolemies was to be sub- 
ject to a governor ; and that office was 
conferred upon Cornelius Gallus, whowas 
a person of equestrian rank. And further 
to restrain the ambitious views of Eg}''pt, 
it was not allowed to be under the direc- 
tion of a proprzetor, as the more favored 
provinces were ; but the government was 
under a prefect, nor had he the power of 
life and death, nor the command of pub- 
lic money. 

When the Christian system was de- 
clared to be the religion of the Roman 
empire, a scene of confusion and violence 
ensued in Egypt. The heathen temples 
were destroyed, and some of the indecent 
and lewd emblems were exposed to pub- 
lic view. The multitude in general, ad- 
hering to the idol worship of their fathers, 
threw themselves into an attitude of de- 
fence, and, posting themselves in the 
temple of Serapis, which was a strong 
and massy building, they made a stout 
and long resistance. But the royal man- 



142 



EGYPT. 



(late for destroying the heathen temples 
arrived ; the friends of idolatry were over- 
powered, and the god Serapis himself 
shivered into pieces. (See Arabia, Note, 
p. 30.) But the human mind is ever apt 
to run into extremes ; and, now that the 
church had acquired considerable influ- 
ence in Egj^pt and with the pope, a per- 
son soon appeared in the sec of Alexan- 
dria, who abused his power, and degraded 
his character. 

It was Cyril, the bishop of Alexandria, 
and vicar of the Roman pontiff, who, by 
haughty and overbearing conduct, created 
for himself a host of enemies. In the 
exercise of his power, he encroached up- 
on the authority of the civil magistrate ; 
and Orestes, the prefect of Egypt, was 
assailed and abused by the adherents of 
Cyril. But there was a darker shade to 
be added to the character of the aspiring 
and violent bishop, ilj'patia, the daugh- 
.ter of Theon, a celebrated master in the 
school of Alexandria, was no less famous 
for learning and elegant accomplishments, 
than she was for beauty and virtuous qual- 
ities ; yet she had oflended Cyril, and her 
life was the forfeit. She was the friend 
of Orestes, the Roman prefect, and being 
unjustly accused of cherishing the irrita- 
tion between him and Cyril, she was at- 
tacked by the multitude in the streets of 
Alexandria, and cruelly put to death. But 
the ambition of Cyril was as violent in 
public life as in private, and his intem- 
perate dispute with Nestorius, the bishop 
of Constantinople, remains against him 
in the annals of the church. 

The western empire of Rome haA'ing 
already fallen, by the intrusion of the 
Huns and Goths, the Vandals, and other 
warlike and uncultivated nations, the east- 
em empire, of which Constantinople was 
the head, was also fallen into decay, and 
the queen of Persia overran different parts 
of the Roman dominions. She likewise 
obtained possession of the principal towns 
and parts of Egypt. But her triumphs 
here were of short duration, and Persia 
itself was soon added to the dominions of 
the Mahometan conquerors. 

Omar succeeded to the empire of Ma- 
homet, and in his reign Egypt was sub- 
dued by the arms of the caliph. Amru 
Benelas marched his troops into Egypt, 



and, after much resistance, got possession 
of Memphis. Mocawcas, the prefect of 
Egypt, was hostile to the religious tenets 
of Constantinople ; and when the Per- 
sians were besieging that capital, he had 
revolted from his allegiance. For these 
reasons, Mocawcas supported the inter- 
ests of the Mahometan invaders, and, after 
many eflbrts and various changes of for- 
tune, the city of Alexandria surrendered 
to the Saracens. The town was exposed 
to plunder, but at length the people were 
admitted into the protection of the con- 
querors ; and if they did not become Ma- 
hometans, they were to pay a certain ratio 
or tribute. 

Amru, the conqueror, was also consti- 
tuted the governor of Egypt ; and having 
added to its boundaries, he likewise re- 
gulated its internal affairs, and command- 
ed a canal to be opened between the Nile 
and the Red Sea. When Othman was 
raised to the caliphate, Amru was removed 
from the government of Egypt ; but his 
successor, Abdallah Bensaid, was not ac- 
ceptable to the people of that province. 
He renewed the conquest of Africa, and 
was successful in his views ; but the suc- 
cess was owing to the bravery of Zobeir, 
and not to the courage or conduct of Ab- 
dallah. But being afterwards unfortunate, 
he was removed from the government of 
Egypt, and Amru restored to his former 
station. But this salutary change was not 
of much avail, and the improvident con- 
duct of Othman was hurtful to his domin- 
ions, as well as fatal to himself. In the 
subsequent caliphate, Egy^pt was involved 
in the civil wars, which were occasioned 
by the competitors for the dominions of 
Mahomet ; and Egypt was not composed 
nor set at peace till Amru was again in- 
vested with the government of the coun- 
try, with the most ample and almost in- 
dependent powers. 

During the contentions which ensued, 
Egypt threw off the yoke of the Saracens ; 
but was again reduced to submission when 
Merwan, the son of Hakem, was raised to 
the throne. In the caliphate of Walid, 
Corrah Bensharik was invested with the 
government of Egypt ; but he was licen- 
tious in his manners, and outraged the 
feelings and the decency of the Christian 
adherents. But while he was degrading 



EGYPT. 



143 



himself by every species of folly and vice, 
Mura, the lieutenant of the caliph's ar- 
mies, was traversing Africa in triumph, 
and had reached the fortress of Ceuta, or 
Pillar of Hercules, on the African side. 
Count Julian, the Gothic commander of 
this fortress, not only surrendered it to 
Mura, but offered to conduct him into the 
bosom of Spain. 

It was jealousy and resentment among 
the Gothic chiefs, which occasioned this 
offer to the Arabian warrior ; for Roder- 
ick, the usurper, but reigning king of 
Spain, had many enemies in his domin- 
ions, and he had stirred up the vengeance 
of Julian, by his infamous conduct to the 
daughter of that chief. Musa hesitated, 
for he was fearful of a snare ; but one of 
his confidential generals was willing to 
make an experiment ; and having sailed 
from Ceuta, and landed at Calpe, the 
other Pillar of Hercules, the Saracen 
army pitched their first camp where the 
impregnable works of Gibraltar are 
erected. The expedition was success- 
Ad, and Musa being jealous of Tarik or 
Tarif, his general, set sail for Spain, and 
completed the conquests which his fore- 
runner had begun. If he treated his suc- 
cessful general with unbecoming severity, 
Musa, in his turn, was degraded by the 
caliph, and died under the pressure of 
infirmities and sorrow. These things 
happened in the beginning of the eighth 
century, and the Saracens obtained the 
chief possessions and management of 
Spain, into which they introduced the 
literature of the East. 

For a considerable period of years, the 
affairs of Egypt are scarcely mentioned ; 
for the public mind and the national 
records were employed with animosity 
and violence about the succession to the 
caliphate. Formerly the family of Ali, 
the immediate descendants of Mahom- 
et, had been overpowered, in attempt- 
ing to assert their right to the throne ; 
and the house of Ommiak, by power and 
good fortune, were raised to the sovereign 
power. The Ommiades being in their 
turn overthrown by the Abbassides or 
descendants of Abbas, the uncle of the 
prophet retired into Spain, and established 
their dynasty on the throne of Cordova. 
But the family of Ommiah having many 



adherents in Syria, and some being also 
attached to the descendants of Ali, Al- 
mansur, the second caliph, founded a new 
capital on the western banks of the 
Tigris, and that city was Bagdad, famous 
in the annals of Eastern history. 

Haroim Alrashid succeeded to the 
caliphate, and in his reigrx the affairs of 
Egypt come again into view. Alrashid 
was a prince of great fame, and he is 
well known as the hero of the Arabian 
tales, called the Arabian Nights' Enter- 
tainments ; but in the great variety of his 
vast engagements, Egypt, as a distant 
province, attracted little of his attention, 
though he visited many of his dominions, 
sometimes in disguise, and sometimes 
openly. The disorders of that country, 
and other distant possessions, called for 
his interposition ; and he invested Ibra- 
him, the son of Aglab, with the powers 
of governor and lieutenant over his domi- 
nions in Africa upon the shores of the 
Mediterranean ; and Ibrahim found means 
to render himself independent. Thus 
he established the dynasty of the Agla- 
bites, the seat of whose government was 
at Cairwan. 

During the reigii of Alrashid, there 
was nothing remarkable in the state of 
Egypt, excepting a general feebleness 
of the government, which happened, as 
we have already observed, in all the re- 
mote provinces ; but in the reign of his 
successor Almansur, the Ommiades of 
Spain attempted to regain the possession 
of Egypt. But the caliph of Bagdad 
invested Abdallah Bertaher with a high 
commission for repelUng the invaders, 
and restoring Egypt to order. Yet the 
Ommiades were scarcely dispersed, when 
the Greeks of Constantinople arrived in 
Eg}^pt with a numerous fleet. Alarmed 
by this powerful armament, Ahmed Ben 
Tholan, a Turkish commander, was sent 
into Egypt to defend the country, and 
reduce the inhabitants to order. When 
he had settled the disturbances in that 
country, he led a powerfvd army into the 
East, and reduced under his own power 
several cities and provinces of the caliph. 
His son and successor enlarged his 
dominions from the falling empire of the 
caliph of Bagdad, until he returned to 
Egypt in possession of dominions which 



144 



EGYPT. 



extended from the streams of the Eu- 
phrates to the confines of Nubia. But 
the power of the Tholonides was not of 
long duration, and Egypt again was 
added to the empire of Bagdad. 

The Aglabites, in Africa, ceased to 
reign, and a dynasty succeeded, whose 
princes were denominated Fatimites ; 
because they professed themselves the 
descendants of Fatima, the wife of Ali, 
and daughter of the prophet. This new 
race of princes aspired to the dominions 
which the Aglabites possessed in Egypt. 

Upon the death of Aladid, A. D. 1171, 
the last of the dynasty of the Fatimites, 
the caliph of Egypt, Saladin, being in pos- 
session of the chief power in his charac- 
ter of vizier, seized upon all the wealth 
of the late prince, which was various and 
valuable. He threw his whole family 
into confinement, and adopted every 
measure which his wisdom could devise, 
for establishing, in his own person, the 
supreme authority of the state. He main- 
tained a show of obedience to Nureddin, 
the prince of Damascus, but was secretly 
determined to acquire an independent 
rule in Egypt. This intention, though 
disguised, could not be concealed from 
the powerful and discerning Nureddin ; 
and, while he seemed satisfied with the 
conduct of Saladin, he was raising a nu- 
merous army to resist and overthrow his 
power ; but, in the mean time, he was 
seized with a sudden illness, and died at 
Damascus. 

But the death of this prince did not 
deliver Saladin from danger ; for Nured- 
din's successor was both able and willing 
to give him just cause of alarm. In 
these circumstances, Saladin wished to 
secure a retreat, and for this purpose, he 
sent his brother Malec Turanshah into 
the kingdom of Nubia ; but finding it 
desolate and barren, he returned to Grand 
Cairo, and thence he was despatched 
with a numerous army into Arabia Felix. 
There he was successful, and reduced a 
considerable part of that country under 
the subjection of the Egyptian vizier. 
Saladin having enlarged his dominions, 
and confiding in the means which he had 
devised for becoming master of Egypt, 
was determined to assume a name suita- 
ble to his views. Not being a descend- 



I ant of Mahomet, he could not be de- 
' nominated caliph, which implied the sa- 
[ cerdotal as well as the kingly office. On 
this account he chose the name of sultan, 
and left the office of pontiff, who had the 
charge of religious affairs, to be filled up 
by a descendant of the prophet. 

Though Saladin was acknowledged as 
the sultan of Egypt by many of the neigh- 
boring states, and even received the sanc- 
tion of the caliph of Bagdad, which gave 
him a name and influence among the 
followers of Mahomet, yet he was not 
secure from intestine commotions. The 
friends and adherents of the Fatimite 
caliphs raised a rebellion in the kingdom, 
and a pretender to the throne collected 
an army of 100,000 men. These, how- 
ever, were soon defeated by the power 
and address of Saladin ; but no sooner 
was he freed from this alarm, than he 
was threatened by the soldiers of the 
Crusades. William II, king of Sicily, 
had engaged in the Christian wars, and 
laid siege to Alexandria both by sea and 
land ; but the enterprising spirit of Sal- 
adin frustrated his views. With a ra- 
pidity of movement which was peculiar 
to the energetic mind of the Egj'ptian 
sultan, he marched to the relief of Alex- 
andria ; and the Crusaders, with a sudden 
panic, fled from the siege, leaving their 
stores, baggage and engines. 

At this time the government of Damas- 
cus was under a regency; for Malec Al- 
saleh was under age, and the govern- 
ment of affairs in his minority was not 
acceptable to the people. Amidst these 
discontents, Saladin was requested to ac- 
cept the sovereign power of Syria. Hav- 
ing arrived at Damascus, he found little 
difficulty in becoming master of the 
country ; but he professed to assume the 
government in the name and for the in- 
terest of the young prince. Having set- 
tled the affairs of Damascus, he marched 
with a successful army through various 
parts of the country, while his growing 
prosperity excited suspicions ; and the 
ministers of Malec, the prince of Damas- 
cus, entering into a combination with 
some of the neighboring powers, sought 
an opportunity to check the career and 
disappoint the designs of Saladin. A 
battle ensued ; but the Syrian forces, to- 



EGYPT. 



145 



gether with all their allies, were defeat- 
ed, and the sultan of Egypt was left 
master of Syria. 

Saladin returned from his Eastern con- 
quests, and began to aggrandize and for- 
tify the city of Grand Cairo. He en- 
couraged the schools and literature of the 
country ; but was drawn away from the 
pursuits of elegance and domestic im- 
pi'overaents, to the din of arms and the 
ravages of war. Having obtained pos- 
session of Syria, he was anxious to ac- 
quire Palestine ; and therefore, he led a 
numerous host against the armies of the 
Crusade who had assem'led for the de- 
fence of the Holy Land. But there he 
met with the most obstinate resistance ; 
multitudes of his army perished in the 
field of battle ; and when he was forced 
to return towards Egypt, a still greater 
number died in the desert, from hunger, 
thirst and disease ; yet still the views of 
Saladin were toward Syria and the East. 
At the commencement of this campaign, 
his army was defeated both at Aleppo 
and Mossul ; and in the mean time the 
Christians of the Crusade had assembled 
a fleet in the Red Sea, which threatened 
the cities of Mecca and Medina ; but 
Abubeker, Saladin's viceroy in Egypt, 
fitted out a fleet under the command of 
the brave and experienced Lulu, which 
deleated the European expedition, and 
gave fresh vigor to the exertions of Sala- 
din. In the spirit of conquest, he enter- 
ed the provinces of the East ; and to 
trace his progress, would be to follow 
him like lightning from field to siege, and 
from siege to battle. 

Having run a triumphant course through 
Syria, he entered Palestine with victory 
and terror. Having obtained possession 
of Aleppo and Mossul, he aimed a blow 
at the Holy Land. For the space of three 
years, Saladin continued to gain advan- 
tages over the armies of the Crusade. 
Various places of strength having fallen, 
Tiberius was at length taken, and Lusig- 
nan, king of Jerusalem, was desirous of 
meeting Saladin in the field The ar- 
mies met on the banks of the Jordan, and 
victory was declared in fiivor of Saladin. 
The king himself was taken prisoner, as 
well as Arnold, lord of Carac. The king 
of Jerusalem was treated with respect, 
19 



but Arnold was put to death by Saladin's 
own hand, because he had inflicted many 
miseries on the followers of Mahomet, 
Ptolemais, Neapolis, Ceesarea, and other 
cities, fell into the power of Saladin. 
Finding nothing to oppose his course, he 
marched directly towards Jerusalem, and 
besieged the city A. D. 11 87. The garri- 
son was numerous, and made a desperate 
defence ; but after Saladin had made a 
breach in the walls, and was on the point 
of entering the town, the commander of- 
fered to capitulate. 

But Saladin refused to accept of the 
terms, and vowed that he would sack and 
destroy the city. His cruel threatenings 
roused the spirit of the Christians, and a 
herald declared, that they would first put 
5,000 musselmen prisoners to death ; and, 
that no European might be exposed to 
their revenge, they would also destroy 
their wives and children. That no booty 
might be found, they would destroy every 
thing valuable in the city; and, having 
leveled the rock which the Mahomet- 
ans held sacred, they would sally out in 
a body upon the besiegers ; and if they 
were not victorious, their destruction 
should be accomj)lished by an unexam- 
pled expense of blood and misery. This 
desperate resolution moved Saladin to 
more reasonable terms ; and the garrison, 
as well as the citizens, were spared by 
paying a stipulated sum of money. 

In this enfeebled state of the Chris- 
tian armies, a third Crusade was deter- 
mined on in Europe ; and the emperor 
of Germany, together with Philip II, of 
France, and Richard I, of England, hav- 
ing arrived in Palestine, encamped be- 
fore the city of Acca or Ptolemais, whilst 
many European ships rode in the harbor. 
In this city, Saladin had assembled a nu- 
merous army ; and tlie powers of Europe 
were combined to defeat him. Richard 
I, of England, was of great courage, and 
therefore was surnamed Coeur de Lion ; 
and his skill in war, added to his prowess, 
had rendered him the most famous gene- 
ral of the age. If there had been as 
much harmony as there was power among 
the diff'erent armies of the Crusade, the 
city of Ptolemais must soon have fallen ; 
but, after all the distractions in the views 
and councils of the allies, Saladin was 



146 



EGYPT. 



compelled to capitulate, A. D. 1191. The 
garrison were allowed to march out with 
the honors of war ; but a sum of money 
was to be paid to the besiegers. 

The sultan of Egypt refused to pay 
the ransom ; and historians tells us, that 
3,000 prisoners answered for it with 
their lives. The siege was extremely 
bloody ; and it is not supposed that fewer 
than 300,000 persons on either side were 
cut off during ihe conflict ; and the flower 
of Europe, as well as Egypt, Asia, and 
Syria, perished in the combats. Ptole- 
mais, or Acca, became the residence of 
the hospitalers of St. John, and, since 
that period, the town has been denomi- 
nated St. John d'Acre. 

Of all the European potentates, the 
king of England only remained ; and, hav- 
ing laid siege to Ashkelon, he took pos- 
session of that city. Upon this event, 
Saladin hastened to Jerusalem ; and 
Richard followed him to the holy city. 
The king of England held it in close 
siege ; but when the hour arrived that 
the city was to be delivered up, the be- 
sieging army retreated, and the enter- 
prise was abandoned. The cause of this 
sudden and extraordinary conduct has 
never been well explained ; and different 
authors have presented different views of 
the subject. It may justly be supposed 
to have been involuntary on the part of 
Richard ; for his courage has never been 
questioned ; and the value which he set 
upon his honor could not permit him to 
tarnish it by unworthiness of conduct. 
The retreat of the army, it is said, over- 
whelmed him with grief; and the mis- 
fortune was probably occasioned by the 
discord and jealousy of the combined 
army. The duke of Burgundy, who was 
left in Palestine by the king of France, 
with 10,000 soldiers, is said to have been 
as jealous as his master of the fame and 
valor of the English king ; but, even in 
his retreat, Richard was formidable. He 
concluded a truce with Saladin for three 
years and upwards ; various places of 
strength were dismantled ; the whole 
sea-coast from Jaffa to Tyre was surren- 
dered to the Christians ; and the pilgrims 
of Europe, travelling to Jerusalem, were 
to be under the protection of the power- 
ful Saladin. But scarcely had the king 



of England returned to his coimtry, when 
the health of Saladin began to decline ; 
and he finished his life about the 55th 
year of his age, and after he had reigned 
"in Egypt 24 years, A. D. 1193. 

Alaziz, the second son of Saladin, was 
appointed to the government of Egypt ; 
but, not being contented with the portion 
of his father's dominions assigned to him, 
he made successful inroads into Syria ; 
but died suddenly in the midst of his tri- 
umphs. Upon his death, several import- 
ant changes took place with respect to 
the affairs of Egypt and Syria ; but no- 
thing worthy of notice till the reign of 
Alcamel. 

When this prince was raised to the 
throne, he was well received by the 
Egyptians ; but he found the state of 
public affairs full of disorder, and at- 
tended with danger. The Mahometans 
and the Christians were plotting each 
other's destruction ; and the Christians 
were at variance among themselves. In 
this state of internal disquietude, the sol- 
diers of the fifth Crusade landed in Egypt 
and laid siege to Damietta. The united 
forces of Egypt and Damascus could not 
overcome the European army ; but Al- 
camel offered such terms of accommoda- 
tion as were acceptable to all the chiefs 
of the Crusade, except D'Albano, the 
Pope's legate. 

Such influence had the see of Rome 
then acquired, that his single voice pre- 
vented the negotiation. The siege was 
continued, and the town of Damietta fell. 
Elated with this success, they pushed 
into the interior of the country ; but were 
vanquished by the Egyptians, and were 
compelled to sue for mercy. The sultan 
of Egypt became powerful in Syria, as 
well as at home ; and, when Frederick 
II, of Germany, found it necessary to re- 
turn to Europe, he entered into a league 
with Alcamel, which was wise and pro- 
fitable for both. 

Alcamel died at Damascus, and Ala- 
del, one of his sons, was raised to the 
throne ; but Nojmoddin,his eldest brother, 
laid claim to the kingdom. A bloody 
contest would probably have ensued ; but, 
in the mean time, Aladel died or disap- 
I peared ; and his brother Nojmoddin was 
I peaceably proclaimed sultan. He, too, 



EGYPT. 



147 



acquired influence with the most power- 
ful party of the Crusades ; for Richard, 
the earl of Cornwall, perceiving that the 
sultan of Egypt was more powerful than 
the Syrian lords of Carac and Damascus, 
entered into an alliance with Nojmoddin, 
and renewed the treaty which Freder- 
ick of Germany had made with Alcame 
his predecessor. By this covenant, the 
Christians were protected, and the views 
of Nojmoddin encouraged, in opposition 
to his Syrian rivals. 

In this settled state of afiairs, Nojmod- 
din passed into Syria, and, with the help 
of some uncultivated tribes, determined to 
overpower his Eastern enemies. That 
part of the Crusading armies which was 
favorable to the lords of Syria, joined 
them in opposing the sultan of Egj^ot ; but 
Nojmoddin overthrew them with great 
slaughter. In the mean time, a host of 
warriors from Europe arrived in the port 
of Damietta, with Louis IX, of France, 
as their leader. In the absence of the 
sultan, and when the nation was unpre- 
pared for this unexpected attack, the 
armies of the Crusade entered Damietta. 
The news of this event was quickly car- 
ried into Syria ; and Nojmoddin having 
raised the siege of Emessa, hastened to 
Egypt to protect his kingdom ; but he 
died by the way, and left a vacancy in 
the government, when a vigorous admin- 
istration was peculiarly wanted. 

The country received a seasonable 
relief by the address of Shajir Aldor, the 
favorite female of the late sultan. Pre- 
tending that Nojmoddin was indisposed 
on his journey, the principal lords of the 
country Averc induced to swear allegiance 
to his only son Turan Shaw. The veil 
was then taken off, and the young prince 
was proclaimed sultan, upon his arrival 
from Damascus with a numerous army. 

The European soldiers had by this 
time penetrated far into the country ; but 
they paid dearly for their rashness ; and 
Louis himself was taken prisoner. Tu- 
ran Shaw had the name of sultan, but 
none of its powers ; for Shajir Aldor, and 
her adherents about the court, directed 
in reality the afflvirs of state. The young 
sultan was sensible of his situation, and 
determined to assert his proper rights. 
Being strictly watched, Shajir Aldor was 



aware of his intention, and he was vio- 
lently put to death. 

The young prince having been assas- 
sinated, Shajir Aldor was declared to be 
sovereign of the country. She was pray- 
ed for in the mosques, and her name was 
impressed on the coins. This active 
and designing woman was raised to the 
throne by the power and influence of the 
Mamelukes.* 

During the short and turbvdent reigns 
between Bibars and Naser Mahomet, 
and while the sultan Calib, was on the 
throne of Egj^pt, the city of St. Jolin 
d'Acre was taken from the Christians. 
The attack was violent, and the defence 
brave ; but the Mussulmans obtained pos- 
session of Acre, and the whole land of 
Palestine, 1291, after much treasure 
had been spent, and innumerable lives 
lost in the wars and victories of the Cru- 
sades. Soon afterwards, the Knights 
Templars departed into Europe ; but 
those of St. John formed a settlement in 
the island of Rhodes. From this situ- 
ation, they made frequent inroads into 
Eg\'pt ; for although the knights were 
comparatively weak, yet the distracted 
situation of Egj^t permitted them to retire 
from the coast, without the severe ven- 
geance which they might have inflicted ; 
but, indeed, Egypt was in the utmost 
state of distraction ; and a revolution in 
the government could not be avoided. 
If the Ayubite dynasty was superseded 



* It was the heroic Saladin, who first conceived 
the idea of establishing the troops, since so cele- 
brated, called Mamelukes. Having ravaged the 
countries of Georgia and Circassia, and taken 
many prisoners, the sultan was so struck with 
the extreme beauty of the captives, that he sug- 
gested to his officers the expediency of forming 
a band of soldiers to consist entirely of them. 
But this plan was not carried fully into effect till 
A. D. 1230, when Malek Salah, then sultan of 
Egypt, purchased 12,000 of these young men, of 
Gengis Khan, who had overrun their country and 
carried them into captivity. The sultan of Egypt, 
had them trained to military exercises, and con- 
stituted them his body-guard. A finer corps per- 
haps never existed, but like the praetorian band 
of Rome, they gave laws to their masters. Un- 
der the successor of Malek Salah, they interfered 
in the affairs of government, assassinated the 
sultan, Turan Shah, and in 1254, appointed Ibegh, 
one of their own number, sultan of Egypt. The 
dominion of the Mamelukes in Egypt continued 
263 years. 



148 



EGYPT. 



by the Baharite Mamelukes, who sur- 
rounded their throne, the Baharite suUans 
were also supplanted by the Circassian 
slaves, who had been cherished at court, 
and permitted to acquire uncontrolable 
power. The sultan Hagi, who was but 
a child, was deposed by the influence of 
a Circassian chief ; and the Baharite dy- 
nasty was terminated in Egj'pt, after it 
had existed about 128 years. 

The Circassian slaves, M'hose chiefs 
had in their turn become masters of 
Egypt, were called Borgites, because, in 
the capacity of soldiers, they had been 
dispersed through the diflerent fortresses 
of the country, to keep in check the peo- 
ple who had long been in want of subor- 
dination ; and these fortresses were call- 
ed Borges. Barcok, was the first of 
this dynasty on the throne of Egypt ; 
but so powerful were the adherents of 
the dethroned family, that Hagi was soon 
restored to the kingdom. But his re- 
newed power was of short duration ; for 
Barcok suddenly recovered his situation, 
and the Borgite dynasty was established. 
Scarcely had he overcome the internal 
enemies of his kingdom, when he was 
threatened by a formidable power from 
without. Tamerlane the Great, who had 
formed the new empire of the Moguls, 
and denominated the Cham of Tartary, 
was desirous of adding Syria to his do- 
minions ; and the sultan of Egj^pt march- 
ed an army to meet him at Damascus. 
At the approach of Barcok, Tamerlane 
retired ; and, directing his course towards 
India, his arms were attended with great 
success. 

In the mean time, Bajazet, at the head 
of the Ottoman armies, and the rival of 
Tamerlane, was spreading terror upon 
both sides of the Hellespont, and had 
carried his arms to the very gates of Con- 
stantinople. Indeed, he was determined 
to take possession of that city, and estab- 
lish his government upon the ruins of 
the Roman empire. For this reason, he 
solicited the friendship of the Eg^'ptian 
sultan, and the blessing of the caliph, 
who was then residing at Grand Cairo, 
without any civil authority, but only as 
iman of the Mahometan faith. 

About this time, Barcok died ; and 
his sou Pharage, surnamed Abulsaadat, 



reig-ned in his stead. When this prince 
obtained the government, he was but ten 
years of age ; and the affairs of the king- 
dom were managed by a regent. In 
these circumstances, the national com- 
motions were continued ; and his Syrian 
dominions rose in rebellion. But Abid- 
saadat, under the influence of his native 
vigor, took the reins of government in his 
own hand, recovered the provinces which 
had rebelled, and put his whole kingdom 
into a state of order and obedience. In 
this situation of aflairs, Tamerlane re- 
turned from India, and found that his 
rival had been extending his power, and 
was more formidable than ever. 

These ambitious and terrible warriors 
were determined on each other's destruc- 
tion. Bajazet laid claim to the assistance 
of Egypt, because he had entered into 
a former alliance with the sultan ; but he 
did not receive the expected support, be- 
cause he had not been faithful to the 
terms of agi-eement ; and we may add, 
that the power of Tamerlane was another 
reason with the sultan of Egypt, for 
withholding aid from his rival Bajazet. 
These two powerful chiefs met once and 
again in the field of battle, when Bajazet 
was finally overthrown, and taken pris- 
oner. Having overcome his rival, the 
ambition of Tamerlane was more un- 
bounded than ever. He intended to rav- 
age the south of Europe, cross into Africa 
by the straits of Gibraltar, and continue 
his course through Egypt and Syria, till 
he arrived at the seat of his government 
in the East. But there was one power 
of which he stood in awe, and which 
prevented the project which his ambition 
had laid. The knights of St. John, now 
established at Rhodes, and enriched by 
the spoils of the forfeited Templars, were 
formidable to the neighboring powers, 
and maintained a mighty preponderance 
in the scale of nations. Though small 
in numbers, their strength was great, 
their fame extensive, and their courage 
well tried. 

In these circumstances, it was not ex- 
pedient to attack the knights directly in 
the island of Rhodes ; but he laid siege 
to Smyrna, and reduced it to ashes. He 
was drawn away, however, from any 
further attempts upon the power and in- 



EGYPT. 



149 



terests of that religious order, by dangers 
which were threatening him in the East. 
A powerful prince, whom Tamerlane had 
subdued in his Indian expeditions, ap- 
peared again with renewed strength, and 
was laying waste the kingdom of Persia. 
Thither he directed his course, but his 
power was much diminished through a 
long succession of obstinate engage- 
ments ; and, having met his enemy in 
greater power than was expected, they 
entered into terms with mutual agree- 
ment ; and Tamerlane, having withdrawn 
from public life, retired to Samarcand, 
and there, in a few years, ended an ac- 
tive and victorious life. In the mean 
time, the distractions of Egypt still con- 
tinued ; and the sultan Pharage Abul- 
saadat, being weary with continual broils 
and confusion, retired from the dangers 
of public life, and surrendered the throne 
to his brother Abdolaziz, but to assume 
it again. 

This happened in the year 1405 ; and 
there was little more than a rapid suc- 
cession of feeble monarchs, till the year 
1517, when the Borgite dynasty was 
overthrown ; and the kingdom of Egypt 
was converted into a province of the 
Turkish empire. 

Soliman I succeeded his father Selim ; 
and he not only began his reign by crush- 
ing rebellion in the provinces, and adding 
dominions to his empire, but his name 
was terrible among the nations. He was 
the competitor of Charles V, and over- 
threw the power of the knights in the 
island of Rhodes. But even in his time 
the factions in Egypt were not at rest ; 
and in the more feeble reigns of his suc- 
cessors upon the throne, the Ottoman 
power in that country was much impaired, 
and the form of government at last 
changed. The beys, who superintended 
the 24 departments in Egypt, collected 
the revenues of their respective districts ; 
and by that means acquired an influence 
which was not intended. The heads of 
the seven military corps and the pacha 
became avaricious, and courted the favor 
of the beys, who could enforce the pay- 
ment of tribute with severity, or remit it 
in part, according to their pleasure. 

By indulging the members of the 
regency, the beys increased in power 



till they obtained the complete disposal 
of public affairs. Every bey had origin- 
ally a few Mamelukes or slaves at his 
command, for enabling him to make his 
authority respected in the province where 
he resided ; but as the power of the beys 
was enlarged, they increased their attend- 
ants, and in proportion to their number 
of slaves, so was their strength. When 
a vacancy occurred in the government of 
the provinces, the most powerful bey had 
his favorite Mameluke appointed to the 
office. This election increased his author- 
ity ; and, by pursuing a similar course, 
the most active and povverful beys ac- 
quired a continually increasing influence 
in the government, and their Mamelukes 
became the only efficient soldiers in the " 
state. 

The members of the divan having be- 
come subservient to the pleasure of the 
beys, the beys got possession of every 
important office, with the exception of the 
viceroy's appointment. But in their 
career of dissipation, the pacha of Egj^pt 
also became subject to the Mameluke 
beys. The sheik Albelled, or governor 
of Grand Cairo, was chosen from amongst 
the beys, but he was approved or rejected 
by the pacha. The Sheik Albelled was 
the constitutional organ through which 
complaints were made to the Grand 
Seignior, when the pacha violated the 
rights of the community ; but to remove 
him from his office could only be done 
by the sultan himself. But in process 
of time, when the divan fell under the 
control of the beys, they dismissed them 
at pleasure ; and when a new one was 
appointed, if they discovered by their 
spies, that he was entrusted with any 
mandate inconsistent with their views 
or authority, they never suffered him to 
approach Grand Cairo, but intimated at 
Constantinople, that another pacha must 
be chosen. 

In these circumstances of the Egyptian 
government, an active youth among the 
slaves who were brought from the neigh- 
borhood of Mount Caucasus, grew up to 
great influence and fame in the house of 
his master Ibrahim, who was a caya of 
the Janizaries. Like other Mamelukes, 
this young slave became a Mussulman, 
and received the name of Ali. Having 



150 



EGYPT. 



gone through different offices in the house 
and service of his master, he was raised 
to the olfice and rank of a bey. Upon 
the death of Ibrahim, to whom he owed 
his power and elevation, considerable 
commotions existed ; and in the year 
1763, Ali Bey obtained the office of 
Sheik Albelled, by which he was in- 
vested with the chief authority of the 
state. 

In the stniggle for power, Ali Bey was 
more than once obliged to flee from 
Egj^pt, and seek refuge in Palestine or 
Syria. He became obnoxious to the 
Turkish divan, and the Grand Seignior 
sought his destruction. But in the year 
1768, the court of Constantinople pro- 
claimed war against the Emperor of 
Russia; and while the Ottomans were 
employed in defending their provinces 
against the northern invasions, Ali Bey 
was not only active in reducing Egypt 
to obedience, but he sent an army into 
Arabia Felix, for purposes of conquest 
and aggrandizement. The troops of Ali, 
under the conduct of Mahomet Bey, 
were successful against the Turkish gar- 
risons ; and they took possession of 
Gaza, Ramla, and Shechem, or Naplus. 
They even reached Jerusalem, and hav- 
ing arrived at St. John d'Acre, they 
formed a junction with the troops of the 
celebrated Sheik Daher. The forces of 
Ali entered Damascus. But after tarry- 
ing a few days, his general Mahomet 
hastened to Grand Cairo, and compelled 
his master Ali Bey to take refuge in 
Palestine, where his arms were attended 
with success, being supported by the 
Sheik Daher. 

Osman had been constituted pacha of 
Damascus, and invested with extraordi- 
nary powers by the divan of Constanti- 
nople, that he might oppose and subdue 
the Sheik of Acre. Ali Bey and the 
Sheik Daher being equally hostile to the 
Ottoman power, entered into a treaty to 
support each other in their views and 
pursuits. The Egyptian Bey had at- 
tempted to secure the assistance of Rus- 
sia, by negotiating with Count Alexis 
Orlow, the commander-in-chief of the 
Russian forces in the Archipelago ; but 
the negotiations had been attended with 
little success, until a Russian transport, 



, under British colors, commanded by 
Captain Brown, appeared off Jaffa, and 
assisted the forces of Daher and Ali 
Bey to get possession of that town and 
fort. By these and other means, Daher 
obtained considerable power. 

But though the Sheik Daher and Ali 
Bey had been so far cordial in their co- 
operations, yet their interests might soon 
interfere, and their friendship be dis- 
solved. This might be a sufficient rea- 
son of itself for Ali Bey to go in quest 
of possessions which were likely to be 
more permanent ; and both his interest 
and inclination led him towards Egj^pt, 
where he had once been in power. But 
his former general, and now competitor, 
Mahomet Bey, was still in great power, 
and met him with a numerous army, in 
the desert which lies between Gaza and 
Egypt. The armies engaged, and Ali 
Bey being wounded, was taken prisoner. 
His rival Mahomet seemed to receive 
him with great respect. For at the first 
interview, even in his fallen state, his 
former authority might have some re- 
maining impressions, even upon the mind 
of the revolted general ; but upon the 
third day the unfortunate Ali died, and 
not without suspicions that his death was 
occasioned by undue means. 

By the death of this powerful chief, 
Mahomet Bey was left without a rival 
in the kingdom of Egypt ; but in the 
fluctuating state of public affairs, he was 
aware that competitors might soon arise, 
and he was well assured that the divan 
of Constantinople would endeavor to re- 
cover their power in Egypt, as soon as 
they could withdraw their forces from 
the wars in which they were engaged 
with the Empress of Russia. For some 
time past, no pacha had been admitted in 
Egypt from the court of Constantinople, 
nor any tribute remitted to the Grand 
Seignior. But Mahomet Bey, though 
hostile to the power of Constantinople, 
made extraordinary professions of friend- 
ship, and transmitted to the Grand Seig- 
nior a large sum of money. Both parties 
dissembled ; the reigning Bey of Egypt 
intended to manifest his independence as 
soon as circumstances Avould allow, and 
the court of Constantinople were deter- 
mined to take the first opportunity of re- 



EGYPT. 



151 



ducing Egypt to obedience ; but in the 
mean time, they made a show of attach- 
ment to Mahomet, and raised him from 
the office of Sheik Albelled to that of 
pacha, or viceroy of the SubUme Porte. 

To ingratiate himself still more at the 
court of Constantinople, he marched an 
army into the East, under the pretext of 
subduing the Sheik Daher, who was in- 
imical to the Ottoman authority, but in 
reality to obtain such conquests in the 
East, as would render him formidable to 
the power of the Grand Seignior. Hav- 
ing gone in person to Syria, his army 
was attended with success ; but he was 
seized with a fever, and died on the sec- 
ond day of the disease. 

When Mahomet's death was an- 
nounced in Egypt, the country was in 
commotion, but the principal competitors 
for power were the beys Ibrahim and 
Murad. After various attempts to ob- 
tain the ascendency, it was at length 
agreed that the powers of the state should 
be held in common by the two contend- 
ing chiefs. Ibrahim was to continue in 
the office of Sheik Albelled, and Murad 
was raised to the situation of Deflerdar, 
or accountant-general. About this time, 
peace was concluded between the courts 
of St. Petersburg and Constantinople, 
and, as might have been expected, the 
Grand Seignior was determined to restore 
his power in the province of Egypt. 

By the active and prudent services of 
Prince Potemkin, the Empress of Russia 
had obtained from the Grand Seignior a 
vast extent of territory, which included 
the Crimea, together with the provinces 
of Circassia, Georgia, and other districts. 
The fleets of St. Petersburg were per- 
mitted by treaty to traverse the Black 
Sea ; and as all these circumstances 
weakened the Ottoman government, it 
was the more necessary to recover 
Egypt, with its resources and tribute. 

A fleet belonging to the Grand Seignior 
arrived at Alexandria in the month of 
May, and landed an army of 25,000 men. 
The forces of Ibrahim and Murad Bey 
were drawn out to oppose their progress, 
and the armies met between Rosetta and 
Grand Cairo. The dexterity of the 
Mamelukes, who always fight on horse- 
back, threw the Ottoman army frequently 



into confusion ; but the skill and perse- 
verance of Hassan Pacha finally tri- 
umphed over the irregular though intrepid 
warfare of the Mamelukes. Ibrahim and 
Murad Bey withdrew by treaty into Up- 
per Eg^'pt. Hassan returned to Con- 
stantinople, and Beker was sent into 
Egypt with the honorable distinction of 
a pacha of three tails. Notwithstanding 
his power, he was but ill received, and 
found it impossible to collect the tribute, 
or preserve the country in order. But 
these irregidarities soon gave place to 
designs and achievements of greater 
moment. The French directed an ex- 
pedition against the province of Egypt, 
which was followed by warlike exer- 
tions, both of Great Britain and Con- 
stantinople. 

By the two campaigns of 1796 and 
1797, Bonaparte had compelled the con- 
tinental powers of Europe to make peace 
with France — a result ardently desired 
by the French, to allow their country 
time to recover from the deep wounds 
which she had suficred during the con- 
\Tjlsions of the revolution, and from the 
worthless administration that had pre- 
ceded it. The next object was to force 
England also to a peace, and Bonaparte 
was appointed commander-in-chief of the 
army destined for the invasion of this 
country. In February-, 1798, he visited 
in person the coasts of the British Chan- 
nel, and all Europe was expecting the 
commencement of the expedition, when, 
in May of the same year, the general 
appeared as commander-in-chief at Tou- 
lon, where an expedition had been fitting 
out, of the destination of which the pub- 
lic knew nothing — a circumstance liighly 
remarkable, as so many persons, both 
military and civil, were acquainted with 
it. It was the expedition to Egypt. It 
also appears, from a letter written by Bo- 
naparte to the minister Talleyrand, dated 
Passeriano, September 13, 1797, that one 
of the main objects of this great under- 
taking was to put the French in posses- 
sion of part of the East India trade, by 
the conquest of Egypt — a plan by no 
means chimerical. It was intended to 
establish French colonies on the Nile, 
ind thus to recompense the republic for 



152 



EGYPT. 



gar islands, and to open a channel for 
the French manufactures into Africa, 
Arabia, and Syria, where they might be 
exchanged for commodities wanted in 
France. Napoleon's views were, in fact, 
similar to those which, it is said, have 
lately led the French to undertake the 
conquest and colonization of Algiers — 
an object which seems to be generally 
applauded. It seems, also, to have been 
intended to make Eg}'pt a military posi- 
tion, from which a French army could 
march into India, raise the Mahrattahs 
against the English, and injure the power 
of the latter there. 

The directory probably encouraged the 
enterprise with the further object of get- 
ting rid of a general whose victories and 
rapidly increasing popularity it feared. 
It has, indeed, been said, that he was, at 
first, decidedly opposed to the plan ; but 
this is very improbable. March 5, Bo- 
naparte received the decree of the direc- 
tory, relative to the expedition against 
Egypt. He had full power to conduct 
the business as he saw fit. The minis- 
ters in all the departments were ordered 
to give him whatever assistance he should 
require ; and he had full powers to act 
according to his discretion in Egypt, to 
return whenever he saw fit, and to ap- 
point his successor. Napoleon now col- 
lected all the information necessary for 
his own direction ; engaged some of the 
most distinguished savans and artists of 
France to accompany him, drew up ques- 
tions and problems to be resolved in 
Egypt, and informed himself accurately 
respecting the commercial connections 
which it was proposed to establish. In 
fact, he seems to have always viewed 
this expedition in the double light of a 
military and a scientific enterprise. The 
beginning of his proclamation, before 
landing in Egypt, is remarkable : " Bo- 
naparte, member of the national institute 
of France, and general in chief of the 
army of Egypt." Bonaparte was to leave 
Paris in April, for the purpose of embark- 
ing ; but despatches from Rastadt, and 
from Bernadotte, the French ambassador 
at Vienna, made a new rupture with x\us- 
tria probable. 

Bonaparte, however, left Paris, May 3, 
and went on board of the Orient the 19th. 



The fleet set sail the same day, command- 
ed by admiral Brueyes. Bonaparte's pro- 
clamation issued before sailing, and sev- 
eral others, either prove how much he 
himself was animated by the military 
fame of ancient Rome, or that he thought 
it the strongest stimulus to the French 
soldiers. Reports had been carefully 
spread to divert the attention of the Eng- 
lish to other points ; and lord St. Vincent 
sent rear-admiral Nelson, with only three 
vessels of the line, four frigates and one 
corvette, to watch the Gulf of Lyons, and 
to prevent the French from leaving it. 
But Nelson arrived too late. He also 
sufl^ered severely from a gale, so that the 
French fleet was not molested. Bona- 
parte had an assurance from the directo- 
ry, that the minister of foreign affairs 
should go to Constantinople, still retain- 
ing his office, for the purpose of negoti- 
ating with the Porte, and preventing it 
interfering in favor of the Mamelukes. 
Talleyrand, however, never went. This 
omission, and the defeat at Aboukir, 
proved fatal to the expedition. About 
2,000 savans, artists, physicians, sur- 
geons, mechanics and laborers of all de- 
scriptions, accompanied the army. The 
flower of the troops was that Italian ar- 
my whose valor had effected the peace 
of Campo-Formio. The principal offi- 
cers were Berthier, Dessaix, Regnier, 
Menou, Kleber, Dumas, Cafiarelli, Mu- 
rat, Junot, Marmont, Belliard, Davoust, 
Lannes, Duroc, Louis Bonaparte, Eu- 
gene Beauharnois, and others. June 9, 
the armament appeared before Malta. 
Bonaparte solicited of baron von Hom- 
pesch, the grand master, permission to 
procure a supply of fresh water from the 
island. His refusal aflbrded a pretext 
for the conquest of the island, which had 
been long contemplated. The next morn- 
ing, the French landed, and by the even- 
ing, notwithstanding a brisk cannonade, 
were masters of the island, which was 
officially surrendered at midnight, with 
all its fortresses. 

The victors left a garrison of 4,000 
men, and, on the 19th, sailed for Alex- 
andria. July 1 , the minarets of Alexan- 
dria were seen, and Bonaparte issued an 
order on board the fleet, in which he ex- 
horted his army to endure with patience 



EGYPT. 



153 



the difficulties before them, to respect the 
religion of Mahomet, and the customs of 
the Egyptians, not to plunder, but to imi- 
tate the Roman legions in protecting all 
religions. Nelson had been here a short 
time before in search of the French. 
The apprehension that he might soon 
return, induced the general to hasten the 
disembarkation of the troops. This was 
accomplished without interruption, July 
2, at Marabout, an anchorage to the east 
of Alexandria, notwithstanding the wind 
and waves were unfavorable. The French 
army marched, without cannons or horses, 
towards Alexandria. Bonaparte was hifh- 
self on foot. Some Arabs attacked the 
French ; general Kleber was severely 
wounded. On the 5th, Alexandria Avas 
taken and immediately fortified. Iloset- 
ta was taken at the same time by general 
Marmont, and, July 6, the whole fleet 
was moored in the roads before Aboukir. 
Garrisons were left in Alexandria, (where 
Kleber was made governor,) Rosetta and 
Aboukir, and the army, now 30,000 strong, 
marched in five divisions towards Cairo, 
the capital of Egypt. Not far from it, 
near the p}Tamids of Gizeh, a decisive 
battle was fought. Murad Bey had en- 
camped himself there, with about 20,000 
Mameluke infantry, several thousand 
Mameluke cavalry, and forty pieces of 
cannon. The well-directed fire of the 
French, and the resolution with which 
they used their bayonets, frustrated all 
the attacks of the Mamelukes, who fled 
to the contiguous deserts, as soon as the 
camp and village of Embabey were taken 
by storm. All the cannon and 400 cam- 
els fell into the hands of the French ; 
3,000 of the enemy lay dead on the field ; 
tlie French lost few men in comparison. 
This happened on the 23rd, and Bona- 
parte entered Cairo on the 24th ; for Ibra- 
him Bey, who was to cover it, after the 
unfortunate issue of the battle of the py- 
ramids, was driven by Dessaix over the 
deserts to Upper Egypt. 

Napoleon established a government 
here, consisting of seven members, sum- 
moned the sheiks, moUahs and shirefls, 
who promised to acknowledge the French 
republic, and, on his side, pledged him- 
self to respect the Mahometan religion, 
and the property of the inhabitants. Ju- 
20 



ly 25, general Bonaparte left Cairo to 
pursue the Mamelidces, and, after many 
combats with them, returned to the capi- 
tal, leaving Regnier as commandant of 
the province of Charquich. On his re- 
turn to Cairo, an aidecamp of Kleber 
brought him the news of the defeat of 
the French fleet at Aboukir by Nelson. 
It was stated in the French accounts of 
this splendid victory by the British na- 
val force, that the defeat was in part ow- 
ing to the negligence of admiral Brueyes 
and vice-admiral Villeneuve, who were 
said to have acted against the express 
orders of general Bonaparte, who had 
directed them to enter the harbor of Alex- 
andria, or to sail for Corfu, before he left 
the shore to penetrate into the country. 
Bourienne, however, in his Memoires, as- 
serts that Bonaparte never gave such or- 
ders. Bonaparte thus saw his communica- 
tion Avith France threatened, and himself 
exposed to the greatest of all enemies, 
want. Exasperated by the transformation 
of so important a dependency as Eg}'pt 
into a French province, the Porte declared 
war against France, September 2, 1798, 
and menaced an attack from the side of 
Asia. The inhabitants of Cairo rebelled. 
Many of the French, especially the iaua/j.?, 
artists and merchants, were murdered ; 
but, after a bloody conflict in the city, Sep- 
tember 23, and 25, the insurgents, who 
had fled to the principal mosque, were 
comj)elled to surrender unconditionally. 
After the restoration of quiet, Bona- 
parte, having organized a system of gov- 
ernment for Egypt on French princi- 
ples, marched, February 27, 1799, with 
about 18,000 men, from Cairo to Syria, 
took the fort El-Arish, in the desert, then 
Jafla, and, having conquered the inhabi- 
tants of Naplous, at Zeta, procured there 
a supply of provisions, which he greatly 
needed, in order to be able to undertake 
the siege of St. Jean d'Acre, and was 
again victorious at Jafet. In the mean 
while, the English naval force, which 
had appeared before St. Jean d'Acre imder 
sir Sidney Smith, had succeeded in re- 
enforcing the Turkish garrison of this 
place with several hundred men, as well 
as artillery, and ammunition. This en- 
abled the Turks to repel several assaults, 
and, notwithstanding the most violent fire 



154 



EGYPT. 



from the French batteries, to sustain the 
attack so long, that Bonaparte was obliged 
to raise the siege. 

May 21, the French commenced their 
retreat, and after a fatiguing march of 
twenty-six days, arrived at Cairo. A 
Turkish fleet soon after landed 18,000 
men at Aboukir, who took the fort there. 
Bonaparte quickly led his best troops 
thither, stationed himself near the foun- 
tain between Alexandria and Aboukir, 
and offered battle to the Turks, July 25. 
Mustapha Pacha, with all his retinue and 
artillery, was taken ; 2,000 Turks per- 
ished in the waves or in battle, and the 
remainder of the army, which had thrown 
itself into the fort of Aboukir, was com- 
pelled to surrender unconditionally, Au- 
gust 2. By this victory, Bonaparte's 
power in Egypt was again confirmed. 
At this period, the French had experi- 
enced considerable reverses in Europe. 
The battle of the Trebia had been lost, the 
French had evacuated the Genoese ter- 
ritory, Massena, in Switzerland, was in 
great danger. Bonaparte saw the danger 
of his countr}% and the loss of his con- 
quests in Italy, and resolved to return, 
having from the beginning permission to 
do so whenever he chose. The order 
which gave the command to Kleber was 
dated August 22, 1799, and contained 
wise directions respecting the army and 
country. By the time his departure was 
known to the army, Bonaparte's frigate 
had weighed anchor. August 23, he left 
Aboukir in the Muiron, a Venetian vessel, 
commanded by rear-admiral Gantheaume. 

The situation of the troops under Kle- 
ber's command became more critical eve- 
ry day. General Verdier repelled a new 
disembarkation of the Turks, in Novem- 
ber, 1 799 ; but, for an army that could 
not be recruited, the smallest loss was 
serious. The advices from Europe were 
not encouraging ; and, at this juncture, 
Kleber, having been informed that the 
grand vizier was marching from Syria to 
Egypt, with a large army, concluded, 
January 24, 1800, the treaty of El-Arish, 
with the vizier and sir Sidney Smith. 
By this treaty it was provided, that a 
truce should he granted to the French 
for three months till the ratification of the 
treaty, when they should evacuate Egypt. 



But the letter of Kleber to the directory, 
in which he set fortli the miserable state 
of the^army, and urged the ratification of 
the treaty, fell into the hands of admiral 
Keith, .ind was sent to England. It was 
now demanded that the Avhole French 
army should be made prisoners of war. 
Kleber immediately resumed his arms, 
and defeated the vizier at Heliopolis, ex- 
acted a tax for the payment of his sol- 
diers, foiTued new regiments of the Copts 
and Greeks, gave security to the coasts, 
and founded magazines. In the midst of 
his untiring activity, he was murdered in 
Cairo by a Turkish fanatic, June 14, and 
the command devolved on Abdallah Me- 
nou. Meantime the British government 
had resolved to wrest Egypt from the 
French. March 1, an English fleet ar- 
rived before Alexanaria, and on the 1 3th, 
the disembarcation was accomplished at 
Aboukir. The French, about 4,000 men 
strong, gave battle on the next day, but 
were forced to retire. On the 21st, Me- 
nou commenced an attack with 10,000 
men, was beaten, and threw himself into 
Alexandria. But general Abercrombie 
was mortally wounded, and died on the 
28th ; Hutchinson succeeded him in the 
command. 

On the 28th, re-enforcements were 
brought by a Turkish fleet, and the viz- 
ier was now approaching from Syria. 
On the 19th of April, Rosetta surrender- 
ed to the combined forces of the English 
and Turks. A French corps of 4,000 
men was defeated at Ramanieh by 800 
English, and 6,000 Turks. Five thou- 
sand French were obliged to retreat, at 
Elmenayer, May 16, by the vizier, who 
was pressing forward to Cairo, with 
20,000 men ; and the whole French 
army was now blocked up in Cairo and 
Alexandria. June 20, the siege of Cairo 
was formally commenced. There were 
but 7,000 men to defend the city against 
40,000. It capitulated, June 27, to the 
English and 'Furks, on condition that 
general Belliard and his troops should 
evacuate the city and country, should be 
transported to France at the expense of 
England, and that the native Egyptians 
should be permitted to accompany him. 
August 17, they embarked at Rosetta, 
and arrived at Toulon in September, 



EGYPT. 



155 




Assassination of general Kleber. 



1801, about 13,600, in number, of whom 
hardly 4,000 were armed. General Me- 
nou still remained in Alexandria. Ad- 
miral Gantheaume had sailed, before 
Belliard's arrival, with several ships of 
the line, and from 3,000 to 4,000 troops, 
from France, and arrived before Alexan- 
dria, but was compelled to hasten back 
to Toulon, with a loss of four corvettes. 
On the other hand, the English army re- 
ceived 5,000 fresh troops from England, 
and now attacked Alexandria. They 
were already masters of castle Marabout, 
when Menou requested a truce ; to which 
he was impelled by a want of provisions, 
and a new re-enforcement which had 
joined the British, consisting of 6,000 
men under General Baird, from the East 
Indies. Menou capitulated September 2. 
Alexandria, with all the artillery and am- 
munition, six French ships of war, and 
many merchantmen, together with all the 
Arabian manuscripts, all the maps of 
Egypt, and other collections made for 
the French republic, were given up. 
The French army was transported, with 
its arms and baggage, to a French har- 
bor, which they reached at the end of 
November. The garrison of Alexandria 
comprised above 8,000 soldiers, and 1307 



marines. Three years and six months 
had elapsed since its first embarkation at 
Toulon. Four weeks after the French 
evacuated Egypt, the preliminaries of 
peace were signed at London. 

Soon after the French left Egypt, the 
beys were collected at Cairo, and Ibra- 
him was reinstated in his office. Osman 
Tambour] being chosen as his colleague. 
The Turkish government had co-opera- 
ted with England to drive out the French ; 
but their views with respect to the Mam- 
elukes were quite different, as it was the 
policy of the Porte to depress that formi- 
dable body, whilst the English wished to 
conciliate them ; and the latter being 
most powerful, the Mamelukes were al- 
ready beginning to recover their former 
independence — when Hassan, the capi- 
tan-pacha of the Ottomans, resolved to 
efl'ect by artifice what he found he had 
no chance of doing in an undisguised 
manner. He accordingly invited all the 
principal beys to his camp at Aboukir, 
where he entertained them very sumptu- 
ously ; but detaining them till they began 
to grow impatient, they complained to 
general Hutchinson, that they were pre- 
vented from departing ; when that officer, 
relying on the honesty of the pacha's in- 



156 



EGYPT. 



tentions, persuaded them to remain. In a 
few days, Hassan gave a grand entertain- 
ment, and invited the beys to embark in 
some pleasure boats, to enjoy a sail on the 
lake Aboukir. They had scarcely done so, 
however, when a small boat was seen pur- 
suing them ; on which the pacha lay to. 
The boat approached, and he went on board 
under pretence of receiving, with due 
respect, despatches of great importance 
from Constantinople. The skiff instant- 
ly fell back ; some large vessels appeared 
filled with armed men ; and the next in- 
stant discharges of artillery were levelled 
against the unfortunate beys. The rage 
of the xVIamehikes, at this abominable 
treachery, was beyond description ; coop- 
ed up like lions in a den, they had no 
hope of escaping the fate destined for 
them ; and their bravery was useless, for 
their enemies were too far distant for 
their swords to be of any avail. Some 
leaped overboard, and died swearing and 
gnashing their teeth ; whilst others tore 
their turbans from their heads, and threw 
themselves on the bottom of the boats in 
an agony of despair. A few reached the 
shore, and were compelled to swear upon 
the Koran that they would not seek the 
protection of the English. It wa.s im- 
possible, however, to bury such an act 
of base perfidy in oblivion, and equally 
impossible that British feelings should 
not be disgusted with it. The English, 
consequently, compelled the Turks to re- 
lease their prisoners, and to bury the 
bodies of the butchered chiefs with all 
the honors of war. 

Mahmoud Cusrouf was chosen to suc- 
ceed the faithless Hassan as pacha of 
Cairo. Osman, the Mameluke cliief, 
submitted to his authority ; but the other 
beys refusing to follow his example, and 
flying into the Said, Mohammed Ah, since 
so celebrated, was appointed general of 
the Turks, and joined Osman Bey against 
them, Osman and Mohammed entered 
into negotiations with the beys, and offer- 
ed them all the land from Esnah to Up- 
per Egypt ; but they being dissatisfied 
with this proposal, Mahmoud sent fresh 
troops, under Youssef Bey, to reduce 
them to obedience ; when Osman, un- 
willing to fight against the corps of which 
he had so long been a member, retired 



into the desert. This happened about the 
period when colonel Sebastiani arrived 
in Eg}'pt, for the purpose of carrying into 
efiect that part of the treaty of Amiens 
which related to the evacuation of Alex- 
andria ; and shortly afterwards the Turk- 
ish forces were defeated ; the leaders, 
Youssef and Mohammed Ali, each ac- 
cusing the other of treachery. The pacha 
favored the former ; and Mohammed in 
revenge demanded, resolutely, a lage sum 
of money which was due to the army. 
Mahmoud sent to him to try to negotiate 
the business secretly ; but Mohammed 
who suspected stratagem, refused to leave 
his soldiers. The pacha became alarm- 
ed, and invited Tahir pacha, an Albanian 
chief, to his assistance ; but his troops 
also soon became clamorous for their 
pay ; and, when the pacha assured them 
of his total inability to satisfy their de- 
mands, they seized his palace, and forced 
him, with his wife and family, to fly to 
Mansurah. At first, Tahir used his vic- 
tory with moderation, and appeared anx- 
ious to conciliate all parties ; but becom- 
ing eager for wealth, the populace, en- 
raged at his exactions, rose and murdered 
him, after a reign of only twenty-two 
days. Whilst Taliir's Albanian soldiers 
were contending with the Turkish guard 
for the possession of Grand Cairo, Ibra- 
him returned from Syria, and Osman 
from his retreat in the mountains ; and, 
uniting their Mamelukes with the Turks 
under Mohammed Ali, they seized the 
city. The Sublime Porte was now roused, 
and sent an officer to re-establish the 
Turkish authority. He, however, thought 
more of aggrandizing himself than of sub- 
duing the Mamelukes, and was wholly 
unable to resist the force Mohammed 
brought against him. He was taken 
prisoner and put to death. 

Mohammed's power had now become 
too firmly fixed to be shaken ; yet he did 
not assume the government till the Porte 
attempted to banish him to Jedda, where- 
upon he declared himstilf pacha of Egypt ; 
and his authority was soon after confirm- 
ed by the sultan. A massacre of the 
Mamelukes followed ; and Mohammed, 
to replenish his finances, made his min- 
isters disgorge their ill-gotten wealth, in- 
stead of oppressing the people ; giving 



EGYPT. 



157 



them, at the same thne, a gentle hint, 
that whenever he found his tax-gatherers 
getting rich, he shoukl not only take their 
money, bnt their heads also. After seve- 
ral minor struggles, in which he was 
always successful, he prepared to attack 
the Wahabees, a powerful nation in Ara- 
bia ; but as the Mamelukes still continued 
formidable, he did not dare to leave Egypt 
till he had destroyed them ; and for this 
an opportunity soon ofl'ered. The grand 
seignior sent his kisler aga to Cairo, in 
1 807, to invest Tousson, the son of Mo- 
hannned, with the dignity of pacha of two 
tails ; and the Mamelukes being invited 
to assist at the ceremony, came with 
their bey at their head, to otfer their con- 
gratulations to Mohanuned, in his citadel. 
In returning, the procession had to pass 
along a passage cut in a rock : Moham- 
med's troops moved first, followed by the 
Mamelukes ; but as soon as the Turks 
had passed, the gates were closed at both 
ends, and the Mamelukes, thus enclosed 
in a kind of trap, were fired on by the 
pacha's soldiers frorrfthe top of the rocks. 
At the same moment a general massacre 
of them was ordered tliroughout Egypt ; 
their property was universally destroyed ; 
and above 500 of their houses, in Grand 
Cairo alone, were levelled with the ground. 
Some beys, however, escaped, and, in the 
dress of M'omen or slaves, lied to Upper 
Egypt. Shortly after, the few remains 
of their body rallied at Dongola, in Nu- 
bia, where they fortified the city, and 
raised a small army of negroes to defend 
it ; Osman IJey, their chief, swearing 
that he would neither cut his hair nor 
shave his beard, till they were again mas- 
ters of Cairo. The aged Ibrahim, who 
was still living, protested strongly against 
the slaughter of the corps to which he 
had himself once belonged ; but it was 
in vain ; Mohammed's will was law, and 
he su tiered no one to dictate to him with 
impunity. 

The campaign against the Wahabees 
was brilliant in the extreme ; and Mo- 
hammed returning to Egypt, after a long 
series of victories, loaded with fame and 
treasures, immediately directed his at- 
tention to the conquest of Nubia and Se- 
naar. Tousson having died in Lower 
Eg}'pt, the command of the army was 



intrusted to the pacha's second son Ish- 
mael ; who, in the autumn of 1810, 
passed the cataracts of the Nile, seized 
Dongola, and annihilated the remaining 
^lamehdves. He next attacked and sub- 
dued a bold and independent race of 
Arabs ; and proceeded to Berber, which 
likewise fell before the power of his 
arms : he also conquered the city of 
Shendy ; and reached the Bahr-el-Abiad, 
above its confluence with the Nile. Se- 
naar and Kordofan, in like manner, j-ield- 
ed to the arms of the victorious Eg\-p- 
tians ; anil they would have invaded 
Darfoor, had not their attention been re- 
called to the north by the insurrection of 
the Greeks in the Morea. On his re- 
turn, Ishmael was waylaid by the chief 
of Shendy, and murdered, with all his at- 
tendants, excepting his physician, whom 
they spared, that they might torture him 
by pulling out his teeth before they put 
him to death. 

Since that time, Mohammed Ali has 
taken an active part in the operations of 
the Turks ; and now by his victories over 
the armies of the Sublime Porte may be 
considered as completely independent. 
Mohanuned Pacha is particiUarly atten- 
tive to the public security ; he takes, 
therefore, all Franks under his immediate 
protection, and permits no abuse of the 
Greeks. After his successful campaign 
in the Morea, in 1825, he caused all the 
Christian population to be transplanted 
to the countries on the Nile. He is now 
attempting to introduce a quarentine sys- 
tem to guard against the plague, and also 
promotes vaccination. 

The pacha has done much for the com- 
merce and industry, as well as for the 
civilization, of Egypt, and he has now 
completed the canal of Alexandria, called 
by him, in honor of the sultan, Mahmu- 
die canal ; a vast undertaking. It was 
commenced Jan. 8, 1819, under the su- 
perintendence of six European engineers, 
with about 100,000 laborers ; and their 
number, though more than 7,000 men 
died of contagious diseases, was gradual- 
ly increased to 290,000, each of whom 
received about lOd. sterling per diem. 
The canal extends from Saone, on the 
Nile, to Pompey's pillar, and is forty- 
seven miles and a half long, ninety feet 



158 



ENGLAND. 



wide, and eighteen feet deep. This is 
the first essay towards the execution of 
his plan of restoring the ancient com- 
merce of Alexandria with Arabia and the 
Indies. Within a short time he has es- 
tablished a line of telegraphs, a printing- 
press at Boulac near Cairo, a military 



school, and a higher institution for edu- 
cation, principally to form dragomans, 
(i.e. interpreters,) and other public offi- 
cers. The teachers consist of French 
and Italian officers. In 1826, he sent 
several young Egyptians to France to re- 
ceive a European education. 



ENGLAND 



The early history of Britain is so 
itivolved in the fictions and superstitious 
prejudices of the monkish chroniclers, 
that it is scarcely possible to furnish any 
connected view of the government and 
political character of the people : indeed, 
Britain was but very little known to the 
rest of the world before the time of the 
Romans. 

Julius Ca;sar having subdued most of 
the nations of Gaul, on the opposite side 
oi" the Channel, began, about B.C. 56, to 
think of extending his conquests by the 
reduction of Britain. The motive as- 
cribed to him by Suetonius for this expe- 
dition, was a desire of enriching himself 
by the British pearls, then much esteem- 
ed. The pretence, however, to justify 
his invasion was, that the Britons had 
assisted the Gauls during liis wars with 
them. 

Caesar's first expedition was \mder- 
taken at the close of the summer, (he 
landed August 26,) and he stated that he 
only purposed viewing the island, that 
he might acquire a knowledge of the 
manners and customs of the natives, 
preparatory to their permanent conquest. 
Having marched all his forces into the 
country of the Morini, in Gaul, from 
whence was the shortest passage into 
Britain ; he ordered the vessels that lay 
in the neighboring ports, and a fleet 
which he had built the year before, to 
attend him. The Britons, alarmed at 
his preparations, sent ambassadors with 
ofTers of submission ; but Caesar, though 
he received them with great kindness, 
did not abandon his intended scheme. 
He only waited till the return of Caius 
Volusenus, whom he had sent out with a 



single galley to make discoveries on the 
coast. His force consisted of two legions 
embarked on board eighty transports ; 
and he appointed eighteen more, which 
lay wind-bound about eight miles ofl", to 
convey over the cavalry ; but these last 
orders were too slowly executed, which 
occasioned some difiiculty in his landing. 
The British chiefs at this time, although 
they had endeavored to conciliate, were 
far from being disposed to submit to him. 
As soon as they perceived Caesar's fleet 
approaching, a number of foot soldiers 
and chariots were despatched to oppose 
his landing, while a considerable body 
of cavalry hastened after. The Romans 
were chiefly, however, embarrassed in 
their attempt to land by the size of their 
ships ; and the soldiers were obliged to 
leap into the sea completely armed for 
the combat. Caesar perceivnig this, and 
in order to drive the Britons from the 
water side, who annoyed his troops 
with their slings and arrows, directed 
his galleys to advance with their broad- 
sides towards the shore. The Britons, 
surprised by the size and evolutions of 
a species of shipping with which they 
were not previously acquainted, began 
to give ground. The battle, however, 
continued for some time greatly to the 
disadvantage of the Romans ; till at last 
Caesar, observing the distress of his 
men, caused several of his boats to be 
manned, and sent them to the assistance 
of those who were most exposed. The 
Roman legions now soon overcame the 
undisciplined native force, and made 
good their landing ; but were unable to 
pursue the enemy for want of cavalry. 
The Britons, on the other hand, were so 



ENGLAND. 



159 



disheartened with their bad success that 
they immediately sent ambassadors to 
sue for peace. This was granted, on 
condition of their delivering a certain 
number of hostages for their fidelity. 
Part of these they brought immediately, 
and promised to return in a few days 
with the rest, who they said lived at 
some distance. But, in the mean time, 
the eighteen transports which carried 
Caesar's cavalry being driven back by a 
storm, and the fleet greatly damaged, the 
Britons broke their engagement, and fell 
unexpectedly on the seventh legion, 
while busied in foraging. Cajsar has- 
tened to their assistance with two cohorts, 
and at last repulsed the enemy. This, 
however, proved only a temporary ad- 
vantage, for the Britons, thinking it would 
be possible to cut ofl' all the Romans at 
once, drew together a great body of horse 
and foot, which boldly advanced to the 
Roman intrenchments. Caesar came out 
to meet them, and the Britons were once 
more put to flight with great slaughter. 
Having burned several towns and vil- 
lages, the victors returned to the camp, 
whither they were soon followed by 
deputies from the natives, to whom the 
Roman commander, being in want of 
horse, and afraid lest another storm 
should destroy the remainder of his fleet, 
granted peace, on condition of their send- 
ing him into Gaul double the number of 
hostages which they had promised. 

In the following spring, Britain was 
again visited by the Roman conqueror, 
who brought with him a fleet of eight 
hundred vessels ; and on this second in- 
vasion, the British cheftains came down 
into the woods near the coast, and there 
watched every opportunity to annoy his 
army. They were at first encouraged 
by the Roman Emperor having lost forty 
vessels which were wrecked during the 
violence of a storm ; but having received 
a check from the disciplined Roman sol- 
diers, many of the chiefs retired to their 
mountains, having first invited Cassibela, 
king of the Cassii, to undertake their de- 
fence ; and it is very possible, as he had 
acquired great skill and judgment by his 
previous wars, that he might have been 
victorious in his country's cause, but for 
the treachery of the native princes, some 



of whom conspired to betray him. He 
was compelled to sue for peace, and that 
campaign ended in the Britons consent- 
ing to furnish an annual tribute to Rome, 
and Ceesar again quitted the island, and 
wintered in Gaul. 

During the succeeding ninety-seven 
years Britain retained its independence ; 
but the Emperor Claudius invaded it in 
person, A. D. 43, and, at his departure, 
he divided the command of the Roman 
legions between Vespasian and the legate 
Plautius. The latter fought thirty bat- 
tles before he could subdue the natives 
of Belgffi and the Isle of Wight ; and the 
former was opposed during five years by 
Caractacus, who gave the enemy battle 
on the lofty hill, Caer-Caradoc. Such 
was the courageous valor of the British 
on that occasion, that, at the approach of 
the Romans, they pledged themselves by 
oath to conquer or die. The Romans, 
however, mounted the hill, and having 
driven the Silures from its summit, took 
the wife and daughters of Caractacus 
prisoners. His brothers surrendered, 
and the king himself was delivered up 
to Ostorius, by his step-mother, Cartis- 
mandua. 

Caractacus, after braving the power 
of Rome during nine years, was sent a 
prisoner to the imperial city, through 
which he passed to grace the triumph of 
Claudius ; but his misfortunes in no shape 
dismayed the spirit of the British war- 
rior, who simply expressed his surprise 
that men, who possessed such riches at 
home, should have found it worth their 
while to fight for the wretched hovels of 
Britain. Caractacus afterwards was 
restored to liberty, but hostilities con- 
tinued ; and after several battles, in which 
the Romans generally gained the advan- 
tage, their general, Suetonius Paulinus, 
resolved on the reduction of the Isle of 
Anglesey, which hitherto had been the 
secure retreat of the Dniids, to whose 
influence the Romans attributed the per- 
seA'^ering resistance of the Britons. 

At this period Prasatagus, king of the 
Iceni, died. He had seconded the views 
of the Roman conqueror, and the better 
to secure his property, had made the em- 
peror joint heir with his own daughters ; 
but Roman avarice not being easily satis- 



160 



ENGLAND. 




Queen Buadicea attacking the Romans. 



fied, the whole succession was imme- 
diately seized in the emperor's name ; 
the widow, Boadicea, ventured to re- 
monstrate, for which she was scourged 
as a slave, and her daughters violated. 
The history of her wrongs led her coun- 
trymen to feel their own, and excited a 
general spirit of revenge, so that they 
willingly followed her to battle. The 
contest was long and fiercely maintained, 
but the Romans were at last victorious, 
and Boadicea ended her misfortunes by 
a voluntary death. 

The celebrated Julius Agricola was 
appointed to the command of Britain, A. 
D. 78, and his arrival was signalized by 
a victory over the Ordovices and the con- 
quest of Anglesey. After these successes, 
he employed himself most studiously in 
reconciling the Britons to the Roman 
yoke. In tliis he met with such success, 
through his wise and equitable conduct, 
that the Britons, barbarous as they were, 
began to prefer a life of security and 
peace, to the state of wild independence 
which they had formerly enjoyed, and 
which continually exposed them to the 
tumults and calamities of war. The suc- 
ceeding campaigns of Agricola were at- 
tended with equal success ; he not only 
subdued the different tribes inhabiting 



England, but carried the Roman arms 
almost to the extremity of Scotland. He 
also caused his fleet to sail round the 
island, and discovered the Orcades, or 
Orkney islands. His expedition occu- 
pied about six years, and was completed 
A. D. 84. 

Had this commander been continued 
in Britain, it is probable that both Eng- 
land and Scotland would have been per- 
manently subdued; but he was recalled 
by Domitian in the year 85, and we arc 
then almost totally in the dark about the 
British aflairs till the reign of the em- 
peror Adrian. During this interval, the 
Caledonians had taken arms, and not 
only refused subjection to ihe Roman 
power, but also ravaged the territories 
of the Britons who continued faithful to 
them. Adrian, for what reason is not 
well known, abandoned to them the 
whole tract lying between the Tyne and 
the Forth. At the same time, in order 
to restrain them from making incursions 
into the Roman territories, he built a 
wall eighty miles in length, from the 
river Eden in Cumberland to the Tyne 
in Northumberland. He was succeeded 
by Antoninus Pius, in whose reign the 
Brigantes revolted ; and the Caledonians, 
having in several places broken down 



ENGLAND, 



161 



the wall built by Adrian, began anew to 
ravage the Roman territories. Against 
them the emperor sent Lollius Urbiciis, 
who reduced the Brigantes ; and having 
defeated the northern nations, confined 
them within narrower bounds by a new 
wall, extending probably between the 
friths of Forth and Clyde. From the 
lime of Antoninus to that of Severus, the 
Roman dominions in Britain continued to 
be much infested by the inroads of the 
northern nations. 

About the year 360, the Picts and 
Scots, the former adventurers from Ire- 
land, the latter the northern tribes to 
whom we have already alluded, united 
in making incursions, and even broke 
down the wall Avhich Severus had built 
to protect the Britons. Since the Roman 
legions had been withdrawn from the 
island to defend their continental territo- 
ries, several ambitious pretenders had 
assumed the purple ; but each had en- 
joyed for a short time only the power of 
usurpation ; and the native Britons, find- 
ing they were continually exposed to the 
inroads of their enemies, determined to 
reject an authority which was become 
too weak to afford them protection : 
they, therefore, deposed the Roman 
magistrates, and proclaimed their own 
independence. 

We are informed that, on the extinc- 
tion of the imperial authority, the pro- 
vinces were divided among a multitude 
of petty chieftains, whose ambition, wars, 
and vices, inflicted more extensive inju- 
ries than the incursions of foreign ene- 
mies. To these miseries succeeded the 
dreadful scourges of pestilence and fa- 
mine ; district after district, became the 
scene of devastation, till their common 
danger warned them to seek other assis- 
tance, and a Saxon squadron being then 
cruising in the channel, in quest of ad- 
ventures, the two commanders, " Hengist 
and Horsa, eagerly accepted the over- 
tures of the British prince, Vortigern, to 
aid in fighting his battles, and to depend 
for their reward on his gratitude." 

During the Roman power in Britain, 
Christianity was introduced, it is believed, 
as early as the age of the apostles. In 
A. D. 597, Pope Gregory sent Augustus, 
and forty other monks, to instruct the 
21 



inhabitants in the Christian religion ; 
from this period, it gradually gained the 
ascendency till the seventh century, when 
it became the religion of all the inhabi- 
tants. Previous to this, the people were 
pagans, their religious system was term- 
ed Druidism ; their priests were called 
Druids, and they occasionally required 
human beings to be sacrificed. 

Having embarked, about 1,600 men on 
board three vessels, the two brothers ar- 
rived in the Isle of Thanet, in A. D, 449. 
They were received by the inhabitants 
with the greatest demonstration of joy ; 
the isle in which they had landed was 
immediately appointed for their habita- 
tion, and a league was concluded, in vir- 
tue of which the Saxons were to defend 
the provincial Britons against all foreign 
enemies ; and the provincials were to 
allow the Saxons pay and maintenance, 
besides the place allotted them for their 
abode. Soon after their arrival, king 
Vortigern led them against the northern 
nations, who had lately broken into the 
kingdom, and advanced as far as Stam- 
ford, in Lincolnshire. Here a battle was 
fought, in which the Scots and Picts 
were utterly defeated. Vortigern was 
so highly pleased with his new allies, 
that he bestowed large possessions upon 
Hengist and Horsa. It is said that, even 
at this time, Hengist obseving the inhab- 
itants to be quite enervated with luxury, 
entertained hopes of conquering part of 
Britain. He, therefore, with Vortigern's 
consent, invited over more of his coun- 
trymen, informing them of the fruitfulness 
of the country,' the effeminacy of the 
inhabitants, and how easily a conquest 
might be effected. The Saxons readily 
complied, and in 452, as many more ar- 
rived in seventeen vessels, as, with those 
already in Britain, made up 5,000 men. 

The Saxons by their victories, and 
having their numbers augvnnented by 
numerous adventurers from Germany, 
became powerful. Difficulties having 
arisen between them and the Britons, 
they turned their arms against them, and 
for a long period many bloody conflicts 
occurred. 

After a violent contest of near two 
centuries, the Saxons entirely subdued 
the Britons whom they had come to de- 



162 



ENGLAND. 



fend, and eventually erected the seven 
independent kingdoms of the Saxon Hep- 
tarchy. Of these, Northuinbria, Mercia, 
and Wessex, were the most distinguished. 
The race of Northumbrian kings, in their 
rapid succession, present a continued 
scene of perfidy, treason, and murder. 
Within the lapse of a century, fourteen 
kings assumed the sceptre, of whom 
seven were slain ; six were driven from 
the throne by their rebellious subjects ; 
and only one died in the possession of 
the royal dignity ; and, finally, the Danes 
extinguished the Northumbrian dynasty, 
by the slaughter of Ella and Osbriht, in 
the year 867. 

The Danes were a hardy race from the 
shores of the Baltic, who despised the 
tranquil enjoyments of peace, and prefer- 
red the acquisitions of rapine. Their 
maritime shuation procured for their 
chieftains the title of sea-kings. Till the 
eighth century, this people confined their 
depredations to the northern seas, but the 
report of wealth in the south incited them 
to more important expeditions. 

During the eighth century, this race 
of pirates made three attempts to land 
in Britain, which created no serious 
cause of alarm ; but in 832, they effected 
their purpose in the Isle of Sheppy, and 
three years after appeared on the coast 
of Cornwall, were they succeeded in se- 
ducing the Britons from their allegiance. 

During the reign of Ethelbert, one of 
the kings of Wessex, Radnor Lodbrog, 
a famed sea-king, attempted the invasion 
of England, and was slain by the hand 
of Ella, a Northumbrian. The sons of 
Lodbrog arrived from Denmark, with 
their relatives and friends, to avenge the 
death of their father. The number of 
this formidable armament amounted to 
20,000. Ethelred had only ascended 
the throne of Wessex a few months when 
the Danes, under the command of Inguar 
and Ubba, the sons of Radnor, landed in 
East Anglia. Devastation and murder 
every where followed the steps of the 
victorious Danes ; they burnt the rich 
monasteries of Bardsey and Croyland, 
and then proceeded to destroy Medes- 
hamstede, at which place Ubba slaugh- 
tered, with his own hand, the abbot and 
eighty-four monks. The Saxon princes 



saw the progress of the Danish arms 
without making any effectual efforts to 
restrain their rapacity ; but Ethelred, 
with his brother Alfred, gave the enemy 
battle near Reading. A solitary thorn- 
tree long after marked the spot where the 
Danes were defeated. 

Another desperate engagement took 
place at Morton, in Berkshire, where, it 
is believed, the Danes remained in pos- 
session of the field. Ethelred, who had 
been wounded, survived only a few days, 
and was buried at Wimborne. The in- 
vaders returned to Reading, to divide the 
spoil, and to rejoice over their victory. 

We come now to one of the brightest 
periods of English history, and it is grati- 
fying for the chronicler to pass from 
scenes of barbaric ignorance and military 
tyranny, to the annals of a period when 
laws Avere formed for the protection of 
the serf, no less than for that of his des- 
potic ruler. When the unanimous voice 
of the West Saxons called Alfred to the 
throne, in 871, he refused the royal hon- 
ors ofi'ered to him ; alleging his own in- 
capacity, and the increasing num!:»er of 
the Danes. But his objections being 
overruled, the archbishop of Canterbury 
fixed the crown upon his head. 

Alfred, after having in vain attempted 
to expel the Danes, was forsaken by 
his subjects, who could no longer be 
roused by the most ardent exhortations. 
Some fled to Wales or to transmarine 
regions ; and the rest endeavored, by the 
most abject submission, to mitigate the 
fury of these ferocious invaders. 

There is a very characteristic anecdote 
told of the fallen fortunes of the monarch 
at this period. Destitute of troops, Alfred, 
submitting to necessity, dismiss.^d his at- 
tendants, and, disguising his person in 
the garb of a peasant, took refuge for a 
time in the cottage of a neat-herd. Here, 
intent on higher objects, he attended not 
to the toasting of some cakes which his 
hostess, ignorant of his rank, had one day 
committed to his care ; and, having suf- 
fered them to be burned, he received an 
apparently just reprimand for the neglect 
of that wluch was so hospitably shared 
with him. He is said to have afterwards, 
in his prosperity, persuaded this herds- 
man, named Denulf, to cultivate letters, 



ENGLAND. 



163 




Alfred disguised as a spy. 



and to have promoted him to the church 
till he became bishop of Winchester. 

Assuming the disguise of a harper, he 
had the boldness to enter the Danish 
camp, in which he was entertained sev- 
eral days, and introduced to Guthrum the 
chief commander. Satisfied of his ene- 
my's unguarded state, he, by his emissa- 
ries in every direction, summoned liis 
nobles and their followers to Brixton near 
Selwood Forest. These having experi- 
enced still deeper affliction in peace from 
the brutal tyranny of their conquerors, 
than they had before from the violence 
of hostility, assembled with alacrity on 
the appointed day, and with shouts of 
joy recognised their heroic monarch, 
whom they had long considered as dead. 
Leading them to Eddington, where the 
Danes were encamped, without a mo- 
ment's loss, he made a well directed and 
furious attack. Unprepared, and aston- 
ished at the sudden sight of an English 
army, with Alfred at its head, the Danes 
were with appalling havoc put to flight. 
Besieged in a fortified camp, where they 
had taken refuge, they surrendered at 
discretion from want of provisions. Al- 
fred, obeying the dictates of wisdom and 
humanity, instead of consigning them to 



the sword, admitted Guthrum and his 
followers as allies, or feudal subjects, on 
their consenting to become Christians ; 
to occupy, as settlers, the desolated lands 
of the Northumbrians and East-Angles ; 
and to co-operate with the English in 
preventing the ravages of other Scandi- 
navians. Some smaller parties of these 
invaders, dispersed in Mercia, were, un- 
der the denomination of Fiveburghers, 
distributed, as citizens, in the five cities 
of Derby, Leicester, Stamford, Lincoln, 
and Nottingham. Others, inveterate in 
their depredatory habits, departed from 
the country, and engaged elsewhere in 
piratical expeditions, chiefly under a cele- 
brated leader named Hastings. 

When these fierce invaders were thus 
expelled or subdued, the talents of Alfred 
were strenuously exerted in arrange- 
ments for the external defence and inter- 
nal police of his kingdom, which had 
been reduced by the Danes to the most 
wild and deplorable state of disorder. 

The military arrangements of Alfred, 
though the most efficacious which the 
debilitated condition of the country ad- 
mitted, were soon put to a severe and 
decisive trial by a great armament of 
Danes, in 893. From the French terri- 



164 



ENGLAND. 



tories, Hastings returned to the English 
coast with a fleet of three hundred and 
thirty vessels, which probably carried 
above twenty thousand combatants. He 
was, however, most signally defeated. 

As Guthrum, and others of their lead- 
ers attached to the English monarch, 
were dead, the Danes of the Northum- 
brian and East-Anglian territories, yield- 
ing to the impulse of a renovated spirit of 
plunder, when opportunity seemed given, 
collected a fleet, and, sailing to the south- 
ern coast, suddeidy invested the city of 
Exeter. Alfred, however, made a rapid 
march to this quarter, surprised the be- 
siegers, routed, and drove them to their 
ships. But in his absence the Danes at 
Bamflete, leaving their wives, children, 
and booty, in their fortified camp under 
a strong guard, directed their course to- 
wards the interior of the country with the 
most wasteful devastation. On this in- 
telligence reaching London, the king's 
troops made an unexpected and success- 
ful attack on the Danish camp, where 
they secured much plunder and many 
prisoners, among whom were the wife 
and two sons of Hastings. Alfred, how- 
ever, restored the prisoners to the Danish 
commander, in the vain hope of prevail- 
ing on him to depart from England. The 
banded robbers, still hoping to make a 
conquest, continued to alarm the country 
for above two years, effecting a retreat 
by furious eflbrts from place to place. 
Hastings, Avho had been above thirty 
years incessantly engaged in predatory 
war, and appears to be one of the ablest 
commanders recorded in history, is said 
to have at length withdrawn himself to 
France, and to have spent the rest of his 
life in privacy, on a small domain given 
him by the French monarch. The rem- 
nant of the hostile Danes in England be- 
took themselves to sea under Sigefert, a 
Northumbrian, who had constructed ves- 
sels of an extraordinary height, length, 
and swiftness. These were soon sur- 
passed in force and celerity, and totally 
defeated, by ships of Alfred's contrivance, 
who hanged the crews of twenty barks, 
condemned at Winchester, as the com- 
mon enemies of mankind. The North- 
umbrian and East-Anglian Danes, who, 
after their overthrow at Exeter, had also 



been foiled in their attempts elsewhere, 
renewed their submissions ; and the few, 
who refused to become peaceable sub- 
jects, were obliged to abandon the Eng- 
lish territories. 

After his final success against the 
Danes in 897, Alfred, immolested during 
the remaining four years of his reign, 
had abundance of leisure to renew his 
application to the institutions of civil gov- 
ernment, and the general improvement 
of his people. These institutions, al- 
ready in part established by ancient cus- 
tom, he new modelled, extended, and con- 
firmed by provisions for the strict execu- 
tion of justice. 

His eflbrts were extended to the pro- 
motion of all the useful arts, particularly 
those of navigation and commerce, and 
he employed the ablest navigators to 
make voyages of discovery. Wulfstan, 
an English mariner, explored the Baltic 
to the mouth of the river Vistula. Oh- 
there, a Norwegian, doubling the North 
Cape, discovered the White Sea and the 
river Dwina. The journals of these two 
voyages are still extant. Sighelm, an 
English priest, sent as his envoy to the 
Christians of the Island of St. Thomas, re- 
turned with a cargo of spices and jewels. 

Edward, the elder, succeeded Alfred to 
the throne of England. The military 
genius this prince possessed was no 
doubt inherited from his father, and it 
enabled him not only constantly to main- 
tain a superiority over the Danes, but 
also to subdue the internal commotions 
with which he was constantly assailed 
at home. In his various operations he 
was powerfully seconded by his sister 
Ethelfleda, queen of the Mercians. On 
the death of this heroine, in the year 
920, Mercia, taken under Edward's im- 
mediate government, from that time 
ceased to be a separate kingdom. 

Athelstan having been educated under 
the eye of his aunt Ethelfleda, was in- 
sured the favor of the Mercians. He 
was crowned at Kingston, by Athelm, 
archbishop of Canterbury, in 925. All 
the counties which had been originally 
conquered and colonized by the several 
Saxon tribes, united under the authority 
of this monarch, so that he really merit- 
ed the title of " king of England." 



ENGLAND. 



165 




Dunstan forcing king 

The reign of Edmund lasted only six 
years. He died by the hand of Leof, a 
noted outlaw, whilst celebrating the feast 
of St. Augustine. This king left two 
sons, Edwy and Edgar ; but the eldest 
being only nine years of age, Edred, the 
only remaining son of king Edward, was 
chosen to represent him. 

Edred was much influenced by his 
ministers — the chancellor Turketul, and 
Dunstan, abbot of Glastonbury. Turke- 
tul was a clergyman of royal descent, 
and the grandson of Alfred ; he was hon- 
ored with the approbation of Edred, and 
the applause of the people, and he held 
the first place in the royal councils. He 
revived the monastery of Croyland, which 
had been destroyed by the Danes, and 
embraced a monastic life. Dunstan had 
been introduced by his relatiA'es, Athelm, 
archbishop of Canterbury, and Elphege, 
bishop of Winchester, to the court of king 
Athelstan ; and afterwards caused the 
chancellor Turketul to recommend him 
to king Edmund, who bestowed upon 
Dunstan, Glastonbury and its possessions. 
Over Edred, who made him the director 
of his conscience, Dunstan appears to 
have exercised the most despotic con- 
trol. The reign of Edred was prosper- 



Edwy from his queen. 

ous, but short ; frequent attacks of illness 
enfeebled his frame, and he died in 954. 
Edwy was not more than sixteen years 
of age when he ascended the throne. 
Beautiful in person, of an amiable dispo- 
sition, and of promising virtue, he was, 
notwithstanding, odious to Dunstan, who 
was conscious of having abused the late 
king's imbecility to the total impoverish- 
ment of the crown, and who also may 
have dreaded a discernment and vigor 
of mind in the young monarch incompati- 
ble with his designs of ecclesiastical 
domination. As if determined at once 
to enter into a trial of strength with his 
sovereign, this audacious monk, on the 
very day of the coronation, made a vio- 
lent attack on the young king. Disliking 
the riot and intemperance to which the 
English were addicted, or allured by con- 
nubial affection, Edwy, without sufficient- 
ly attending to the prevailing habits of his 
subjects, retired alter dinner to his queen's 
apartment, leaving his nobles and prelates 
drinking in the gi-eat hall. It may be 
proper to state that Elgiva, the queen, 
was his relative within the degrees pre- 
scribed by the canons, and as such was 
not by the monks allowed to be his wife. 
Dunstan, accompanied by Cynesius, a 



166 



ENGLAND. 



bishop, forced his way into the apart- 
ment where Edwy was sitting with El- 
giva and her mother, outraged the ladies 
with the most opprobrious language, and 
violently dragged the monarch back into 
the hall. 

Enraged by such brutality, the king 
called Dunstan to account for his abuse 
of the public treasure, drove him into 
exile, and, expelling the new monks he 
had created, restored the rightful owners 
to their monasteries. But the partisans 
of the ambitious churchman, who were 
zealously active, formed a conspiracy, 
which completely overmatched all the 
force collected by the youthful monarch. 
Odo, archbishop of Canterbury, a fero- 
cious bigot, who was of Danish race, and 
had himself been a soldier, forced the 
palace with a body of armed men, seized 
Elgiva, against whom he had pronounced 
a sentence of divorce, branded her face 
with a hot iron to destroy her beauty, and 
banished her into Ireland. This prin- 
cess, on recovering her health, returned 
to England, but was intercepted at Glou- 
cester by lier monkish foes, who added 
to their previous atrocities by cutting the 
tendons of her legs, and left her to ex- 
pire in the most excruciating agony. 
Edwy, who determinately opposed the 
monks, was excommunicated, and dis- 
possessed of all his dominions except 
Wessex, by the victorious faction, who 
placed Edgar his brother, a boy of thir- 
teen, at their head. Dunstan returned in 
triumph ; and Edwy died in 959, but 
whether in consequence of a broken 
heart, or the stroke of an assassin, is 
matter of some dispute. 

Edgar, on commencing his reign, ap- 
pears to have made a tacit compromise 
with Dunstan and his monks, allowing 
them to govern as they pleased, and was 
in return indulged in the gratification 
of the most licentious desires. By his 
monkish historians he is represented as 
a mighty conqueror, statesman, and even 
saint. But historical facts are totally 
wanting to support the first part of this 
character, and are copiously furnished to 
overthrow the last. 

Edward the Martyr was in his thir- 
teenth year when his father Edgar died. 
But his accession to the throne met with 



violent opposition from his mother-in- 
law, Elfrida, who wished that her own 
son should reign in his stead ; but Dun- 
stan, who was always bold and decisive 
in his measures, assembled his followers, 
and without further delay, placed the 
crown on the head of Edward. The 
exertions of Elfrida, however, were not 
lessened by this circumstance, for she 
planned, and successfully executed, the 
murder of the king. As Edward was 
hunting near Corfe Castle, in Dorsetshire, 
the residence of the queen, he rode, 
without suspicion, to the entrance gate, 
to pay his respects to the queen, and 
having requested a draught of wine, at 
the moment he raised the cup to his lips 
he received a wound in the back. Put- 
ting spurs to his horse, he galloped away 
at full speed, but fell from the animal, 
and was dragged at the stirrup till he 
expired. 

Tliis reign was most disastrous. Hea- 
ven seemed to conspire with man in the 
severity of its visitation ; famine and 
disease afflicted the human species, 
whilst a contagious disorder among the 
cattle added to the horrors of invasion, 
which the northern pirates practised on 
different parts of the coast. Such were 
the ravages made by the invaders, that 
Ethelred, in 1001, paid them twenty- 
four thousand pounds to retire from his 
kingdom. This, and repeated sums given 
for the same purpose, procured only a 
temporary suspension of misery. After 
the death of Edgar, the administration 
of justice had been only feebly enforced, 
and at this period, it was entirely sus- 
pended. The absence of legal punish- 
ments, and a long continued state of 
warfare, left men's passions free from 
restraint, and individuals sought to in- 
demnify themselves for their own losses 
by the spoliation of their neighbors 
Relations are said to have sold their 
relatives, and parents their children, as 
slaves. Wherever money was known 
to exist, it was required by the king's 
officers, and to that period may be refer- 
red the origin of direct and annual tax- 
ation. The impost, called " Danegelt," 
was established at that time, and became 
an annual land-tax of twelve pence per 
hide. 



ENGLAND. 



167 



In the year 1002, Ethelred espoused 
as his second wife, Emma, a Norman 
princess, and the rejoicings had scarcely 
finished before the king ordered a gen- 
eral massacre of the Danes to take place, 
which command was executed through- 
out every county, with every additional 
insult which national enmity could sug- 
gest. Ethelred expected by his union 
with Emma, to have found a powerfid 
support against the Danes in her brother 
Richard, duke of Normandy ; but the 
king's neglect of the queen, and his in- 
fidelity, had lost him her affection. The 
nobility were divided by the influence 
of faction, and treason and murder were 
the results. The king was entirely un- 
equal to the duties of government, and 
the people continued to be the sport of a 
vindictive and revengeful enemy, until 
Sweyn, having exhausted the spirit of 
retaliation on the murderer of his coun- 
trymen, consented to terms of peace, on 
receiving 36,000/. of silver. 

After Sweyn's departure, he secretly 
permitted Thurchil to continue the same 
work of devastation. The first year he 
ravaged the southern provinces ; in the 
second, he penetrated through East 
Anglia into the fens, which had hitherto 
afforded a retreat to the natives ; and the 
third year, he besieged the city of Can- 
terbury. Treachery favored the surren- 
der, and the Danes numbered 800 cap- 
tives, whilst 8,000 inhabitants perished 
in the flames. On that occasion, Elphege, 
the archbishop, venerable for his age 
and virtues, was bound and dragged to 
behold the fate of his cathedral ; in which 
were collected the monks and the clergy, 
the women and the children. The pile 
was set on fire, and as the melting lead 
and falling timbers compelled them to 
quit their retreat, they were massacred 
before the eyes of the primate, who was 
reserved some weeks in the hope of re- 
ceiving a ransom of 3000/. ; but the old 
man refused to ask his friends or the 
clergy to pay the sum. He Avas inhu- 
manly murdered whilst laboring to im- 
press his captors with a reverence for 
the doctrine of Christianity. After rav- 
aging thirteen counties, Thurchil sold his 
services to Ethelred in 1012, for the 
sum of 40,000/. ; which, when Swevn 



heard, he was jealous of the chieftain's 
compromise with the English, and de- 
clared his intention to conquer England. 
Hoping thereby to inspire the islanders 
with a terror of his name, he issued or- 
ders to his followers " to ravage the 
open countiy, pillage the churches, burn 
the towns, and put every male to the 
sword ;" which instructions were ob- 
served, except where the inhabitants ap- 
peased the invaders by prayers and hos- 
tages. Ethelred, after some unsuccess- 
ful attempts to defend London, fled in 
despair, and having abandoned the crown 
to his competitor, remained concealed in 
the Isle of Wight, until a messenger 
from his queen brought him the offer of 
an asylum in Normandy. Sweyn, how- 
ever, died the following month, leaving 
the crown to his eldest son, who landed, 
in 1016, at Sandvvitch, then the most cel- 
ebrated haven in Britain, accompanied 
by Thurchil. When they arrived, Eth- 
elred was confined by illness at Cosham, 
in Wiltshire, from Avhence he Avas re- 
moved to London, Avhere he lingered 
through the Avinter, and died on the 23rd 
of April, at the moment the invaders were 
preparing to besiege him in his capital. 
By his first wife he had three sons, Ed- 
mund, Edwy, and Athelstan ; and by his 
second, he left two, Edward and Alfred. 

Edmund, surnamed Ironside, the eldest 
son of Ethelred, succeeded to the throne 
at a period of the most imminent danger 
to the liberties of his country. The fe- 
rocious character of the invading army 
was too Avell knoAvn for either him or his 
people to expect mercy at their hands in 
the event of their expedition proving suc- 
cessful ; and yet their very ferocity pre- 
A'ented the people from bravely second- 
ing their sovereign in his attempts at de- 
fence. Edmund was a man of great 
courage as Avell as bodily strength, and 
in the latter respect excelled almost any 
of his subjects. 

He possessed abilities sufficient to 
have saved his country from ruin, had he 
come sooner to the throne ; but it Avas 
now too late. He bravely opposed the 
Danes, however, notwithstanding every 
disadvantage ; till at last the nobility of 
both nations obliged their kings to come 
to a compromise, and divide the king- 



168 



ENGLAND. 



dom between them by treaty. Canute 
reserved to himself Mercia, East An- 
gUa, and Northumberland, which he had 
entirely subdued. The southern parts 
were left to Edmund. This prince sur- 
vided the treaty oidy about a month ; be- 
ing murdered at Oxford by two of his 
chamberlains. 

After the death of Edmund nothing 
was left for the English but submission 
to Canute. 

Though Canute had, previous to his 
accession to the throne, received bap- 
tism, he knew little of the Christian doc- 
trine ; but no sooner was he seated on 
the English throne, than the ferocity of 
his disposition yielded to the precepts of 
religion ; and the sanguinary sea-king 
was insensibly moulded into a just and 
beneficent monarch. He placed the two 
nations on an equality, and admitted them 
alike to offices of trust and emolument. 
He prohibited the custom of sending 
Christians for sale into foreign countries ; 
and, in his frequent visits to Denmark, 
he took with him pious and learned mis- 
sionaries to civilize and instruct his 
countrymen. 

Of Canute, historians speak highly, as 
regarding his piety, and his equitable 
system of government. He revised sev- 
eral old laws, and formed many new 
ones, all of which tended to the public 
welfare. In 1030, Canute went to Rome, 
and on his return, paid a visit to Denmark. 

By the marriage settlement between 
Canute and his queen Emma, the crown 
of England should have descended to 
their son Hardicanute, but as he was ab- 
sent at the time of his father's death, the 
ambition of his half brother Harold, 
caused him to aspire to the throne ; and, 
being generally supported by the nobility, 
he took possession of it in the place of 
Hardicanute. 

The early part of this king's short 
reign was marked bj'' many acts of cruelty 
and injustice. Having first induced Al- 
fred, the youngest son of Ethelred, to 
visit England, he caused the adherents 
of the prince who accompanied him to 
Guildford to be assassinated, and then 
murdered the unsuspecting Alfred. Af- 
ter a reign of four years he died, in 1039, 
and was buried at Westminster. 



Hardicanute was with his mother Em- 
ma, (who had accepted an asylum at 
Bruges from Baldwin of Flanders,) when 
a messenger arrived with intelligence of 
the death of Harold, and who was fol- 
lowed by a deputation of English and 
Danish thanes, requesting Hardicanute 
to ascend the throne of his father. On 
his arrival in London, his feelings urged 
him to an act of impotent revenge ; he 
ordered the tomb of his predecessor to 
be opened, the body to be decapitated, 
and the head and trunk to be thrown into 
the Thames. The command was obeyed; 
but the head and trunk were both recov- 
ered by some fishermen, who deposited 
them in the cemetery of St. Clements, 
London, the buiying place of the Danes. 

The reign of this prince was short and 
popular, the strength of his constitution, 
from which he derived the name of Hardy, 
was entirely overpowered by habitual in- 
temperance, and he suddenly expired at 
Lambeth, in the second year of his reign, 
at the bridal of a noble Dane. The death 
of Hardicanute severed the crown of 
Denmark from that of England, and the 
Saxon Edward was placed on the throne. 

Before the body of the departed king 
was laid in the grave, Edward ascended 
the throne. This prince was about forty 
years of age when he commenced his 
reign, and appears to have aimed only at 
improving the condition of his people : 
all historians agree in his being rather a 
good than a great man. 

The only foreign war maintained by 
this prince was one against Macbeth, the 
usurper and murderer of Duncan, king of 
Scotland ; and ihe victory of Laufanan, 
in Aberdeenshire, by the fall of Macbeth, 
secured the crown on the head of the 
rightful heir. 

King Edward wished, according to the 
fashion of those times, to visit Rome, 
but his desig-n being opposed by his 
council, he sent his nephew and ixame- 
sake, the exiled son of his brother Ed- 
mund, and who, in the Saxon line, was 
the rightful heir to the throne. The 
prince arrived in London, and kept at a 
distance from the king, and in a few days j 
he died suddenly, not without suspicion j 
being attached to Harold, who was now 
resident in England ; and between whom 



ENGLAND. 



169 




Death of king Harold at the battle of Hastings. 



and the throne there stood only one indi- 
vidual, namely, Edgar, son of the lately 
deceased prince Edward. By an acci- 
dental occurrence, some time before this 
event, Harold fell into the hands of earl 
Guy, who surrendered him to William 
who was then in Normandy; and he 
found himself so completely a prisoner as 
to be induced to do homage for his lands 
and honors to William, as the apparent 
successor of Edward. Harold returned 
to London only five weeks before the 
death of Edward, which took place on the 
5th of January, 1066. 

In consequence of a report that Ed- 
ward had appointed Harold to be his 
successor, the latter was proclaimed 
king, and was crowned by Aldred, the 
archbishop of York ; while to Edgar, 
who was the last male descendant of the 
race of Cedric, was given the earldom 
of Oxford. 

On learning the death of Edward, and 
accession of Harold, William duke of 
Normandy determined to enforce his 
claim to the crow-n of England. Prepa- 
rations were made on both sides, and 
Harold was waiting with confidence the 
approach of his enemy, when his pro- 
jects were disconcerted by the arrival of 
32 



a fleet of Norwegians, under the com- 
mand of Hardrada their king. An obsti- 
nate battle was fought near York, in 
which the Norwegians were defeated and 
Hardrada slain. Harold w^as at York, 
when the news of the descent of the Nor- 
mans was announced to him. 

William effected his landing on the 
29th of September, 1066, with an army 
composed of warriors from every prov- 
ince of France. Harold marched his 
army to Scnlac, an eminence near Has- 
tings ; where, on the opposite hill, he 
found William employed in marshalling 
his host. Each army spent the night in 
its camp ; the English in revelry and 
mirth, the Normans in fasting and prayer. 
The battle began at nine o'clock on the 
morning of the 14th of October, 1066. 
The Normans advancing in three lines 
raised the national shout of " God is our 
help!" which was as loudly answered by 
the adverse cry of " Christ's rood ! the 
holy rood !" from the English, who rushed 
forward in two lines, principally com- 
posed of infantry. The battle seemed 
for some time in favor of the English, 
and a report spread that W^illiam had 
fallen ; but the duke, with his helmet in 
his hand, galloped along the line exclaim- 



170 



ENGLAND. 



ing, "I am still alive, and with the help 
of God I still shall conquer." Long and 
desperate was the contest of that day ; 
the ground was strewed with the slain, 
and yet the ardor of the surviving comba- 
tants seemed unabated ; when, a little 
before sunset, an arrow, shot at random, 
entered Harold's eye. He instantly fell, 
and the knowledge of his fall relaxed the 
efforts of the English ; they wavered, and 
fled in great confusion, closely pursued 
by the Normans ; who, by the order of 
William, gave no quarter. On the side 
of the victors sixty thousand men had 
been engaged, and more than one-fourth 
were left on the field. The numbers of 
the vanquished, and the amount of their 
loss, is unknown. The king's mother 
begged, as a boon, the body of her son, 
offering as a ransom its weight in gold ; 
but William ordered the corpse of the 
fallen monarch to be buried on the beach, 
adding sarcastically, " He guarded the 
coast while he was alive, let him continue 
to guard it after death." By stealth, how- 
ever, or by purchase, the royal remains 
of Harold were removed, and deposited 
in the church of Waltham, which Har- 
old had founded before he ascended the 
throne. 

William had vainly expected on his re- 
turn to Hastings after the battle, that the 
British crown would have been offered to 
him : a few days, however, dissipated 
the illusion. London was put in a state 
of defence by its citizens, and it required 
great exertions to subdue the English to 
his yoke ; they were, however, ultimately 
compelled to submit. The castle of Do- 
ver yielded, and the inhabitants of Kent 
gave hostages as security for their obe- 
dience. Soon after a deputation arrived, 
consisting of the nobility, the clergy, and 
the principal citizens of London, who, in 
the name of their fellows, swore alle- 
giance to the Conqueror, gave hostages, 
and made him an offer of the crown. He 
affected not to accept it until his Norman 
barons had ratified the proposal with 
their applause ; and then he appointed the 
festival of Christmas for his coronation. 
It accordingly took place in Westminster 
Abbey, on the 25th of December, 1066. 

All the first measures of the Conquer- 
or's reign tended to allay former animosi- 



ties, and to win the affections of his new 
subjects ; all his commands seemed to 
be dictated by justice and moderation, 
with a due regard to ancient laws and 
customs. The monarch was easy of ac- 
cess, and listened graciously to the com- 
plaints of those who approached him. 
From this period the term "bastard," 
which hitherto had distinguished Wil- 
liam, was dropped ; and he received the 
name of " Conqueror." 

To increase his revenue, he erected a 
court of exchequer, wherein the accounts 
of all the officers' collectors were passed, 
and all delays and defaults in payment 
were cognizable. All fines and forfeit- 
ures, by which nearly all crimes were 
commuted for, added greatly to the royal 
income ; and, as a further stretch of des- 
potism, William introduced a regulation, 
formerly established in his continental 
dominions, to prevent nocturnal riots and 
conflagrations, by which the common 
people, on pain of death, were obliged to 
extinguish their fires and candles on the 
ringing of a bell, which, from the purpose 
intended, had derived the appellation of 
couvrefeu, corrupted by the English into 
curfew. 

In the year 1 080, a book of judgment 
was begun by order of the king, who ap- 
pointed commissioners to make a survey 
of the kingdom, and who completed their 
work in two volumes, in 1086. It was 
called Domesday-book, "b-3cause," as 
Carte states, "every man was to receive 
his doom, or be judged by it in case any 
dispute about the value, tenure, payment, 
or services of his lands, should arise upon 
the collection of the king's ordinary reve- 
nue, or raising extraordinary taxes." This 
valuable record, having served ever since 
for a decisive evidence in such disputes, 
is lodged in the office of the chamberlains 
of the exchequer. 

William died at Rouen, September 10, 
1087, and was succeeded by his son Wil- 
liam II, surnamed Rufus, on account of 
his red hair. To gain the national con- 
sent, William hastened from Normandy 
to England, seized the principal fortresses 
on the southern coast, and the royal treas- 
ure at Winchester, by the influence of 
which, and of the primate, to whom he is 
said to have made the most solemn en- 



ENGLAND. 



171 



gagements to govern with justice and 
mercy, he so far prevailed as to be crown- 
ed at Westminster, September, 1087, in 
an assembly of the chief barons and pre- 
lates, and to be acknowledged as their 
sovereign by all the other vassals of the 
crown, in their oaths of allegiance before 
the end of that year. 

The royal treasure seized at Winches- 
ter, beside jewels, gold, plate, and other 
articles, consisted of sixty thousand 
pounds of coined silver, which may be 
estimated as equal to at least a million 
sterling at the present time. 

Notwithstanding the influence of this 
treasure, which William spared not in the 
application, and the oaths of allegiance 
recently sworn, a conspiracy was formed 
in 1088, by the barons, for the dethrone- 
ment of the new monarch, and the eleva- 
tion of his brother Robert to his place. 

During the period that AVilliam was 
engaged in making war on his brother 
Robert in 1091, Malcolm, king of Scot- 
land, took the opportunity of his absence 
from England, to gratify the rapacity of 
his followers with the spoil of the north- 
em counties. This outrage William am- 
ply revenged. Malcolm did him homage, 
and received from him the manors and 
the pension which he had enjoyed under 
the Conqueror. But William, on his re- 
turn from Normandy, visited Carlisle, from 
which he expelled the lord of the district, 
and peopled the city with a colony of 
Englishmen from the south. Whether 
this settlement was considered to be an 
act of invasion by Malcolm, is uncertain ; 
but a new quarrel was created between 
the nations, and on the 1 3th of November, 
1093, Malcolm received his death by the 
sword of Morel, Mowbray's steward. 
His queen, Margaret, survived him only 
four days ; on which occasion the Athel- 
ing Edgar was placed on the throne, and 
restored the children of his sister Marga- 
ret to their former honors. 

Ever since Harold had effected the 
reduction of Wales, the natives acknow- 
ledged themselves the vassals of Eng- 
land ; but their ancient hostility was not 
extinguished, and, in the year 1094, the 
natives of every district in Wales were 
in arms. Their momitainous country 
bade defiance to the heavy cavalry of the 



Normans, and the best William could 
effect, was to adopt his father's policy, 
and draw a chain of castles round the 
country, to stop their further incursions. 

In the following summer, messengers 
arrived to William, at a time when he 
was hunting in the New Forest, with in- 
telligence that his former enemy Helie 
had defeated the Normans, and was lay- 
ing siege to Mans ; upon which he pro- 
ceeded with such speed to that place that 
Helie had scarcely time to save himself 
by flight. The king ravaged the lands 
of his enemies, and then returned to Eng- 
land, where he found Robert de Mow- 
bray at the head of a rebellious party. 
This nobleman was the most powerful of 
the Anglo-Saxon barons ; he inherited 
from his uncle, the bishop of Constance, 
280 manors ; and was moreover allied, by 
blood, or affinity, to all the first families 
in England. He was joined in the rebel- 
lion by many northern earls, but was at 
length compelled to surrender, and lived 
thirty years a prisoner in the castle of 
Windsor. 

In 1 100, the duke of Guienne wishing 
to join the Crusade to the Holy Land, 
applied to William to advance him mo- 
ney on his province, to w^hich the latter 
readily agreed, and was about to pay the 
money and acquire possession of the ter- 
ritories, when an accident terminated his 
life. He was hunting in the New Fo- 
rest, and had alighted from his horse after 
a short chase, when a stag suddenly start- 
ing up near him, a French gentleman, 
named Walter Tyrrel, let fly an arrow at the 
animal, which glancing from a tree, en- 
tered the king's breast and pierced him 
to the heart. Tyrrel immediately fled, 
and the king's body was found by the 
country people and interred without cer- 
emony at Winchester. 

On the death of William II, Henry, 
the youngest son of the Conqueror, has- 
tened to Winchester, seized the royal 
treasure in spite of the resistance of the 
keeper, and proceeded direct to London, 
where he was proclaimed king by the 
great council of state, and was crowned 
on the following Simday at Westminster 
Abbey as Henry I. 

Duke Robert, the rightful heir of Eng 
land, both by primogeniture and his treaty 



172 



ENGLAND. 



with Rufus, had delayed so long his re- 
turn from the Crusade, in which he had 
acquired the highest reputation by his 
valor and generosity, that he lost the op- 
portunity of entering into the possession 
of this kingdom, which he otherwise 
might have accomplished without oppo- 
sition. Arriving in France about a month 
after William's decease, he obtained un- 
opposed possession of the Norman duchy, 
and made vigorous preparations to en- 
force his claim to the English crown 
with the troops of Normandy, aided by 
most of the Normans in England, who 
revolted from Henry, probably through 
the influence of those great barons, who, 
having estates in both countries, may 
have wished a perpetual union of the 
kingdom and duchy. 

When Henry returned to England from 
Normandy, after defeating Duke Robert, 
he was requested by Stephen, a Norman 
mariner, to allow him the honor of con- 
veying him in his vessel, " the White 
Ship," to England, saying, he had car- 
ried his father when he went to the con- 
quest of England. Henry made answer, 
that he had selected a vessel for him- 
self, but he would intrust his son and 
treasures to the White Ship. Accord- 
ingly the young prince, who was in his 
eighteenth year, with Richard and Ade- 
la, natural children of the king, and a 
number of noble ladies and knights, set 
sail at sunset ; but in consequence of 
the revelling and feasting which had pre- 
viously taken place on the deck, the di- 
rection of the vessel was neglected, and 
she struck against a rock called the Cat- 
terage. Fitz-Stephen immediately low- 
ered the prince into a. boat, ordering it 
to row back to land ; but the shrieks of 
Adela moved the generous youth to re- 
turn to her assistance, and, in a short 
time the ship went down, carrying with 
her three hundred persons to the deep. 
A nobleman, Geoffrey L'Aigle, and Ber- 
trand, a butcher of Rouen, were alone 
saved by clinging to the topmast ; but 
only one, the last named, lived to recite 
the tale, as it was on a November night, 
and the nobleman perished from extreme 
cold. From that day king Henry was 
never seen to smile. The prince had 
married, six months before his death, 



! Matilda, the daughter of Fulk of An- 
jou, and she was left a widow at the 
age of twelve years. She remained 
some time with the king, who behaved 
towards her with the affection of a pa- 
rent ; .she then returned to her father, 
and ten years afterwards took the veil, 
in the convent of Fontevraud. 

Henry while hunting near St. Denis 
le Froment, in Normandy, was seized 
with an acute fever, of which he died on 
the seventh day. His bowels were there 
taken out, and deposited in the church of 
St. Mary, at Rouen, which had been 
foiuided by his mother. His body hav- 
ing been embalmed, was conveyed to 
England, and interred in the abbey of 
Reading, which he had founded and rich- 
ly endowed. 

Henry preserved, throughout his reign, 
a great regard for the administration of 
justice ; and the severity with which he 
punished flagrant crimes, caused his sub- 
jects to believe he was " the lion of jus- 
tice" described in the prophecies of Mer- 
lin. In 1 125, the king found it necessa- 
ry to punish the coiners, who abused the 
licence they received from the royal trea- 
sury, to enrich themselves. Another 
grievance redressed by Henry was the 
royal claim of purveyance. Whenever 
the king moved from place to place, he 
was attended by a number of prelates, 
barons, and officers, each of whom was 
followed by a long train of dependants, 
who were accustomed to enter, without 
cermony, the houses of the farmers and 
husbandmen to live at free quarters, 
and, in the insolence of superiority, to 
sell, burn, or waste, what they could not 
consume. A commission of judges was 
appointed to examine the attendants of 
the court and the most culpable of 
them were punished with the loss of an 
eye, a hand, or a foot. It appears from 
ancient writers that the punishment of 
mutilation was thought more useful than 
that of death. The sight of the latter 
was confined to few, and the impression 
was soon obliterated ; but the culprit 
who suffered mutilation carried about 
with him the evidence of his punish- 
ment, and admonished all who saw him 
of the consequence of violating the laws. 
He relieved the tenents of the crown of 



ENGLAND 



173 



the oppression exercised by the caprice 
of the royal officers, who collected the 
rents in kind, by ordering a new survey 
to be made of the royal demesnes, and 
an equitable rent to be paid in money. 
In short, it appears, that w^here the 
king's own interests were not concerned, 
he showed no reluctance to punish the 
exactions and rapacity of others. 

The intervening space between the 
death of Henry I, and the arrival of his 
daughter Matilda in England, was one 
of rapine and confusion — it being a re- 
ceived opinion, that there could be no 
violation of the king's peace until the 
new king had ascended the throne and 
received the homage of his subjects. In 
consequence of this doctrine, the great- 
est outrages were committed. The vio- 
lence of the people was chiefly directed 
to the destruction of the royal forests, 
which Henry's passion for the chase had 
led him to protect with the most vexa- 
tious tyranny. While that monarch lived, 
the whole country was covered with 
beasts of chase ; he had forbidden the ba- 
rons to hunt on their own estates with- 
out his permission. " You might," writes 
a contemporary, " have seen them wan- 
dering in herds of a thousand together ; 
within a few days after his death, you 
could not discover two heads of deer in 
a whole forest." 

Before Matilda could arrive to claim 
tlie crown, which had been left her by 
her father, Stephen availed himself of 
the interest of his brother, the bishop of 
Winchester, to seize it for himself. These 
young men stood in the relationship of 
nephews to the deceased king ; their mo- 
ther, Adela, who married the Count de 
Blois, being sister to Henry I. Stephen 
had himself sworn allegiance to Henry's 
daughter, Matilda, but to do away with 
any difficulty on that head, his steward, 
Hugh Bigod, swore that the late king, 
on his death bed, had disinherited his 
daughter, and left the crown to his ne- 
phew Stephen, whose affability and be- 
nevolence had gained the love of all, 
and the people were inclined to favor 
his pretensions. The citizens of Lon- 
don proclaimed him king, and he was 
crowned on the 22d December, 1135, 
before the prelates and barons had assem- 



bled to signify their acquiescence. He 
had long been the most popular nobleman 
in England ; the high bom he won by 
courtesy, the low by mixing in their 
sports and pastimes, and he was beloved 
by all ; so that, in a short time, they who 
at first were inclined to demur had joined 
the torrent, and the succession of Ste- 
phen was admitted by the whole nation. 

In the meajitime Matilda landed in Eng- 
land with her brother the earl of Glou- 
cester, and being joined by several pow- 
erful barons, a civil war ensued, which 
proved the most calamitous in the Eng- 
lish annals. Stephen performed his 
part with vigor and courage, but being 
taken prisoner in the battle of Lincoln, 
in M41, his party was broken up, and 
Matilda was acknowledged queen. Ow- 
ing to her haughty conduct, an insur- 
rection was excited against her govern- 
ment. The earl of Gloucester was soon 
after taken prisoner and exchanged for 
Stephen, and Matilda was induced to re- 
tire into Normandy ; and the contest was 
carried on by her son Henry Plantage- 
net. An armistice, however, took place, 
in 1153, and it was agreed that Stephen 
should reign during his life, and that Hen- 
ry should succeed him. Soon after this 
pacification, Stephen died at Canterbury, 
on the 25th of October, 1154, and was 
buried in the convent which he himself 
had founded at Feversham. 

The lower classes, and especially the 
agriculturalists appear to have suffered the 
severest distress during the reign of Ste- 
phen. The situation of two competitors 
for the throne, subjected the inhabitants 
to the caprices and cruelties of their dif- 
ferent adherents ; when one party in- 
flicted an injury, the other hastened to 
retaliate ; and both gloried in the com- 
mission of barbarities which would have 
disgraced their pagan forefathers. 

Henry being in Normandy at the time of 
Stephen's death, a continuance of stormy 
weather detained him at Barfleur, and 
delayed his arrival in England for more 
than six weeks. On the 19th of Decem- 
ber, 1154, Henry was crowned with 
his queen, at Westminster, and from 
that period the principal object of his ad- 
ministration seemed to be to repair the 
evils which civil war had occasioned du- 



174 



ENGLAND. 



ring the preceding reign. The same 
month which witnessed the coronation 
of Henry, was signalized by the succes- 
sion of Nicholas Breakspear to the throne 
of the Vatican. This prelate is the on- 
ly Englishman who ever sat in the chair 
of St. Peter. The English felt proud of 
this elevation of their countryman, and 
an embassy was sent by Henry to con- 
gratulate pope Adrian, the name assumed 
by the new pontilf. 

Many of the useful measures adopted 
by Henry have been attributed to the ad- 
vice of Thomas a Becket, who, on Ro- 
ger de Pont being promoted to the see 
of York, was made archdeacon of Canter- 
bury ; but the jealousy entertained by the 
prelate of York of Becket's abilities "ren- 
dered him a great enemy. Becket's abili- 
ties soon gained him the notice and friend- 
ship of Henrj', who appointed him his 
chancellor, made him tutor to his son, 
and conferred on him many other sub- 
stantial proofs of the royal favor ; such 
as the wardenship of the tower of Lon- 
don, the custody of the castle of Berk- 
hamstead, and the honor of Eye, with 
the services of one hundred and forty 
knights. The splendor of his course 
more than equalled the rapidity of his 
rise to favor ; his table was open to eve- 
ry person who had business at court. 
Lingard states, that " it often happen- 
ed that the number of uninvited guests 
could not be accommodated at table ; 
and then Becket, that they might not 
soil their garments when they sate on 
the floor, was careful to have it daily 
covered with fresh straw." Nor did the 
chancellor act only as a councillor to the 
king, for he served, as occasion required, 
the oflice of a negotiator or a warrior. 

When Theobald died, in 1161, all eyes 
were turned towards Becket as the fu- 
ture archbishop of Canterbury. Henry, 
however, was in no hurry to part with the 
episcopal revenue, and kept his intention 
locked up within his own breast for thir- 
teen months, and then told his chancel- 
lor to prepare himself for the dignity. 
Becket accepted it ; he was ordained 
priest, and the next day was consecrated 
by Henry of Winchester, in the presence 
of the king and his courtiers. 

From the period of Becket's promotion 



to the see of Canterbury, he renounced 
his luxurious habits, and practised a dai- 
ly course of secret mortifications. In 
lieu of the train of knights and noblemen 
who formerly waited on him, he selected 
a few companions from the most exempla- 
ry and learned of the clergy ; his diet 
was abstemious ; his charities were abun- 
dant ; his time was divided into certain 
portions, alotted to prayer and study, and 
the episcopal functions. 

Amidst many discordant statements, it 
is difficult to fix on the original cause of 
dissension between the king and his 
archbishop, but that which brought them 
into immediate collision was a controver- 
sy respecting the jurisdiction of the ec- 
clesiastical courts. 

A man in holy orders had debauched 
the daughter of a gentleman in Worces- 
tershire, and then murdered the father to 
prevent the effects of his resentment. 
The atrociousness of the crime produ- 
ced a spirit of indignation among the 
people ; and the king insisted that the 
assassin should be tried by the civil ma- 
gistrate. Becket opposed this, alleg- 
ing the privileges of the church. This 
produced a warm contest between the 
king and archbishop, and the latter se- 
cretly left the kingdom and repaired to 
the pope at Sens. Several fruitless at- 
tempts were made towards an accommo- 
dation between the king and Becket ; 
but at length the mutual aim of both 
made a reconciliation necessary. But no- 
thing could exceed the insolence with 
which Becket conducted himself upon 
his first landing in England. Instead of 
retiring quietly to his diocese with that 
modesty which became a man just par- 
doned by his king, he made a progress 
through Kent, in all the splendor and 
magnificence of a sovereign pontift'. As 
he approached Southwark, the clergy, 
the laity, men of all ranks and ages, 
came forth to meet him, and celebrated 
his triumphal entry with hymns of joy. 
Thus confident of the voice and hearts 
of the people, he began to launch forth 
his thunders against those who had been 
his former opposers. The archbishop 
of York, who had crowned Henry's eld- 
est son in his absence, was the first 
against whom he denounced sentence of 



ENGLAND. 



175 




Assassination of archbishop Bccktt. 



suspension. The bishops of London and 
SaUsbury, he actually excommunicated. 
One man he exconmiunicated for hav- 
ing spoken against him ; and another 
for having cut off the tail of one of his 
horses. Henry was in Normandy, while 
the primate was thus triumphantly para- 
ding through the kingdom ; and it was 
not without the utmost indignation that 
he received information of his turbulent 
insolence. When the suspended and 
excommunicated prelates arrived with 
their complaints, his anger knew no 
bounds. " What an unhappy prince am 1," 
said the king, " who have not about me one 
man of spirit enough to rid me of a sin- 
gle insolent prelate, whom I have raised 
from the lowest station to be the plague 
of my life, and the continual disturber 
of my government." 

Upon hearing which, four knights who 
were present, Reginald Fitzurse, William 
Tracy, Hugh de Moreville, and Richard 
Brito, considering that passionate expres- 
sion to be a royal licence, secretly pro- 
ceeded to Saltvvood to arrange their oper- 
ations ; and each bound himself by oath 
to carry off or murder Becket. For this 
purpose they proceeded to the primate's 
house, abruptly entered his apartment, 



and began by intimidating him. Pre- 
tending to have received their commission 
from the king, they ordered him to ab- 
solve the excommunicated prelates. He 
replied, that he was willing to do so, 
(with the exception of the archbishop of 
York, whose case was reserved for the 
consideration of the Pope,) on condition 
that they previously took the accustomed 
oath of submitting to the determination 
of the church. When the primate had 
entered his cathedral, during the hour of 
vespers, the same laiights with twelve 
companions, in complete armor, entered ; 
and Hugh de Moreville asked, " Where 
is the traitor ?" To this no answer was 
made ; upon which Fitzurse asked, 
" Where is the archbishop ?" and Becket 
replied, " Here I am, the archbishop, 
but no traitor. Reginald, I have granted 
thee many favors ; what is thy object 
now ? If you seek my life, I command 
you, in the name of God, not to touch 
one of my people." He was then told 
he must instantly absolve the bishops ; 
he answered, " Till they offer satisfac- 
tion, I will not." " Then die !" exclaim- 
ed the aasassin, aiming a blow at his 
head, Avhich bore away his cap, and 
wounded him on the crown. The bishop 



176 



ENGLAND. 



joined his hands, and boAved his head, 
saying, " In the name of Christ, and for 
the defence of his church, I am ready to 
die." A second stroke threw him on his 
knees ; and a third laid him on the floor, 
at the foot of St. Bennet's ahar. Thus, 
on the 29th of December, 1170, at the 
age of fifty-three, perished this extraor- 
dinary man, a martyr to what he deemed 
his duty, the preservation of the privileges 
and immunities of the church. 

When the news of Becket's death 
reached Normandy, the king was so 
strongly aflected, as to decline company 
and food for several days. He knew 
not, says a contemporary of that period, 
how to behave to the murderers. To 
punish them for that they had understood 
he wished them to do, seemed imgener- 
ous ; to spare them was to confirm the 
general suspicion, that he had ordered 
the murder. He therefore left them to 
the judgment of the spiritual courts. In 
consequence, the guilty knights travelled 
to Rome, and were enjoined by Alexan- 
der to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, 
where some, if not all of them, died. 

The king, to avoid the immediate con- 
sequences which he had so much reason 
to fear from the anger of Alexander, di- 
verted the attention of his subjects by an 
expedition to Ireland. In battle, the Irish 
are said to have measured the valor of 
their combatants by their contempt for 
artificial assistance ; and when they saw 
the English knights cased in iron, pro- 
nounced them to be void of real courage. 

On the 12th November, 1170, Henry 
arrived in Dublin, where a wooden pal- 
ace had been erected for his reception, 
as he chose rather to allure, than to com- 
pel, submission. This conduct obtained 
him a nominal homage from all but the 
princes of Ulster ; they refused to visit 
the king, or to acknowledge his authority. 
However, in 1 175, a treaty of " final con- 
cord" was concluded, by which it was j 
decreed that Roderick, king of Con- j 
naught, should govern, under the English : 
crown, as long as he performed the ser- 1 
vices to which he was bound, and Rod- , 
erick surrendered one of his sons as a j 
hostage to Henry for his fidelity. j 

Soon after this, Henry was disturbed j 
by quarrels in his own family, and which j 



probably originated in his own domestic 
conduct. Henry had for several years de- 
serted his consort for a succession of mis- 
tresses ; particularly Rosamond, daugh- 
ter of Walter Clifford, usually denomina- 
ted " Fair Rosamond." Though, in their 
early years, he had indulged his children 
to excess, that affection, as they grew up, 
gradually changed into the tyranny of a 
despotic and jealous sovereign. His 
queen, Eleanor, who knew herself to be 
an object of indifference to the king, en- 
couraged and fomented the discontent of 
her sons. Prince Henry, who had mar- 
ried Margaret, the daughter of Louis, fled 
to his father-in-law at Chartres. Rich- 
ard and Geoffry followed the steps of 
their brother, and the queen also ab- 
sconded. In this dilemma, the oflended 
monarch had recourse to the bishops of 
Normandy, who, in an admonitory letter, 
advised the queen's return to her hus- 
band ; but she persevered in her refusal, 
and having put on male attire, was se- 
cured by the friends of her husband, and 
confined by him during the remainder of 
her life. 

Henry after many domestic troubles, 
died near Tours, to which place he had 
repaired, in order to adjust a peace with 
the French king, and was succeeded by 
his son Richard. 

Although Richard showed some marks 
of regret for the loss of his father, he 
evidently thirsted too much for the exer- 
cise of real power and independent do- 
minion, to feel much sorrow, when the 
death of his predecessor gave him the 
sovereignity of England. He remained 
a short time on the continent, to take for- 
mal possession of his foreign territories, 
and to settle the differences between the 
crowns of fVance and England. In the 
meantime, he sent immediate orders for 
the liberation of his mother Eleanor, 
whom he appointed regent of the king- 
dom, until his arrival in this country. 
On the 13th of August, 1189, he landed 
at Portsmouth ; the chief of the nobility 
met their sovereign at Winchester, and 
on the 3rd of September, he was crown- 
ed with great pomp and magnificence at 
Westminster. The day was, however, 
disgraced by an inhuman massacre of 
the Jews, who at this period were, in 



ENGLAND. 



177 



every Christian country, the principal if 
not the sole, bankers. Their profits were 
enormous ; and, as there was no law 
in existence to regulate the interest of 
money, their demands rose in proportion 
to the wants of the borrowers. They 
liad been protected under the late reign 
by Henry ; but as Philip, the French 
king, had banished them from France, 
they feared that similar measures might 
be adopted by Richard ; to obviate which, 
the Jews had hastened from every coun- 
try to London, with valuable presents to 
the king. Richard had issued a procla- 
mation, forbidding all Jews to enter the 
church during the coronation service, or 
to come into the place while his majesty 
should be at dinner ; but some of these 
unfortunate people had mixed with the 
crowd at the coronation, and entered the 
palace. Their appearance there excited 
popular auger, and a report having been 
spread that the king had given a general 
permission to his subjects to kill them, 
every Jew who had the temerity to ap- 
pear in the street was murdered, and 
every house belonging to that people was 
set on fire. It was in vain that Richard 
despatched the justiciary with several 
knights to disperse the rioters ; the work 
of murder continued till the next morn- 
ing. It was equally vain that, by pro- 
clamation, he took the Jews under his 
protection ; the example of the capital 
was followed in all the principal towns 
in England ; they were every where plun- 
dered and murdered. 

After the fatal battle of Tiberias, Acre, 
Sidon, Ascalon, and Jerusalem succes- 
sively fell into the hands of the sultan 
Saladin. Tyre alone remained in the 
possession of the Christians ; and if the 
struggle was still faintly maintained, it 
was owing to the exertions of thousands 
from Europe, whose misguided zeal led 
them annually to perish under the walls 
of Acre. The considerations of danger 
that would have deterred a more prudent 
monarch sensed only to excite the ambi- 
tion of Richard. He had taken the cross 
during the reigTi of his father ; and now 
an expedition to the Holy Land offered 
such attractions to his adventurous spirit, 
that he spent the four months he passed 
in England in preparing for the Crusades, 
23 



and chiefly in raising money on terms 
that were dishonorable to himself and in- 
jurious to his successors. The demesne 
lands and the offices belonging to the 
crown were exposed to public sale ; he 
received bribes from Geoffry, the natural 
son of Henry, who, according to the wish 
of his father, was now archbishop of 
York ; also from the bishop of Durham, 
and the king of Scotland, to whom he 
resigned the right of superiority over the 
crown of that country, which had been 
acquired by Henry. 

The kings of England and France, 
having engaged to make the pilgrimage 
to the Holy Land together, an army of 
more than a hundred thousand men, in 
the double character of warriors and pil- 
grims, assembled, to march under their 
banners. 

Previous to Richard's departure from 
England, he added to his mother's dower 
the lands that had been settled on Ma- 
tilda, queen of the first Henry, and Alice, 
the relict of Stephen ; and in order to 
attach his brother John to his interests, 
he gave him about one-third of his king- 
dom. On the 23rd of September, in the 
year 11 90, both the kings had reached the 
port of Messina in safety. Philip occu- 
pied a royal palace within the walls, and 
the English prince had a house in the 
suburbs, which was surrounded with 
vineyards. 

Richard was profuse in the disposal of 
money ; at Christmas, he invited to his 
table every gentleman of the two armies, 
and gave to each, after dinner, a present 
proportionate to his rank. The queen 
dowager having arrived Avith Berengaria, 
daughter of the king of Navarre, to be 
the consort of Richard, she was anointed 
and crowned on her bridal day by the 
bishop of Evreux. 

Richard's conduct displeased the allies, 
who were waiting his presence at Acre, 
which place ha^-ing endured a siege of 
more than two years under the direction 
of Saladin, surrendered to the valor of 
the Crusaders on the 10th of June 1191, 
a few days after the arrival of Richard, 
who, though laboring under the weakness 
of an intermittent fever, was carried, in 
the intervals between the fits, to the 
trenches, and superintended the opera- 



178 



ENGLAND. 




Battle between Richard and Saladin. 



tions of his army. After numerous pro- 
posals, made and rejected by each party, 
a negotiation took place, in which it was 
agreed that Saladin should surrender the 
city, and that the Turks, as a ransom for 
their lives, should restore the holy cross, 
and set at liberty 1500 captives. The 
term of forty days was assigned for the 
performance of the conditions, and some 
thousands of hostages were detained by 
the Christians. 

The nations of Christendom received 
intelligence of this conquest as a prelude 
to the deUvery of Jerusalem ; but the 
general joy was damped on learning that 
the king of France was about to return 
home. In justification of this step, it was 
stated that his health was deeply impaired 
by sickness, but, in fact, the two kings 
had never cordially co-operated togeth- 
er ; and the temper of Richard was so 
irritable, that all were obliged to submit 
to liis caprice, or come to open hostilities ; 
so that the friends of Philip contended 
he would advance the cause of the Cru- 
sade by Avithdrawing from the army. He 
therefore quilted Acre, and left 10,000 of 
liis followers under the command of his 
vassal, the duke of Burgundy. The forty 



days had nearly expired which had been 
fixed for the performance of the treaty 
between Saladin and Richard, when the 
former refused, under diflerent pretexts, 
to perform his part of it, and king Rich- 
ard declared that the hostages should pay 
the foreit of his perfidy with their lives. 
In these wars neither party had been 
sparing of the blood of their captives ; 
on that occasion the hostages were led 
to the summit of a hill, and 2,700 infidels 
were butchered ; and at the same time 
almost an equal number, that had fallen 
to the lot of the king of France, were 
massacred on the walls of Acre, by the 
duke of Burginidy. After this bloody 
deed, Richard conducted his army, now 
reduced to 30,000 men, from Acre to 
Jaffa, near which place he obtained a 
complete victory over Saladin. 

A want of union in opinion had hith- 
erto operated against the success of the 
Crusaders ; as personal interests or na- 
tional jealousy continually threw some 
obstacle in the way of general co-opera- 
tion. But in the following siunmer all 
seemed unanimous, and demanded, with 
one voice, to march against Jerusalem, 
and Richard returned for that purpose to 



ENGLAND. 



179 



Bethany. Then with Jerusalem before 
his eyes, he recommended the selection 
of twenty counsellors, who should decide 
upon oath whether it were better to be- 
siege that capital, or Cairo, the capital 
of Egypt, from whence Saladin drew his 
supplies. To the astonishment of all, 
they preferred the latter ; so that the king 
led them back to Acre, notwithstanding 
the remonstrances of his followers. The 
duke of Burgimdy composed a song, in 
which he severely censured this conduct 
in the British king ; and the latter, in re- 
venge, wrote a satire on the personal 
vices of his opponent. On the retreat of 
the Christians, Saladin poured his army 
into the town of Jaffa, upon which Rich- 
ard hastened to its succor, and, by per- 
forming prodigies of valor, succeeded in 
raising the siege. His exertions, how- 
ever, brought on a fever, and he conde- 
scended to ask for an armistice, which 
was agreed upon for three years. At this 
treaty Saladin insisted on the destruction 
of Ascalon ; and, in return, he granted to 
the pilgrims free access to the holy sepul- 
chre. Thus ended a Crusade which had 
cost Europe the lives of more than 200,000 
of her bravest warriors, which had drain- 
ed the nobles of their long hoarded wealth, 
and shown to the high-minded chivalry 
of France and England that a handful of 
" infidels" could resist the united attacks 
of pope, kings, and people. The worst 
enemy of the Crusaders might certainly 
be traced to their own internal dissen- 
sions. They could neither agree while 
marching together in armies with a view 
to conquest, nor yet unite their conquests 
imder one government after they had made 
them. The states they did form, instead 
of assisting, made war upon each other, 
and latterly even on the Greek emperors, 
and thus became an easy prey to the 
common enemy. The invading armies 
were dissolute in their habits, and their 
licentiousness was viewed with abhor- 
rence by their abstemious and intellectual 
opponents. 

Previous to his return to Europe, 
Richard, on taking a last view of the 
shores of Asia, on the 9th of October, 
1193, is said to have exclaimed, " Most 
holy land, I commend thee to the care 
of the Almighty ! May he grant me life 



to return and rescue thee from the yoke 
of the infidels ! " 

Whilst these things were passing 
abroad, Richard's English subjects were 
suffering from the rapacity of his minis- 
ters, and the ambitious views of his broth- 
er John. At his departure for Pales- 
tine, the king had entrusted the reins of 
government to William de Longchamp, 
a Norman of obscure birth, on whom the 
most costly preferments were bestowed. 
He was first made chancellor, then bishop 
of Ely, afterwards, grand justiciary, and, 
lastly, papal legate in England and Scot- 
land; which placed him during the king's 
absence, at the head of the church and the 
state. This twofold authority he exer- 
cised in the most despotic manner. 

England was in a state of civil dis- 
sension, when the news arrived of Rich- 
ard having set out on his return from 
Acre, and a general impatience prevailed 
to behold this champion of the cross. 
After repeated disappointments, all Eu- 
rope was electrified at learning that Henry 
VI, of Germany, had purchased the royal 
captive from Leopold of Austria, for the 
sum of 60,000/., and that he was con- 
fined in one of the castles of the Tyrol. 
Whilst his English subjects were using 
every exertion to procure the liberty of 
their sovereign, John repaired to Paris, 
and leagued with Philip, king of France, 
in the invasion of Normandy. Several 
fortresses yielded ; but Rouen was saved 
by the exertions of the earl of Essex. 

Longchamp, who still remained in ex- 
ile, was the first to discover the retreat of 
his royal master. By repeated solicita- 
tions he obtained permission to conduct 
the king to the diet at Hagenau, where 
he answered the accusations alleged 
against him, in so manly and persuasive 
a manner, that the cold-liearted emperor 
ordered his chains to be struck off; show- 
ed him the respect due to a crowned head ; 
and consented to treat about the amount 
of his ransom. 

The negotiations for procuring the 
king's liberty occupied four months. At 
the end of that time one hundred and 
fifty thousand marks was fixed upon as 
the price to be paid ; the other conditions 
were that Richard should restore Isaac, 
the late emperor of Cyprus, to his liberty, 



180 



ENGLAND. 



but not to his dominions ; and to deliver 
Isaac's captive daughter to her uncle, the 
duke of Austria. Henry, in return, pro- 
mised to set the king at liberty on receipt 
of the money ; to aid him against all his 
enemies ; and to invest him with the feu- 
dal sovereignty of Provence. Richard, 
with a view to bind the emperor more 
firmly to his interest, adopted the strange 
expedient advised by his mother, which 
was, by the delivery of the cap from his 
head to resigir the crown into the hand 
of the emperor, who restored it to him 
again to be held as a lief of the empire 
with the obligation of a yearly payment 
of five thousand pounds. But John and 
the French king offered a more tempting 
bait to keep Richard in captivity. This, 
however, the German princes and barons, 
who were security for Richard's freedom, 
would not agree to. The money was 
raised by a tax upon the people ; and such 
was the poverty of the nation, or the 
peculation of the agents employed, that 
a second, and even a third collection was 
obliged to be levied on the impoverished 
and murmuring inhabitants. 

Richard ultimately perished in a quar- 
rel with the viscount of Limoges, in 
Normandy, with -whom the king was dis- 
satisfied, because the baron refused to 
give to him the whole of a treasure found 
on his estate of Vidomar. As Richard 
was going round the walls with one of 
his officers, on the 26th of March, 1199, 
he was wounded in the shoulder by an 
archer named Gourdon. An imskilful 
surgeon drew out the head of the arrow, 
but mortification ensued. On learning 
his danger, Richard ordered the man to 
be brought into his presence, and asked 
him, " VVhat injury did I ever do to thee, 
that thou shouldst kill me ?" The soldier 
replied, "My father and two brothers 
fell by your sword ; and you intended to 
have hanged me. You may now satiate 
your revenge. I should cheerfully suffer 
all the torments that can be inflicted, 
were I but sure of having delivered the 
world of a tyrant, who has drenched it 
with blood and carnage." This spirited 
answer struck Richard with remorse, and 
he ordered Gourdon to be set at liberty, 
with one hundied shillings to take him 
home. 



As soon as Richard's death was known, 
John was crowned as his successor to 
the throne of England. According to 
the right of hereditary succession, the 
crown should have descended to Arthur, 
duke of Britany, who was the son of 
John's brother, GeofTry. 

One of the first acts of John's sove- 
reignty was to obtain a divorce, (on the 
usual plea of consanguinity,) from his 
wife, Hadwisa, whom he had married 
twelve years before, and to form another 
matrimonial connection. With this intent 
he sent ambassadors to Lisbon, to de- 
mand the princess of Portugal ; but be- 
fore he could receive an answer, having 
accidentally seen Isabella, daughter to 
Aymor, count of Angouleme, he was 
captivated with her beauty. She had 
been publicly promised and privately 
espoused to Hugh, count of La Marche ; 
but the glitter of a crown seduced the 
faith of both father and daughter; and 
John conducted Isabella as liis bride to 
England. The count La Marche appeal- 
ed to the justice of Philip of France ; 
and the latter, glad of an excuse to hmn- 
ble his powerful rival, entered the field 
against John. The consequence of this 
war was, that John lost the best portion 
of his possessions in France. During 
that contest, however, he took his nephew, 
Arthur, who had previously been allowed 
to reside with the French king, prisoner, 
and confined him in a dungeon of the 
castle of Rouen, from which place he 
suddenly disappeared a few weeks after. 
The silence observed by his imcle re- 
specting the circumstance was considered 
a proof that the young prince was mur- 
dered ; report attributed the manner of 
his death to the dagger of John, and he 
whispers of suspicion were soon convert- 
ed into a general belief of the king's 
guilt. The Bretons swore to be revenged 
on the murderer of Arthur, and pro- 
ceeded to settle the succession to the 
dukedom, which was claimed for Alice, 
daughter of Constantia, and Guy de 
Thouars, Avhom she had married after the 
death of her first husband, GeofTry. Phi- 
lip summoned John to prove his innocence 
before the French peers ; John refusing, 
he soon after, with the Bretons, entered 
his dominions, and the king returned to 



ENGLAND. 



181 



England, leaving the direction of a pow- 
erful army to his general, the earl of 
Pembroke. Such, however, was the 
success of Philip, that Normandy was 
soon re-annexed to the French crown, 
after a separation of 292 years. 

John next engaged in a contest with 
the Roman pontiff. It originated in an 
exclusive right, claimed by the monks of 
Christ church, and founded on ancient 
custom, to elect their prelates ; and this 
they exercised on the demise of arch- 
bishop Hubert, when the junior part of 
the monks assembled clandestinely in the 
night, and placed Reginald, their sub- 
prior, on the archiepiscopal throne, with- 
out, as was usual on all former occasions, 
applying for the royal license. 

Soon after John became involved in a 
contest with the Pope, in which he was 
obliged to submit to great humiliations, 
and in 1215, he was compelled by his 
subjects to give them the " Magna Char- 
ta," — the charter of their liberties. This 
charter was afterwards extended and 
confirmed by several kings. John, how- 
ever, had no intentions of adhering to its 
provisions ; but as soon as he could col- 
lect a sufficient force, he renewed the 
war against his subjects, and died in the 
midst of civil broils in 1216. 

John was succeeded by his son, Henry 
HI, who had only just completed his 
tenth year. He had a long, but through 
his own weakness, an vmquiet reign. 
Under him, in 1265, was established 
the lower house of parliament, or house 
of commons. He died in 1272, and 
was succeeded by his son, Edward 
I, who was Avise and brave, and one 
of the most distinguished in the line 
of English kings. At the time of 
his father's death he was in Palestine, 
and nearly two years elapsed before he 
reached England. He was crowned in 
Westminster Abbey, August 19, 1273. 
Soon after this event, Llewellyn, prince 
of Wales, having refused to swear fealty 
as a vassal to the throne of England, 
Edward advanced with his fleet across 
the Dee, and cut off the communication 
between Snowden and the sea. The 
Welsh suffered so much from famine, that 
lilewellyn was compelled to surrender 
on the conditions prescribed by the con- 



queror, but which Edward afterwards 
rendered easy, by the terms of friendship 
which he extended to the chieftain, and 
to his brother David. Shortly after this 
event, Llewellyn married Eleanor de 
Montfort, daughter of the late earl of 
Leicester, and who was then the king's 
prisoner. To David he was a liberal 
protector ; yet a very short period sufficed 
to convince Edward that his bounty had 
been bestowed on a faithless and un- 
worthy object. The Welsh had imbi- 
bed, from their ancestry, an antipa- 
thy towards the English. They beheld 
with grief the gradual extinction of their 
national usages, the distribution of the 
cantreds into hundreds and shires, and 
the introduction of English laws and 
English judicatures. David, with all his 
obligations to Edward, felt dissatisfied ; 
even Llewellyn had, or pretended to have, 
causes of complaint, and lent a willing 
ear to the inflammatory suggestions of 
his brother, who headed the rebellious 
party. 

The Welsh poured from their moun- 
tains into the marshes, and laid the coun- 
try waste with fire and sword. But the 
struggle was of short duration, as the 
Welsh leader was killed by an English 
knight, and his head sent to London. 

The independence of Wales expired 
with Llewellyn ; but the better to secure 
the permanency of his conquest, Edward 
spent the following year in Wales, dur- 
ing which period his son Edward was 
born at Caernarvon. From the final 
pacification of Wales to the commence- 
ment of the troubles in Scotland, was an 
interim of four years ; and much of that 
period was spent by the monarch in 
settling disputes between the kings of 
France, Aragon, and Sicily ; all of whom 
were consigned within a few months to 
the tranquillity of the grave. The French 
regency invited Edward to assume the 
office of mediator ; but while he was en- 
gaged in the concerns of foreign states, 
the people of England complained that 
he neglected the interests of his own 
kingdom. 

The refusal of a supply by the parlia- 
ment admonished liim to return ; and he 
soon found in the unfortunate situation 
of Scotland, ample field for the exercise 



182 



ENGLAND. 



of his policy and liis ambition. Ed- 
ward's sister, Margaret, had married 
Alexander, king of Scotland, by whom she 
had two sons, who both died, and one 
daughter, married to Eric, King of Nor- 
way, the latter had also a daughter Mar- 
garet ; and now, by the death of the 
infant princess, the posterity of the three 
last Scottish kings had become extinct ; 
and the crown of Scotland was claimed 
by thirteen competitors. 

Some of the leading Scottish barons 
invited Edward to take the place of arbi- 
trator, and his ambition led him to main- 
tain his claim to the appointment, as a 
right inherent in his own crown, because, 
he said, being the superior lord, the kings 
of Scotland reigned but as his vassals. 
In consequence of this acceptance, the 
king summoned the barons, prelates, and 
commons of Scotland to meet him at 
Norham, on the borders of the two king- 
doms ; in the church of which place, 
Brabancon, the English justiciary, an- 
nounced Edward's arrival for the purpose 
of settling the right of succession to the 
crown. The true heir was to be found 
in the descendants of David, earl of 
Huntingdon, brother to king William, and 
from the eldest daughter of whom had 
sprung John Baliol, lord of Galloway. 
'I'o him the crown was adjudged, for 
which he did fealty to king Edward, as 
sovereign lord of the realm of Scotland. 
Baliol soon felt the consequence of this 
disgraceful vassalage, as every suiter who 
was dissatisfied with the king's decision, 
appealed to Edward as his superior lord ; 
and in the first year of his reign, he was 
served with four citations to answer in 
the court of England : in every other 
respect the conduct of Edward towards 
Baliol Avas generous and honorable. But 
Baliol was soon involved in an endless 
quarrel with a powerful adversary, Mac- 
duft", the son of Malcolm, earl of Fife, 
which, with the frequency of appeals, 
that he refused to answer, alTorded a 
pretence for dissatisfaction ; a succession 
of difficulties divided the general inter- 
ests of the Scottish people, and a war was 
the result, which deprived Baliol of the 
crown. 

Baliol was deposed by the English 
king, and removed to the Tower of Lon- 



don, which was assigned him as a resi- 
dence by Edward. After three years the 
royal captive was allowed to retire into 
Normandy, Boniface, the pontiff, having 
become responsible for his future good 
conduct, which we have cause to think 
was never infringed upon, as no further 
mention is made of Baliol until his death, 
in 1 305. After that event, Edward made 
a tour through Scotland, and found every 
sword sheathed, and every knee ready to 
bend to him as their lord ; but the mon- 
arch had learned that oaths, extorted from 
a conquered people, impose but a feeble 
restraint on the spirit of independence. 
No sooner had the king settled the gov- 
ernment of Scotland, than William Wal- 
lace rekindled the flame of Scottish pa- 
triotism. He was soon joined by a large 
body of troops, headed by sir William 
Douglas ; they were at first successful, 
but were at length defeated at the battle 
of Falkirk. Wallace escaped into the 
woods, but after the fortress of Stirling 
had surrendered to Edward, he was taken 
and brought to London, where he was 
tried and basely executed as a traitor. 

Towards the close of the king's reign, 
Comyn, one of the claimants to the Scot- 
tish throne, was slain by the hand of his 
rival, Bruce. Edward immediately sent 
orders to his lieutenant, Aymar de Val- 
ence, to chastise the presumption of 
Bruce ; and all the young nobility of Eng- 
land were summoned to receive, in com- 
pany with prince Edward, the honor of 
knighthood, previous to accompanying 
that prince on an expedition to Scotland. 
The king knighted his son within the pal- 
ace ; and the prince conferred a similar 
honor in the abbey church on his two hun- 
dred and seventy champions. The king 
vowed before God that he would avenge 
the death of Comyn, and besought the peo- 
ple, in the event of his death, during the 
expedition, to keep his body unburied, 
till they had enabled his son to fulfil 
his vow. His son then swore he would 
not sleep two nights in the same place, 
until he had entered Scotland to execute 
his father's commands. His example 
was applauded and foUow^ed. The next 
morning, the prince, with his knights' 
companions, departed for the borders. 
The king followed by easy journeys, but 



ENGLAND. 



183 



was obliged from weakness to remain in 
the neighborhood of Carlisle, where his 
military tenants joined him. 

In the mean time Bruce had assmiied 
the title of king, and was crowned at 
Scone without opposition. But after a 
series of disasters, he was obliged to take 
shelter in Ireland. At the end of winter 
the exiles issued from their retreat. 
Bruce, who soon collected a large num- 
ber of followers, in one instance defeated 
the English army, which proved such a 
source of vexation to Edward that he de- 
termined to advance into Scotland ; but 
the exertion of mounting his horse threw 
him back into his former state of weak- 
ness, and having proceeded only six 
miles in four days, he expired at Burgh, 
on the Sands, on the 7th of July, 1307, 
in the sixty-ninth year of his age, and the 
thirly-tifth of his reign. 

This king's reign is mainly distin- 
guished by the subjugation of Wales, 
which at his death was firmly united to 
the English crown. Edward was twice 
married, and had seventeen children. 

Edward II, surnamed of Caernarvon, 
from the place of his birth, was the first 
royal prince who bore the title of Prince 
of Wales. Besides the many advantages 
bequeathed him by his noble father, he 
was much beloved by the English peo- 
ple, who hoped for great prosperity un- 
der his government. But they entertain- 
ed a better opinion of the young king 
than he deserved ; as an unfortunate at- 
tachment to Piers Gaveston was produc- 
tive of the most fatal results. Whatever 
portion he inherited of the disposition of 
his father was obliterated by the trifling 
manners and example of his companion, 
with whom he joined in the pursuit of 
dissipation and pleasure. His royal pa- 
rent having, by frequent admonition, and 
occasional punishment, vainly tried to in- 
stil into his mind the love of worthy ob- 
jects, had banished Gaveston from the 
kingdom ; and when he did so, required 
from him a solemn promise that he would 
never return without the royal consent. 
He however was recalled, but he was 
the source of many troubles till he was 
beheaded. 

Being at peace with his own subjects, 
Edward thought this a favorable time to 



go to Scotland ; for, while he had been 
contending for a favorite, he had contrived 
to lose a crown. Bruce had made slow, 
but constant progress in obtaining the in- 
dependence of his country, and the cele- 
brated battle of Bannockburn, ended in 
the defeat of the English army. 

Soon after this victory, Bruce endeav- 
ored to enter into a treaty with the Eng- 
lish monarch, but as Edward denied to 
him the title of king, the negotiation 
was soon at an end, and Bruce turned his 
arms towards Ireland, which had long 
presented a state of dissension and war- 
fare. Accordingly, Edward Bruce, broth- 
er to the king of Scotland, landed at Car- 
rickfergus with an army of six -thousand 
men, all bent upon emancipating the na- 
tives from the yoke of their English op- 
pressors ; and his first victories gave him 
such powerful influence with the inhabi- 
tants, that they unanimously crowned 
him as their king. His inactivity, how- 
ever, caused the destruction of the differ- 
ent septs who had joined him ; and, al- 
though assisted by the presence of his 
brother Robert, king ofi Scotland, such 
numbers of the army perished through 
want, fatigue, and the inclemency of tlxe 
weather, that Robert Bruce soon became 
dissatisfied with his Irish expedition, and 
hastened back to his native dominions. 

During the continuance of the war in 
Ireland, the English had sufiered the 
miseries of pestilence and famine. A 
deficiency in the harvest of 1314 created 
general alarm ; so that it became difficult 
to obtain a supply of bread even for the 
royal table ; and this calamity increased 
to such an alarming height, that the poor 
were reduced to feed on roots, horses, 
dogs, and the most loathsome animals. 
The want of nourishment, and the insa- 
lubrity of the food, produced dysenteries 
and other epidemic disorders among the 
people ; and the king, at the suggestion 
of the citizens of London, suspended the 
breweries, as a measure, " without which, 
not only the indigent, but the middle 
classes must inevitably have perished 
through want of food." During this pe- 
riod of unexampled distress, the Scotch, 
taking advantage of the calamitous sea- 
son, poured down in great numbers upon 
the English borders. The dissensions 



184 



ENGLAND. 



between the king and the barons frus- 
trated the means of resistance, which 
might otherwise have been offered, and 
the northern counties were ravaged with 
impunity; until, at length, a truce for two 
years was concluded through the inter- 
ference of pope John. 

The hostilities between England and 
Scotland were now concluded by a truce 
of thirteen years, and queen Isabella, un- 
der the pretence of effecting a reconcilia- 
tion between her royal consort and her 
brother, Charles le Bel, took a journey to 
France, and contrived to get her son Ed- 
ward there also, a boy of twelve years of 
age. Whilst there, the queen was joined by 
Mortimer, with whom she lived on terms 
of great intimacy. Charles had succeeded 
his brother Philip to the throne of France, 
and had latterly formed several frivolous 
pretexts to quarrel with the king of Eng- 
land. It had been artfully suggested to 
the papal envoys, employed by the pon- 
tiff to restore peace between the two 
kings, that Charles might be induced to 
grant to the solicitations of a sister what 
he would withhold from an indifferent 
negotiator. Edward fell into the snare, 
and Isabella proceeded with a splendid 
retinue to France. Months passed away, 
and neither mother nor son appeared in- 
clined to revisit England. 

Isabella, at length, appeared at the 
head of the insurgents at Orewell, in Suf- 
folk. In a council purposely summoned 
on the occasion, several instances were 
detailed of the king's brutal conduct to- 
wards his queen; and it was declared 
she could not return to her consort with- 
out being in evident danger of her life. 
Under this and similar pretexts, the queen, 
aided by Mortimer, and the remnant of 
the Lancastrian faction, worked upon the 
credulity of the people, the great bulk of 
whom, now struggling with the effects of 
disease and famine, were in a fit state for 
revolution. When Isabella approached 
the capital, Edward found it requisite for 
his safety to seek concealment, and re- 
tired with a small retinue to the marches 
of Wales, where lay the estates of Hugh 
Spencer. At Bristol, it was ascertained 
that the king had taken shipping for Lun- 
dy, a small isle in the mouth of the Bris- 
tol Channel, which had been previously 



fortified and stored with provisions. A 
proclamation was immediately made, sum- 
moning him to return and resume the 
government. The barons and prelates 
assumed the power of parliament, and re- 
solved, that by the king's absence the 
realm had been left without a ruler, and 
they declared the young prince guardian 
of the kingdom, in the name, and by the 
right, of his father. 

The king having landed at Swansea, 
M^as conducted to the strong fortress of 
Kenilworth, where he was treated as a 
prisoner. A deputation came, who used 
promises and threats to induce him tore- 
sign the crown, which it appears he ac- 
ceded to, and his son Edward, who was 
in his fourteenth year, was declared king. 
The custody of his person was given to 
sir John de Maltravers, who, to conceal 
the place of his residence, successively 
transferred the royal prisoner from Ken- 
ilworth to Corfe, Bristol, and Berkeley 
castles ; and, by severity, endeavored to 
deprive him of his reason, or to shorten 
his life. From the period of his son's 
coronation, the deposed monarch suffered 
every indignity which the malice of his 
keepers could invent. During the illness 
of lord Berkeley, who had been joined 
with sir John Maltravers in the guardian- 
ship of the unfortunate king, he was mur- 
dered at Corfe castle, by the introduction 
of a red-hot iron into his bowels, and the 
corpse was privately buried in the abbey 
church of St. Peter, at Gloucester. 

The part acted by Isabella in this tra- 
gedy is, however, much more atrocious 
than that of any other queen in the annals 
of our country. It has been proved that 
she left England with the most friendly 
professions, and that she was actually 
cognizant of the murder of her husband, 
which she might have prevented by the 
slightest effort with her party. 

Edward, the son of the preceding mon- 
arch, commenced his reign in 1327. At 
first the whole power of the government 
was. usurped by Isabella. The Scots 
now taking advantage of the unsettled 
state of the political horizon in this part 
of the island, crossed the Tees, and be- 
gan to ravage Durham. Bruce now' col- 
lected an army of 20,000 men, which 
principally consisted of cavalry, and by 



ENGLAND. 



185 



the rapidity of his movements, eluded the 
vigilance of the English forces, which 
were headed by the youthful Edward, 
who, by proclamation, promised the honor 
of knighthood and an annuity of 1 00/, for 
life to the first who should bring him in- 
telligence of the Scots. Thomas de Roke- 
by gave the required information ; but the 
English were completely foiled in this 
campaign. In the ensuing spring, peace 
was concluded between the two nations. 
Edward resigned, by a solemn treaty, 
every claim of superiority over Scotland, 
and consented that the dominions of 
Bruce, his friend and ally, should form a 
kingdom distinct from that of England, 
without subjection, right of service, claim, 
or demand whatsoever. It was also agreed 
that Jane, the sister of the English king, 
should marry David, the eldest son of 
Bruce ; and that the sum of 30,000 marks 
should be paid to Edward, as a compen- 
sation for the damages inflicted by the 
Scottish army in the last invasion ; which 
sum, on the marriage of her daughter at 
Berwick, Isabella divided between her- 
self and Mortimer. 

The arrogance of this man now ex- 
ceeded all bounds. He assumed the re- 
gal authority in coimcil, and filled the 
court with Ms dependents, maintaining a 
guard of 180 knights for his own secu- 
rity. Such conduct excited the jealousy 
of the gi-eat barons ; his scandalous fa- 
miliarity with Isabella, the murder of the 
late king, and the public disapprobation 
of the recent peace with Scotland, con- 
curred to embolden the enemies of Mor- 
timer, and associations were formed to 
remove him from the court. As the dis- 
content of the nation increased, many 
strange reports were circulated and be- 
lieved. Among others it was asserted, 
that the late king was still living in Covfe 
castle, under the custody of sir John 
Deverel. The earl of Kent was sur- 
rounded by the agents of Mortimer, who, 
under the guise of friendship, drew him 
into a snare which cost him his life. He, 
with the archbishop of York and bishop 
of London, was arrested on the charge of 
having conspired to depose the young 
king, and replace his father on the throne. 

At eighteen years of age, Edward had 
a son by his wife Philippa, and the king, 
24 



feeling the degraded situation in which 
he was placed by his mother, consulted 
with lord Montacute, and, acting under 
the advice of that nobleman, he resolved 
to assume the regal authority ; and a 
plan was arranged to arrest Mortimer 
during the session of the parliament at 
Nottingham. For this purpose, Monta- 
cute gained the confidence of sir William 
Eland, governor of the castle, in which 
the royal party resided during the session, 
as every precaution was taken for Morti- 
mer's security. Through a subterraneous 
passage, leading from the west side of the 
rock to the castle, the king's friends were 
introduced ; and having seized Mortimer, 
he was brought before the parliament to 
answer to the following charges : — That 
he had fomented the dissensions between 
the late king and his queen ; — that he 
had illegally assumed that power which, 
by law, was vested in the king's council 
alone ; — that of his own authority he had 
removed the late king from Kenilworth 
to Berkeley, wliere he caused him to be 
put to death ; — that by his agents he had 
caused the earl of Kent to believe his 
brother was alive, and then procured the 
earl's death on pretence of treason ; — and 
that he had embezzled the royal treasures, 
&c. The peers retired with the bill of 
impeachment, and after some delibera- 
tion, declared all the charges to be noto- 
riously true ; they therefore condemned 
Mortimer "to be drawn and hanged as 
a traitor and enemy of the king and 
kingdom." 

The attention of Edward was now 
drawn to the affairs of the Scottish bor- 
der, and he induced the English parlia- 
ment to give its approbation to a renewal 
of the war. The English were victorious 
at the battle of Halidon Hill, when sir 
Archibald Douglas, the regent of Scot- 
land, with six earls, and many barons, 
fell on the field of battle ; and Baliol was 
seated on the throne of Scotland. In a 
short period, however, the cause of inde- 
pendence again triumphed ; though, as 
long as Baliol was supported by the king 
of England, he rose victorious from every 
disaster ; but from the moment that Ed- 
ward determined to claim the crown of 
France, the war with Scotland was suf- 
fered to languish, and fortress after for- 



186 



ENGLAND. 




Naval battle of 

tress surrendered to David, the son of 
Robert Bruce. It had been the policy 
of the French crown to support the Scot- 
tish kings against the power of England. 
Edward beheld this conduct with dis- 
pleasure, and his enmity was strengthen- 
ed by the advice of Robert of Artois. 
Having obtained the aid of several conti- 
nental princes and sovereigns, the Eng- 
lish monarch sailed with a numerous 
fleet from Orwell to Antwerp. To de- 
fray the expenses of this expedition, Ed- 
ward had recourse to subsidies, tallages, 
and forced loans ; he pledged his jewels 
and his crown, and seized for his present 
use, the tin and wool of the year. The 
allies who had promised their assistance 
to Edward were unwilling to come into 
the field ; and for twelve months he did 
nothing more than ravage the country in 
his march, and burn many villages, and 
exercise all the annoyances to the gov- 
ernment, and cruelty to the inhabitants, 
which the practice of war had rendered 
usual on similar occasions. In vain did 
pope Benedict XII, represent to Edward 
that his ambition and the interested views 
of his allies, were leading him into diffi- 
culties and disgrace. Although the king 
had disbanded his armv, and had involved 



Sluys in 1340. 

himself in debt to the amount of 300,0007, 
he persisted in his purpose, and set forth 
his claim to the French crown in two 
proclamations, issued at Ghent, in which 
he assumed the title of king of France, 
and quartered in his arms the French 
lilies with the English lions. 

Leaving his queen at Ghent, as a hos- 
tage for his speedy return, Edward re- 
visited England, and obtained from his 
parliament an imprecedented supply. 
This time Edward sailed with a gallant 
fleet from Orwell, and obtained so com- 
plete a victory over Philip, who had as- 
sembled, with the aid of the Genoese 
and Normans, a powerful fleet in the har- 
bor of Sluys, that the French ministers 
were fearful of informing their monarch 
of the disaster. His buffoon first hinted 
it to him by calling the English cowards ; 
and when the king asked the reason, he 
replied, that they had not the courage to 
leap into the sea like the French and 
Normans. 

After a fruitless attempt to gain the 
earldom of Flanders for his son, Edward 
collected a numerous force, consisting 
solely of his own subjects, and sailed to 
the coast of Normandy ; which province 
was so defenceless, that, while the fleet 



ENGLAND. 



187 



burnt the vessels in the different harbors, 
the army pillaged the country, set fire to 
the villages, and collected prisoners. Ed- 
ward's object was to cross the Seine, and 
lay siege to the town of Calais. This 
was rendered so difficult on account of 
the bridges having been purposely des- 
troyed, that a crossing could only be ef- 
fected by stratagem, which he at length 
accomplished over the Seine and the 
Somme ; and having got possession of 
Crotoi, he issued his orders to make the 
necessary preparations in the event of a 
battle, as the French army was then at 
Abbeville. The spot on which Edward 
determined to receive the enemy, was an 
eminence which rose on a gentle ascent 
a little behind the village of Crecy. 

On the morning of the 26th of August, 
1346, Edward drew up his army in three 
lines on a gentle slope, with a wood be- 
hind, where he placed baggage and 
horses. His cavaliers were to fight on 
foot ; as, from the smallness of the Eng- 
lish numbers, "one eighth of the French," 
says Froisart, but at most one third, — it 
was requisite they should keep together 
and fight on the defensive. Edward, 
after riding through the ranks and exhort- 
ing his soldiers, cheerfully commanded 
them to sit down, to take ample refresh- 
ment, and in repose await the enemy. 
Philip in the mean time was leading 
forth his numerous host from Abbe- 
ville : it was an army lately gathered, 
obeying many chiefs, some Genoese, 
some Germans ; undisciplined, weak, 
and disorderly, from its very numbers. 
From Abbeville to Crecy was a march 
of three or four leagues. The hour was 
late, and the French were tired ere they 
approached the English line. Philip 
was advised to halt and await the follow- 
ing day : he gave orders for so doing ; 
but such was the rivalry of the chiefs, 
that each would have his banner next the 
enemy, and in the disorder they approach- 
ed too near the English to retreat or de- 
fer the action. The choleric Philip, too, 
when he saw the English array, and its 
small extent, became anxious to annihi- 
late his enemies. He ordered the Geno- 
ese cross-bowmen to begin the action ; 
they were reluctant, and pleaded fatigue. 
*' Kill the lazy ribalds !" said the count 



d'Alen<jon ; and the Genoese were com- 
pelled to attack : they did so with a loud 
clamor, which was increased by a storm 
of rain and thunder, and by an immense 
flock of crows which hovered over the 
armies, and was regarded as an evil pre- 
sage. The English archers advanced 
each one step in silence, and by one 
volley slaughtered and discomfited the 
Genoese. The French knights, enraged, 
drew their swords on the unfortunate 
auxiUaries, and cut their way through to 
arrive at the enemy. They encountered 
the first line of the English imder the 
prince of Wales ; and here was the heat 
of the battle. Edward was sent to for 
aid ; but he, who saw the strife and knew 
the mettle of his men, refused. "Let 
my son win his spurs !" said the monarch ; 
and bravely did young Edward, after- 
wards the Black Prince, earn these sym- 
bols of knighthood. The French were 
beaten, despite their immense numbers ; 
and as darkness soon came on to increase 
the confusion and render it impossible to 
recognise knight or noble, the slaughter 
was great. Eleven princes fell in the 
field ; also nearly a hundred nobles bear- 
ing banners, twelve hundred chevaliers, 
and thirty thousand soldiers. Amongst 
them were the kings of Bohemia, and 
Majorca, the dukes of Lorraine and Bour- 
bon, the counts of Flanders and Alenqon. 
Godfrey of Harcourt, who was in Ed- 
wards army, saw his brother, the count of 
Harcourt, and his two sons, perish in the 
opposite ranks. Philip was compelled 
to take flight. Such was the battle of 
Crecy, re*narkable for the noble blood 
shed in it, and for the brief space in which 
it was decided. Though the defeat was 
owing in a great measure to the want of 
discipline and ill assortment of Philip's 
army, the chief cause in this, as in other 
instances, was the contempt of the French 
princes and nobles for the present levies 
and infantry, to which they evidently pre- 
ferred the rabble of foreign mercenaries. 
The day after the action large bodies of 
the militia of neighboring municipalities 
arrived, and were slaughtered by the Eng- 
lish. Edward, on the contrary, reUed 
upon his country's yeomen, and compell- 
ed his knights to dismount and fight on 
foot with them. 



ENGLAND. 



We may now follow Edward to the 
siege of Calais, which is one of the most 
memorable features of the campaign. 
Edward was determined to reduce the 
town by famine. John de Vienne, the 
governor, upon seeing a town of huts rise 
around him, perceived the design of the 
king, and turned out of the place every 
individual who, upon inquiry, did not pos- 
sess a sufficient supply of provisions for 
several months. Philip did not neglect 
to employ every means in his power to 
relieve so important a fortress. Taking 
with him the Oriflamme, the sacred stand- 
ard of France, he encamped at Whilsand, 
with 150,000 men ; but finding the roads 
rendered impassable by the fortifications 
of the besiegers, he proposed a peace, 
which was rejected ; he then challenged 
Edward to a general battle, which the 
latter accepted ; but the French monarch, 
fearful of defeat, retired on the eve of the 
day which had been arranged for the 
combat. 

In vain did the governor solicit for a 
capitulation ; Edward insisted that he 
should surrender at discretion. This in- 
telligence brought despair to the inhabi- 
tants, as they knew the king had express- 
ed a resolution to punish them for their 
obstinacy and resistance. They met in 
the market-place to consult together, 
when the noble generosity of Eustace de 
St. Pierre induced him to offer his life 
for the sake of his fellow townsmen ; 
five others imitated his example ; and 
they proceeded barefooted and barehead- 
ed, with halters in their hands, to the 
English camp, where Edward received 
them Avith great severity, but granted 
their lives to the tears and entreaties of 
his queen Philippa. Thus was Calais 
severed from the French crown, after a 
siege of twelve months. {See France.) 

Early in the year 1356, the prince of 
Wales, who commanded the English army 
in the French provinces, and who, from 
the color of his armor, was styled the 
"Black Prince," left Bordeaux with a 
small army, and overran the fertile prov- 
inces of Querc, Limousin, Auvergne and 
Berri. The harvest was trodden under 
foot ; the cattle were slaughtered ; the 
wines and provisions which the army 
coidd not consume were destroyed ; the 



farm-houses, villages and towns, were 
reduced to ashes ; and every captive, 
able to pay his ransom, was conducted 
to Bordeaux. Elated with success, the 
young prince was unconscious of his dan- 
ger in penetrating so far into the country, 
and found, on arriving at Maupertuis, they 
were within five miles of the enemy. 
The two armies met near Poitiers, and 
such was the extraordinary valor of the 
English, that the whole chivalry of France 
was defeated by a handful of our coun- 
trymen ; and John became the captive of 
prince Edward. 

On the death of theBlack Prince, which 
happened in 1376, the king began to feel 
the most fatal symptoms of decay, and 
retired to his palace at Eltham. Here 
he was entirely abandoned by his nobles, 
and left to the mercy of Alice Perrers, a 
very beautiful mistress, who had long re- 
sided there. This bad woman after hav- 
ing plundered the dying monarch of all 
that was valuable, even to the ring on his 
finger, left him in his last agony. The 
ordinary servants of the king were simi- 
larly engaged, and all that the power and 
wealth of the regal state could procure 
for his last moments, was the attendance 
of one poor priest, who was passing the 
palace at the time of the tumultuous 
scramble. 

Richard II, ascended the throne of 
England, July 13, 1377 ; he was the 
grandson of Edward III, and inherited 
the kingdom in the right of his father, the 
late prince of Wales, usually called the 
Black Prince. As he was but eleven 
years of age when he commenced his 
reign, the government was vested in the 
hands of his three imcles, the dukes of 
York, Lancaster, and Gloucester. The 
very opposite dispositions of these noble- 
men it was thought would counteract the 
designs of each other. Lancaster was 
neither popular nor enterprising, York 
was indolent and weak, and Gloucester 
was turbulent, popular and ambitious. 

At this period, a spirit of independence 
was awakened in the minds of the peo- 
ple, which may be ascribed to a variety 
of causes First, to the progressive im- 
provement of society ; secondly, to the 
heavy pressure of taxation ; and, above 
all, to the many and lasting wars by 



ENGLAND. 



189 



wliich Europe had so long been con- 
vulsed. The faint dawning of the arts 
and sciences, which now began to revive, 
encouraged the people to hope for better 
fortune, and to feel the weight of those 
chains with which the laws, enacted by 
the nobility and gentry, had so long and 
so severely galled them. Their discon- 
tent was greatly increased by the repre- 
sentation of John Ball, an itinerant 
preacher, who inculcated the doctrine of 
perfect equality, that mankind were all 
derived from one common stock, and 
that every one of them had an equal right 
to liberty and a share of the goods of na- 
ture, of which they had been deprived 
by the ambition of their tyrannical ruler. 
Wat Tyler, a blacksmith, was the first 
who excited the people to take up arms. 
The immediate cause was the insolent 
behavior of one of the collectors of the 
poll-tax to Tyler's daughter, which the 
enraged father resented by knocking out 
the ruffian's brains with his hammer. 

The bystanders applauded the action, 
and exclaimed that it was high time for 
the people to take vengeance on their ty- 
rants, and to vindicate their rights. The 
whole country immediately took arms, 
and the insurgents soon amounted to 
more than 100,000 men. They advan- 
ced to Blackheath, where they sent a 
message to the king, who had taken 
shelter in the Tower, desiring a confer- 
ence with him. The king was desirous 
of complying with their demands, but 
was intimidated by their behavior. In 
the mean time they entered the city, burn- 
ing and plundering the houses of such 
as were obnoxious to the people. Their 
animosity was particularly levelled against 
the lawyers, to whom they showed no 
mercy. The king at last, knowing that 
the Tower was notable to resist their as- 
saults, went out among them, and desired 
to know their demands. To this they 
made a very humble remonstrance ; re- 
quiring a general pardon, the abolition of 
slavery, freedom of commerce in the 
market towns, and a fixed rent instead of 
those services required by the tenure 
of villenage. The king granted all these 
requests, and charters were made out by 
which the grant was ratified. In the 
mean time, however, another body of 



these insurgents had broken into the 
Tower, and slain the Chancellor, the pri- 
mate, and the treasurer, with some offi- 
cers of distinction. They then divided 
themselves into bodies, and took up their 
quarters in diflferent parts of the city. 
At the head of one of these was Wat 
Tyler, who led his men into Smithfield, 
where he was met by the king, who in- 
vited him to a conference under pretence 
of hearing and redressing his grievances. 
Tyler ordered his companions to retire 
till he should give them a signal, and 
boldly rode up to the king in the midst of 
his retinue. His demands were, that all 
slaves should be set free ; that all com- 
monages should be open to the poor as 
well as to the rich ; and that a general 
pardon should be passed for the late out- 
rages. Whilst he was making these de- 
mands, William Walworth, lord Mayor 
of London, without considering the dan- 
ger to which he exposed his majesty, 
stunned Tyler with a blow of his mace ; 
and one of the king's knights, riding up, 
despatched him with his sword. The 
mutineers seeing their leader fall, pre- 
pared themselves to take revenge. Their 
bows were already bent for execution, 
when Richard, though not yet sixteen 
years of age, rode up to the rebels, and 
with admirable presence of mind, cried 
out, " What, my people, Avill you kill your 
king ? Be not concerned for the loss of 
your leader. I myself will now be your 
general. Follow me into the field, and 
you shall have whatever you desire." 
The multitude immediately desisted, and 
followed the king into the fields, where 
he gxanted them the same charters that 
he had before granted to their compan- 
ions. These charters, however, were 
soon after revoked, and the people redu- 
ced to their former degraded state of vas- 
salage. 

In 1389, the Idng, at an extraordinary 
council of the nobility assembled after 
Easter, to the astonishment of all pres- 
ent, desired to know his age. Being 
told that he was turned of twenty-two, 
he alleged that it was then time for him 
to govern without help, and that there 
was no reason why he should be de- 
prived of those rights which the meanest 
of his subjects enjoyed. The lords an- 



190 



ENGLAND. 



swered in some confusion, that he had 
certainly an undisputed right to take upon 
himself the government of the kingdom. 
" Yes," replied the king, " 1 have longbeen 
under the government of tutors, and I will 
now first show my right to power by their 
removal." He then ordered Thomas 
Anmdel, whom the commissioners had 
lately appointed chancellor, to give up 
the seals, which he next day delivered 
to William of Wickham, bishop of Win- 
chester. He next removed the duke of 
Gloucester, the earl of Warwick, and 
other lords of the opposition, from the 
council ; and all the great officers of the 
household, as well as the judges, were 
changed. 

These and other acts raised a power- 
ful party against him. While absent in 
Ireland, the Didte of Lancaster Avhom he 
had banished, embarked at Nantz ; and 
with a retinue of only sixty persons, in 
three small vessels, landed at Ravenspur, 
in Yorkshire. The earl of Northumljer- 
land, together with Henry Percy his 
son, who was usually called Hotspur, im- 
mediately joined him with their forces ; 
and the people flocked to him in such 
numbers, that in a few days his army 
amounted to 60,000 men. 

Richard, in the mean time, continued 
in perfect security in Ireland for some 
time. Contrary winds, for tliree succes- 
sive weeks, prevented, his receiving any 
news of the rebellion which was begim 
in his native dominions. He landed 
therefore at Milford Haven without sus- 
picion, attended by a body of 20,000 
men, but immediately found himself op- 
posed by a power which he could by no 
means resist. His army gradually de- 
serted him, till at last he was obliged to 
acquaint the duke, that he would submit 
to whatever terms he pleased to pre- 
scribe. The duke did not think proper 
to enter into any treaty with the king, 
but carried him to London, where he 
was confined a close prisoner in the 
Tower, formally deposed by parliament, 
or rather by the duke of Lancaster, and 
at last put to death. 

The new king assumed the name of 
Henry IV, and all things having been 
arranged for his coronation, a proclama- 
tion was issued in the following words : 



" In the name of Fadher, Son, and 
Holy Ghost, I, Henry of Lancaster, 
challenge this rewme of Ynglonde, and 
the croun, with all the membres and the 
appurtenances ; als that I am descenditby 
right line of the blode, coming fro the 
glide King Henry therde, and throge 
that right that God of his grace hath 
sent me, with help of kyn, and of my 
frendes to recover it ; the which rewme 
was in pojmt to be ondone by defaut of 
governance, and ondoying of the gude 
laws." His eldest son, Henr}% then in 
his thirteenth year, was created duke of 
Cornwall, prince of Wales, and earl of 
Chester. His son Thomas, only eleven 
years old, high steward, constituting 
Thomas Percy, earl of Worcester, his 
lieutenant. He was crowned with great 
solemnity, and with the usual ceremonies, 
with this addition, that the sword he 
wore when he landed at Ravenspur, 
was borne naked in his left hand by the 
earl of Northumberland. 

Henry commenced his reign by an 
expedition to Scotland, and it afforded 
the king an occasion for exhibiting a 
moderation unknown in the annals of 
Scottish warfare. From humanity, or 
policy, he labored to mitigate the horrors 
of invasion, by granting his protection to 
all who asked it ; and the royal banner 
invariably served to protect the inhabi- 
tants from the violence and rapacity of 
the soldiers. Meanwhile the war raged 
on the borders of the two realms. The 
Scottish earl of March had done homage 
to Henry, and directed the inroads of the 
Percies into Scotland ; and the earl of 
Douglas had retaliated by making similar 
incursions into Northumberland. On 
Hol}^TOod-day was fought a decisive bat- 
tle. The Scots, headed by Douglas, oc- 
cupied the hill of Holmedon, on the bor- 
ders of Northumberland; the English, 
led by the duke of Northumberland, his 
son Henry Percy, sumamed Hotspur, 
and the earl of March, were on the oppo- 
site eminence. Douglas, with the flower 
of the Scottish nobility, was made pris- 
oner ; and the English won a complete 
victory by the archers alone, the English 
men at arms not having occasion to draw 
the sword. The next year was signal- 
ized by the rebellion of the Percies ; the 



ENGLAND. 



191 



very party, whose exertions had fixed 
Henrj' on the throne, now wished to dis- 
place him. In this they Avere assisted 
by the Welsh cliieftain, Owen Glendoiu:; 
but Henry intercepted the progress of 
the insingents by appearing with his 
army in Shrewsbmy, just as the enemy 
came in sight of its walls. The conspi- 
racy was ended by the battle of Shrews- 
bury, which was one of the most obsti- 
nate and bloody recorded in history. In 
numbers the two armies were nearly 
equal. The king made proposals of 
peace, which were rejected, and the air 
resounded with the adverse shouts of 
" St. George," and " Esperance Percy.'" 
Hotspur was slain, and his father, the 
duke of Northumberland, surrendered 
afterwards to Henry at York, where he 
was left in honorable custody to plead 
his cause in the next parliament ; when 
the lords sentenced him to pay a line at 
the king's pleasure ; but, on the earl 
swearing feahy to Henry and to the 
king's sons, he obtained a full remission 
of all fines and penahies. 

An insurrection having been attempted 
in favor of the young earl of March, the 
good archbishop Scroop, who was an 
enthusiastic defender of his claim to the 
throne, suffered as a traitor, and acquired 
among the people the reput-ation of a 
mart\-r. Henry, aware that the trial 
and punishment of an archbishop would 
have been attended with great ditficullies, 
appointed sir William Fultlirop judge on 
that occasion. Sir William, without any 
form of trial, pronounced sentence of 
death, which was instantly put in execu- 
tion. The act so enraged the pope, that 
he published a sentence of excomnnmi- 
cation against all who were concerned 
in the death of the archbishop Scroop ; 
but Henr}- so far satisfied his successor, 
Clement VII, that he removed the in- 
terdict. After many unsuccessfid at- 
tempts on the part of the insurgents, the 
earl of Northumberland, who, though he 
had been restored to his estates, had 
been deprived of the offices of constable 
and warden of the marches, and had 
again joined the rebellious party, fell in 
a contest on Bramham Moor. But there 
yet remained one who had defied the 
power of Henry during the whole of his 



reign. This was Owen, commonly call- 
ed Glendour, who traced his descent 
from the last of the native princes of 
Wales. His small property lay conti- 
guous to that of the lord Grey de Ruthen, 
and the latter, despising the weakness of 
the Welshman, added a portion of it to 
his own. Glendour presented a petition 
to parliament, which was contumeliously 
rejected through the influence of his op- 
ponent. He therefore seized the first 
opportimity of the king's absence in Scot- 
land to do himself justice by force of 
arms. Henry resented the attempt as an 
insult to his aiuhority. Owen Avas de- 
clared an outlaw by the English govern- 
ment, and he declared iiimself the right- 
ful sovereign of Wales. Adventurers 
from every quarter of the kingdom en- 
listed imder his standard, and Glendour 
indidged the hope of restoring the inde- 
pendence of his countr\-. Thrice did 
Henry lead a powerful army into Wales, 
and thrice he was bafik-d by the poUcy 
and braver}- of Glendour. These failures 
increased the power of the chieftain ; 
France assisted him with troops, but 
Henry committed the conduct of the war 
to his eldest son, who, by his activity 
and perseverance^ gradually subdued 
Wales ; though Glendoiu" himself never 
submitted, as he contrived to spin out the 
contest among the wilds of Snowden, till 
long after the accession of the next mon- 
arch. The contest between the prince 
of Wales and Glendour forms the subject 
of the most interesting of Shakspeare's 
historical dramas. 

A series of epileptic fits was the fore- 
runner of the king's death. His last fit 
seized him while he was pra\-ing in St. 
Edward's chapel at Westminster. He 
was carried into the abbot's chamber, and 
quietly expired on the 20th of March, 
1413, in the fourteenth year of liis reign. 
As soon as the death of Henr}' IV was 
knoAA-n, his son Henry was called to the 
; throne by the mianimous vote of parlia- 
i ment, under the title of Henr}- V. 
j Henry, having determined to revive 
j the claim of the English croAvn to the 
French dominions, embarked at South- 
! amptou, and entered the mouth of the 
I Seine with a fleet of 1 ,500 sail, canying 
6,000 men at arms, and 24,000 archers. 



192 



ENGLAND. 



He landed at Harfleur, took the place by 
storm, and wished to march through Pi- 
cardy to Calais, in order to fix his winter 
quarters in its neighborhood. With a 
powerful force, the Dauphin advanced 
against him. The numerical superiority 
of the French was great, and the confi- 
dence of the leaders and the nobles such, 
that they refused the profTcred aid of the 
Duke of Burgundy and the city of Paris. 
Henry V, retreated to the Somme. The 
French followed to harass his retreat, 
and to defend the passage from Abbe- 
ville to St. Quentin, which he gained 
only through the inattention of the enemy. 
The English, however, being destitute 
of every thing, and reduced by sickness, 
Henry asked for peace on disadvan- 
tageous terms. The French refused his 
proposals, and succeeded in throwing 
themselves between Calais and the Eng- 
lish. The latter consisted of 2,000 men 
at arms, and 12,000 archers, and were 
ranged in order of battle between two 
hills, with the archers on the wings. 
Stakes, of which every man carried one, 
were fixed in front of them. The French, 
commanded by the Constable d'Albret, 
numbered 100,000 troops, of whom 8,000 
were men at arms. They arranged them- 
selves in two divisions, with the men at 
arms, of whom 2,000 were mounted, in 
front. The English first put themselves 
in motion. The French horse instantly 
hastened to meet them, but were received 
with such a shower of arrows by the 
archers, that they fell back on the second 
division, and threw it into confusion. 
The light-armed archers seized their 
clubs and battle-axes, and broke into the 
ranks of the knights on foot, who could 
not move on account of their heavy coats 
of mail, and the closeness of their array. 
The English horse flew to assist the 
archers ; the first French division re- 
treated ; the second could not sustain 
the charge of the victors ; and the whole 
French army was soon entirely scattered. 
The victory was complete. Henry 
thought that the French would rally and 
renew the battle ; and, being alarmed 
also by the report that a party of peasants 
in arms were plundering Ids baggage, he 
ordered all the prisoners to be massacred. 
The command was already executed 



when he discovered the gi-oundlessness ] 

of his fear. The victorious army, how- 
ever, in the pursuit of the flying enemy, 
took 14,000 prisoners more. Ten thou- 
sand Frenchmen lay dead on the battle- 
field ; among them was the Constable, 
with six dukes and princes ; five princes, j 

among whom were the Dukes of Orleans | 

and Burboun, were taken prisoners. The 
English lost 1600 men killed, among them 
the Duke of York, Henry's uncle, whom ^ 

the Duke d'Alen9on slew at his side, 
while pressing towards the king. He 
had already dashed the crown from 
Henry's head, and lifted his hand for a 
more effectual blow, when the king's at- 
tendants surrounded him, and he fell I 
covered with wounds. After the battle, | 
the English continued their march to 
Calais. 

But the insurrection of the Lollards, 
or followers of WickliflTe, headed by Sir 
John Oldcastle, called the king from his 
French conquests to a nearer attempt on ! 

his English throne. The Lollards were | 

joined by the duke of Albany, but were 
ultimately defeated, and Oldcastle exe- 
cuted. In the spring, Henry resumed 
his victorious career ; and the whole of 
Lower Normandy was reduced by his 
arms. France was divided into two sep- 
arate governments ; the queen, with the 
duke of Burgundy, having possession of 
the king's person, exercised the royal 
authority in Paris ; while the opposite fac- 
tion proclaimed the young Dauphin regent 
of the kingdom. Proposals from both par- 
ties were made to Henry, buthe dismissed 
tlie negotiators, saying, that " Charles from 
his infirmity, and the duke from his inferior 
rank as a vassal, were equally incapable 
of disposing of the territories belonging 
to the French crown." Henry proceed- 
ed with the war, and laid siege to Rouen, 
the capital of Upper Normandy. The 
natural and artificial strength of the place, 
with the number and courage of the gar- 
rison, rendered it unlikely that Rouen, 
could be reduced by force, though it 
might be starved into submission. The 
latter mode was adopted, and Guy de 
Boutellier had the command of its de- 
fence ; the siege lasted for six months, 
but during the last ten weeks of that 
time, the inhabitants had no other means 



ENGLAND. 



193 



of subsistence than reptiles and weeds. 
It was calculated that 50,000 fell victims 
to famine and disease. 

The despair of the garrison at length 
subdued the obstinacy of the governor ; 
Rouen surrendered, the other fortresses 
followed the example of the capital, and 
the Normans submitted to wear the red 
cross, the distinguishing badge of the 
English nation. Henry having reduced 
Meaux, undertook the siege of Cosne,but 
on account of sickness was obliged to re- 
sign the command. lie ex])ired, Au- 
gust 31 , 1422, and his body was removed 
to England ; he was interred in West- 
minster Abbey, near the tomb of Ed- 
ward the Confessor. 

On the death of Henry V being an- 
nounced, the parliament assembled to 
make the necessary arrangement for the 
government during the minority of his 
infant son, in whose name, under the ti- 
tle of Henry VI, the different summon- 
ses were issued. The duke of Bedford 
took the title of " protector of the realm 
and church of England," and the duke of 
Gloucester was temporarily invested with 
the dignity during the absence of his 
brother. The care of the young prince 
was committed to his great uncle, Henry 
Beaufort, bishop of Winchester. The 
lords next day proceeded to name the 
chancellor, treasurer and keeper of the 
privy seal, and sixteen members of the 
council, and these appointments were 
ratified by the commons. 

The English at this period were in 
possession of almost the whole of the 
kingdom of France; and the youthful 
Henry was solemnly invested with the 
regal power by legates from Paris ; so 
that Charles VII succeeded but to a 
nominal kingdom. With all these great 
advantages however, the English daily 
lost ground, and in the year 1450 were 
totally expelled. 

In the year 1450, Richard, duke of 
York, first preferred his claims to the 
crown. All the males of the house of 
Mortimer were extinct ; but Anne, the 
sister of the last earl of March, hav- 
ing married the earl of Cambridge, 
who had been beheaded for treason in 
the region of Henry V, had transmitted 
her latent, but not yet forgotten claim, 
25 



to her son Richard. This prince de- 
scended by his mother from Philippa, 
only daughter of the duke of Clarence, 
second son of Edward III, stood plainly 
in the order of succession before the 
king ; who derived his descent from the 
duke of Lancaster, third son of that 
monarch. The duke was a man of cour- 
age and abilities, as Avell as some ambi- 
tion ; and he thought the weakness and 
unpopularity of the present reign afforded 
a favorable opportunity to assert his title. 
The ensign of Richard was a white rose, 
that of Henry a red one ; and this gave 
the names to the two powerful factions, 
who in after years deluged the kingdom 
in blood. 

The complaints against Henry's gov- 
ernment were heightened by an insurrec- 
tion headed by an illiterate man named 
Cade. He had been obliged to fly over 
into France for his crimes ; but, on his 
return, seeing the people prepared for 
violent measures, he assumed the name 
of Mortimer ; and, at the head of 20,000 
Kentish men, advanced towards Black- 
heath. The king sent a message to de- 
mand the cause of their rising in arms. 
Cade, in the name of the community, 
answered, " That their only aim was to 
punish evil ministers, and to procure a 
redress of grievances for the people." 
On this a body of 15,000 troops were 
levied ; and Henry marched with them 
in person against Cade, who retired on 
his approach. Cade and the rebels, 
being pursued by a part of the king's 
troops, remained in ambush, and cut to 
pieces a detachment which had been 
sent in pursuit. 

Soon after the citizens of London 
opened their gates to the victor ; and 
Cade, for some time, maintained great 
order and regularity among his followers. 
He led them out into the fields in the 
night time, and published several edicts 
against plunder and violence of any kind. 
He was not, however, long able to keep 
his followers in subjection. He behead- 
ed the treasurer. Lord Say, without any 
trial ; and soon after, his troops commit- 
ting some irregularities, the citizens re- 
solved to shut their gates against him. 
Cade endeavoring to force his way, a bat 
tie ensued, which lasted all day, and was 



194 



ENGLAND. 



only ended by the approach of night. 
The archbishop of Canterbury, and the 
chancellor, who had taken refuge in the 
Tower, being informed of the situation 
of affairs, drew up, during the night, an 
act of amnesty, which was privately dis- 
persed among the rebels. This had 
such an effect, that in the morning Cade 
found himself abandoned by his follow- 
ers ; and, retreating to Rochester, was 
obliged to fly alone into the woods. A 
price being set on his head by proclama- 
tion, he was discovered and killed by a 
soldier, named Eden, who in recompense 
for this service, was made governor of 
Dover castle. 

The court now began to entertain sus- 
picions that the insurrection of Cade did 
not occur merely in consequence of his 
own machinations and ambition, but that 
he had been instigated by the duke of 
York, who pretended to have a right 
to the crown. As he was about this 
time expected to return from Ireland, and 
a report took place that he was now 
to assert his supposed right by force of 
arms, orders were issued in the king's 
name to deny him entrance into Eng- 
land. This was prevented by his ap- 
pearing with no more than his ordinary 
attendants ; but though he thus escaped 
the danger for the present, he saw the 
necessity of instantly proceeding in sup- 
port of his claim. 

Encouraged by a disagreement be- 
tween Henry and his parliament, the 
duke of York raised an army of 10,000 
men, with which he marched towards 
London, demanding a reformation in mat- 
ters of government, and the removal of 
the duke of Somerset. This first enter- 
prise, however, proved unsuccessful ; 
the gates of the city were shut against 
them, and he was pursued by the king 
at the head of a superior army. On this 
he retired into Kent ; and as there were 
a number of his friends in the army of 
the king, a conference took place, in 
which Richard still insisted upon the 
removal of the duke of Somerset, and 
his submitting to be tried in parliament. 
This request was in appearance com- 
plied with, and Somerset arrested : the 
duke of York was then persuaded to 
wait upon the king in his royal paviUon ; 



but, on repeating his charge against the 
duke, he was surprised to see the latter 
come out from behind the ciu-tain, and 
offer to maintain his innocence. Rich- 
ard perceiving that he had not suflficient 
interest to niin his adversary, pretended 
to be satisfied, and retired to his seat at 
Wigmore, in Wales ; and, during the 
time he resided there, a better opportu- 
nity was given him of accomplishing his 
designs than he could have hoped for. 
The king fell into a kind of lethargic 
disorder, which increased his natural im- 
becility to such a degree, that he could 
no longer retain even the shadow of roy- 
alty. Richard was now appointed pro- 
tector, with power to hold parliaments 
at pleasure ; with which high ofhce he 
was no sooner invested, than he turned 
out all the Lancastrian party from their 
offices, and sent the duke of Somerset 
to the Tower ; but on the recovery of 
the king, he himself was dismissed from 
his employment, the duke of Somerset 
released, and the administration once 
more put into his hands. On this, the 
duke of York levied an army, merely, as 
he pretended, to enforce the reformation 
of government, and the removal of the 
duke of Somerset. Thus Henry, though 
sore against his will, was obliged to face 
him in the field. A battle ensued at St. 
Alban's, in which the royalists were de- 
feated, and the duke of Somerset, the 
chief partisan of their cause, killed in 
the action. The king himself was wovmd- 
ed, and took shelter in a cottage near 
the field of battle ; where he was taken 
prisoner, but was afterwards treated with 
great respect and kindness by the duke 
of York. 

Henry, though he was now only a pris- 
oner, seemed well pleased with his situ- 
ation ; but his queen, a woman of bold 
and masculine spirit, could not bear to 
have only the appearance of authority, 
while others enjoyed all the real power. 
She therefore excited the king once more 
to assert his right by force of arms, and 
the duke of York was obliged to retire 
from court. A negotiation for peace 
was at first set on foot, but the mutual 
distrusts of both parties soon broke it 
off. The armies met at Bloreheath, on 
the border.s of Staffordshire, on the 23rd 



ENGLAND. 



195 



of September, 1459, and the Yorkists at 
first gained some advantages ; but when 
a more general engagement was about to 
ensue, a body of veterans, who served 
under the duke of York, deserted to the 
king ; and this so intimidated the duke's 
party, that they separated the next day 
without striking a blow. The duke of 
York fled to Ireland ; and the earl of 
Warwick, one of his ablest and best sup- 
porters, escaped to Calais, with the gov- 
ernment of which he had been intrust- 
ed during the late protectorship. 

The York party, though thus in ap- 
pearance suppressed, only waited a fa- 
vorable opportunity of retrieving their af- 
fairs. Nor was this opportunity long 
wanting. Warwick having met with some 
successes at sea, landed in Kent ; and 
being there joined by some other barons, 
marched up to London amidst the accla- 
mations of the people. The city imme- 
diately opened its gates to him, and he 
soon found himself in a condition to face 
the royal army. An engagement ensued 
at Northampton on the 10th of July, 
1460, in which the royalists were en- 
tirely defeated, and the king again taken 
prisoner. The duke of York then open- 
ly laid claim to the crown ; and on this 
occasion the first instance of a spirit of na- 
tional liberty is said to have appeared in 
the house of lords. The cause of Henry 
and the duke of York was solemnly de- 
bated ; and the latter, though a conqueror, 
did not absolutely gain his cause. It 
was determined that Henry should pos- 
sess the throne during his life ; and that 
the duke of York should be appointed 
his successor, to the utter exclusion of 
the prince of Wales, who was then a 
child. 

The royal party now seemed destitute 
of every resource, the queen, however, 
fled into Wales, where she endeavored 
to raise another army. The northern 
barons, provoked at the southern ones 
for settling the government and .succes- 
sion to the crown without their consent, 
soon furnished her with an army of 20,000 
men. Another battle was fought near 
Wakefield Green, on the 24th of Decem- 
ber, 1460. The Yorkists were defeated, 
and the duke himself was killed in the 
action. His head was afterwards cut 



off" by the queen's orders, and fixed on 
one of the gates of York, with a paper 
crown, in derision of his pretended title. 
His son, the earl of Rutland, a youth of 
seventeen, was taken prisoner, and killed 
by lord Clifford, in revenge for his fath- 
er's death, who had fallen in the bat- 
tle of St. Alban's. 

After this victory, Margaret marched 
towards London, in order to set the king 
at liberty ; but the earl of Warwick, who 
now put himself at the head of the York- 
ists, led about the captive king, in order 
to give a sanction to his proceedings. 
He engaged the queen's forces at St. 
Alban's ; but through the treachery of 
lord Lovelace, who deserted during the 
heat of the engagement with a consider- 
able body of forces, Warwick was de- 
feated, and the king fell once more into 
the hands of his own party. 

The submission of the city of London 
seemed now to be the only thing want- 
ing to complete the queen's success ; 
but Warwick had secured it in his inter- 
ests, and the citizens refused to open 
their gates to the queen. In the mean 
time, young Edward, eldest son of the 
late duke of York, put himself at the 
head of his father's party. He was now 
in the bloom of youth, remarkable for 
the beauty of his person and his bravery, 
and was a great favorite of the people. 
He defeated Jasper Tudor, earl of Pem- 
broke, at Mortimer's Cross, in Hereford- 
shire. The earl himself was taken pris- 
oner, and immediately beheaded by Ed- 
ward's order. After this, he advanced 
to London ; and being joined by the re- 
mainder of Warwick's army, he soon 
obliged Margaret to retire, entered the 
city amidst the acclamations of the peo- 
ple, and was crowned under the title of 
Edward IV, on the 5th of March, 1461. 

Notwithstanding all her misfortunes, 
however, Margaret still continued un- 
daunted. She retired to the north, where 
she was soon joined by such numbers, 
that her army amounted to 60,000 men. 
She was opposed by young Edward and 
Warwick at the head of 40,000 ; and 
both armies met near Towton in the 
county of York, on the 29th of March, 
1461. A bloody battle ensued, in which 
the queen's army was totally defeated ; 



196 



ENGLAND. 



and as Edward, prompted by his natural 
cruelty, had ordered no quarter to be giv- 
en, 40,000 of the Lancastrians were 
slain in the field or in the pursuit. Ed- 
ward is said to have gained this victory 
by means of a violent storm of snow, 
which blew full in the face of the 
queen's army, and so blinded them that 
they could scarce make any use of their 
arms. After this disaster, the queen fled 
to Scotland with her husband and son ; 
and notwithstanding all the misfortunes 
she had met with, resolved once more to 
enter England at the head of 5,000 men, 
granted her by the king of France. But 
even here she was attended by her usual 
bad fortune. Her little fleet was dis- 
persed by a tempest, and she herself es- 
caped with the utmost difficulty, by en- 
tering the mouth of the Tweed. Soon 
after, a defeat, which her few forces sus- 
tained at Hexham, seemed to render her 
cause entirely desperate ; and the cruel- 
ties practised upon all her adlierents, ren- 
dered it ver}- dangerous to befriend her. 
By these repeated misfortunes the 
house of Lancaster was so eflfectually 
ruined, that Margaret was obliged to sep- 
arate from her husband. The king was 
still protected by some of his friends, who 
conveyed him to Lancashire, where he 
remained in safety for a twelvemonth ; 
but being at last discovered, he was 
thrown into the Tower and kept a close 
prisoner. The queen fled with her son 
to a forest, where she was attacked by 
robbers, who stripped her of her rings 
and jewels, treating her otherwise Avith 
the utmost indignity. A quarrel which 
happened among them about the division 
of the spoil, afforded her an opportunity 
of escaping from their hands into anoth- 
er part of the forest, where she wandered 
for some time. At last, when quite spent 
with fatigue, she saw a robber coming 
towards her with a drawn sword in his 
hand, and finding it altogether impossible 
to escape, she suddenly resolved to place 
herself under his protection. The rob- 
ber, instead of oflfering her any injury, 
professed himself entirely devoted to her 
service ; and, after living for some time 
concealed in the forest, she was at last con- 
ducted to the sea-side, where she found a 
sliip which conveyed her to Flanders. 



Edward, thinking himself securely 
fixed on the throne, gave a loose to his 
passions, and the earl of Warwick, to 
whom he was indebted for his crowm, ad- 
nsed him to many. Edward consented, 
and sent him over to the continent to ne- 
gotiate a match with the princess of 
Savoy. The negotiation proved suc- 
cessful, but, in the mean time, the king 
had privately married Elizabeth Wood- 
ville, daughter to Sir Philip Woodville. 

Unfortunately the match was conclu- 
ded just as the earl of Warwick had 
completed the negotiations with the prin- 
cess Savoy. The minister, therefore, 
returned full of indignation against his 
sovereign ; and Edward forgetting how 
great reason he had to be offended, 
determined to remove him entirely from 
his councils. A plan of revenge was 
soon devised ; and a powerful combina- 
tion was formed against Edward ; to 
accomplish which, Warwick not only 
employed his own influence, which Avas 
very extensive, but likewise that of the 
duke of Clarence, Edward's brother, to 
whom the earl had allied himself by 
giving him his daughter in marriage ; 
after which he persuaded him to embrace 
his cause. 

As a very close alliance subsisted be- 
tween Warwick and the duke of Burgun- 
dy, the king of France became uneasy ; 
and therefore, as soon as the earl landed 
on his dominions, received him with the 
greatest marks of esteem. 

A fleet was prepared to reconduct 
them to England ; and seizing a proper 
opportunity, they landed at Dartmouth 
with a small body of troops, while Ed- 
ward Avas in the north suppressing an in- 
surrection which had lately appeared 
there. Warwick was attended with as- 
I tonishing success on his arrival in Eng- 
land, and in less than six days saw him- 
self at the head of 60,000 men. Ed- 
ward was now obliged in his turn to fly 
from the kingdom. 

Warwick in the mean lime advanced 
to London, and once more released and 
placed Henry YI, on the throne. A par- 
liament was called, which very solemnly 
confirmed Henry's title, and Warwick 
himself was dignified by the people 
with the title of the kins maker. All 



ENGLAND. 



197 



the attainders of the Lancastrians were 
reversed ; and ever)' one was restored 
who had lost either honors or fortune by 
his former adherence to Henrj^'s cause. 
All the adherents of Edward fled to the 
continent, or took shelter in monasteries, 
where they were protected by the eccle- 
siastical privileges. But Edward's party 
was not yet destroyed. After an ab- 
sence of nine months, being seconded by 
a small body of troops granted him by 
the duke of Burgimdy, he made a de- 
scent at Ravenspur in Yorkshire. At 
first he met with little success ; but his 
army increasing on his march, he was 
soon in a condition to appear before the 
capital, which irmnediately opened its 
gates. 

The unfortunate Henry was thus 
again snatched from the throne, and the 
hopes of Warwick were almost totally 
blasted by the defection of Clarence, Ed- 
ward's brother. Nothing now remained 
but to come to an engagement as soon 
as possible. Warwick knew his forces 
to be inferior to those of Edward, but 
placed great dependence on his own 
generalship. He therefore advanced to 
Bamet, witliin ten miles of London, 
■where he resolved to wait the coming of 
Edward. The latter soon came up with 
him, and on the 14th of April, 1471, a 
most obstinate battle was fought. Ed- 
ward, according to custom, had ordered 
no quarter to be given; and obtained 
the victory through a mistake of a body 
of Warwick's forces, who fell whh fury on 
their own party instead of the enemy. 
The earl himself was slain, together 
with his brother, and 10,000 of his bravest 
followers. 

The queen had just returned with her 
son from France, where she had been 
soliciting supplies. She had scarce time 
to refresh herself from the fatigxies of 
the voyage, when she received the news 
of the death of Warwick, and the total 
destruction of her party. 

Queen Margaret and her son were 
taken prisoners, and brought to the king, 
who asked the prince in an insulting 
manner, how he dared to invade his do- 
minions ? The young prince replied, 
that he came hither to claim his just in- 
heritance ; upon which Edward struck 



him on the face with his gauntlet. The 
dukes of Clarence and Gloucester, lord 
Hastings, and sir Thomas Grey, taking 
this blow as a signal for farther vio- 
lence, hurried the prince into the next 
apartment, and there despatched him 
with their daggers. Margaret was thrown 
into the Tower along with her husband 
Henry, who expired a few days after. 
It was universally believed that he was 
murdered by the duke of Gloucester, 
though of this there was no direct evi- 
dence. Margaret was ransomed by the 
king of France for 50,000 crowns, and 
died in the course of a few years. 

Edward, after a short illness, expired 
on the 9th of April, 1483, in the twenty- 
first year of his reign. He spent the 
few days preceding his death in the exer- 
cises of devotion, and directed that full 
restitution should be made to all whom he 
had wronged, and from whom he had 
extorted money. He left two sons, Ed- 
ward, in his twelfth year, who sitcceeded 
him ; and Richard, duke of York, in his 
eleventh. 

On the death of the king, the whole 
I country was again dinded into new fac- 
I tions. The relatives of the queen, then 
in power, had become obnoxious to the 
i old nobility, who considered them as their 
i inferiors. The king had endeavored to 
! smother the embers of dissatisfaction by 
I desiring, on his death-bed, that his broth- 
t er Richard, duke of Gloucester, should 
j be intrusted with the regency ; and 
, strongly recommended peace and imani- 
[ mitv during the minority of his son. But 
Edward was no sooner dead, than their 
I former resentment broke out with greater 
I violence than ever ; and Richard is said 
I to have profited by their contentions. 
I His first step was to get himself declared 
I " protector of the realm ;" and having 
; arrested the earl of Rivers, the king's 
i uncle and guardian, he met young Ed- 
I Avard in his way from Ludlow castle, 
where the late king had resided during 
: the latter part of his reign, and respect- 
fully otlered to conduct him to London. 
Having thus secured the person of the 
i king, he next got possession of his broth- 
! er"s person also. The queen had retired 
j with this son to Westminster abbey; 
! and it was not without extreme regret that 



198 



ENGLAND. 



she delivered him up at the intercession 
of the primate and archbishop of York. 

In a few days after Gloucester had 
made himself master of the persons of 
the two princes, he had them closely con- 
fined in the Tower, under the pretence of 
guarding them from danger ; and soon 
after spread reports of their illegitimacy, 
and, by pretended obstacles, deferred the 
young king's coronation. 

Richard is believed to have caused the 
death of the two young princes, his ne- 
phews. It is said that he ordered sir 
Robert Brackenbury, governor of the 
Tower, to put the young princes to death. 
But this he refused, and submissively an- 
swered, that he knew not how to imbrue 
his hands in innocent blood. Sir James 
Tyrrel readily undertook the office, and 
Brackenbury was ordered to resign the 
keys to him for one night. Tyrrel, choos- 
ing three associates, Slater, Deighton, and 
Forrest, came in the night time to the 
door of the chamber where the princes 
were lodged, and sending in the assassins, 
bid them execute their commission, while 
he himself stayed without. They foimd 
the young princes in bed, and fallen into 
a sound sleep. The assassins smothered 
them with the bolster and pillows ; after 
which they showed their naked bodies to 
Tyrrel, who ordered them to be buried at 
the stair-foot. 

Richard, having secured himself on 
the throne, attempted to strengthen his 
interest by foreign alliances, and procur- 
ing the favor of the clergy at home by 
great indulgences ; but he found his pow- 
er threatened from a quarter where he 
least expected an attack. The duke of 
Buckingham, who had been so instru- 
mental in raising him to the throne, did 
not think himself properly rewarded. 
He made a demand of some confiscated 
lands in Herefordshire, to which his fam- 
ily had an ancient claim. Richard either 
reluctantly complied with his request, or 
only granted it in part ; so that a cool- 
ness soon ensued between them, and in 
a little time Buckingham came to a reso- 
lution of dethroning the monarch whom 
he had just raised. For some time he 
remained in doubt, whether he should 
assume the crown himself or set up an- 
other. At length he determined on the 



latter, and resolved to declare for Henry, 
earl of Richmond, who was at that time 
an exile in Britany, and was considered 
as the only surviving branch of the house 
of Lancaster. He was one of those who 
had the good fortune to escape the nu- 
merous massacres of the former reigns ; 
but as he was a descendant of John of 
Gaunt by the female line, he was for 
that reason obnoxious to those in power. 

Buckingham being suspected, fled to 
Wales, but his servant betrayed him into 
the hands of Richard, who executed him 
without delay. Henry at this time hav- 
ing made preparations for landing in Eng- 
land, set sail from Harfleur, in Normandy, 
and landed without opposition, on the 
17th of August, 1485, at Milford Haven, 
in Wales. Richard, in the mean time, 
not knowing where the invasion was to 
take place, had posted himself at Not- 
tingham. Sir Rice ap Thomas and sir 
Walter Herbert, were commissioned by 
Richard to oppose his rival in Wales ; but 
the former immediately deserted to him, 
and the latter made but a very feeble re- 
sistance. Richard instantly resolved to 
meet his antagonist, and to risk every 
thing on the event of a battle. Rich- 
mond, though he had not above 6,000 
men, and the king near double that num- 
ber, did not decline the combat ; being 
chiefly encouraged by the promises of 
lord vStanley to join him with a body of 
7,000 men, which were posted at a little 
distance from the intended field of bat- 
tle, seemingly undetermined to join either 
side. 

The king, having commanded his army 
to form themselves in order of battle, in- 
trusted the van to the duke of Norfolk, 
while he himself took the command of 
the main body. Lord Stanley, in the 
mean time, posted himself on one flank 
between the two armies, while his broth- 
er, sir William, took his station directly 
opposite. As his intention of either join- 
ing the enemy, or keeping neutral during 
the time of the engagement, was now far 
from being doubtful, Richard sent him 
orders to join the main body, which not 
being complied with, Richard determined 
to put to death Stanley's son, who had 
been left with him as a pledge of his 
father's fidelity. He was persuaded, 



ENGLAND. 



199 



however, to defer the execution till after 
the engagement, that Stanley might be 
induced to delay his purpose in joining 
the enemy. Soon after the battle com- 
menced, Stanley deserted Richard's par- 
ty, and, joining Richmond, entirely de- 
cided the fortune of the day. Richard 
now saw that the battle was entirely lost, 
but he continued to fight with the great- 
est bravery. The king is said to have 
killed sir William Brandon, the earl's 
standard bearer ; he dismounted sir John 
Cheyney ; and was within reach of Rich- 
mond, when sir William Stardey break- 
ing in with his troops, Richard was sur- 
rounded and overwhelmed by numbers. 
His body, which was found in the field, 
was thrown carelessly across a horse, 
carried to Leicester amidst the shouts of 
insulting spectators, and interred in the 
Grey Friars' church of that place. 

In Richard III, expired the line of the 
Plantagenet monarchs, which had reign- 
ed OA'^er England 331 years, from the 
accession of Henry II, to the death of 
Richard, in 1485. 

Henry VII, surnamed Tudor, was 
crowned with the diadem of Richard af- 
ter the battle of Bosworth Field. Henry 
had not, previous to that time, made any 
claim to the crown ; but, from the above 
period, he never would allow his title to 
be questioned, and by a marriage with 
Elizabeth, the daughter of Edward IV, 
he united the houses of York and Lan- 
caster, and thus ended a national quarrel 
which had for years deluged England 
with blood. He died in 1509. 

Henry VIII, Avas the only surviving 
son of Henry VII. The beauty of his 
person, joined to his youth and the ap- 
parent amiability of his temper, made him 
a universal favorite with the people. 

To prevent his interfering in the aflairs 
of state, he had been employed by his 
father in literary pursuits, and in these 
he displayed a considerable degree of 
talent. The union in his person of the 
rival claims of the Yorkist and Lancas- 
trian factions had precluded all danger 
of civil war. The first acts of his reign 
tended much to confirm the favorable ex- 
pectations entertained by his subjects. 

Henry ascended the throne of England 
under the most favorable auspices : he 



had a well stored treasury, an imdisputed 
title, and was at peace with all the 
powers of Europe. Commerce and arts 
had been some time introduced into Eng- 
land, where they met with a favorable 
reception. 

One of Henry's first actions in his 
royal capacity was to punish Empson 
and Dudley, who were obnoxious to the 
populace on account of their having been 
the instruments of the late king's rapa- 
city. As ihey could not be impeached 
merely on account of their having strictly 
executed the will of the king, they were 
accused of having entered into a treason- 
able conspiracy, and of having designed 
to seize by force the administration of 
government ; and though nothing could 
be more improbable than such a charge, 
the general prejudice against them was 
so great, that they were both condemned 
and executed. 

In 1510, the king entered into a league 
with pope Julius II, and Ferdinand, king 
of Spain, against Louis XII, of France. 
In this alliance Henry was the oidy dis- 
interested person. He expected nothing 
besides the glory wliich he hoped would 
attend his arms, and the title of Most 
Christian King, which the pope assured 
him would soon be taken from the king 
of France to be conferred upon him. 
The pope was desirous of wresting from 
Louis some valuable provinces which he 
possessed in Italy, and Ferdinand was 
desirous of sharing in the spoil. Henry 
summoned his parliament, who very 
readily granted him supplies, as he stated 
that his design was to conquer the king- 
dom of France, and annex it to the crown 
of England. It was in vain that the 
wisest of his counsellors objected that 
conquests on the continent would only 
drain the kingdom without enriching it, 
and that England from its situation was 
not fitted to enjoy extensive empire. 
The young king, deaf to all remonstran- 
ces, and hurried away by his military 
ardor, resolved immediately to begin the 
war ; but after several attempts, which 
were rendered unsuccessful only by the 
mismanagement of those who conducted 
them, a peace was concluded with France, 
on the 7th of August, 1514. Henry's arms 
were attended with more success in 



200 



ENGLAND. 



Scotland, where James IV, with the 
greatest part of the Scotch nobility, were 
cut ofl' in the battle of Flodden. Henry, 
in the mean time, elated with his imagi- 
nary successes against France, and his 
real ones against Scotland, continued to 
lead a life of the most wasteful extrava- 
gance. The old ministers who had been 
appointed by his father to direct him, 
were now disregarded, and the king's con- 
fidence was entirely placed in Thomas, 
afterwards Cardinal Wolsey, who sec- 
onded him in all his favorite pursuits, 
and who, from very humble life, had 
gradually raised himself to the first em- 
ployments of the state. He does not 
seem to have had many bad qualities be- 
sides his excessive pride, which ren- 
dered him very unpopular with the 
nobility ; but the gi'cat share he pos- 
sessed in the favor of such an absolute 
prince as Henry VIII, put him quite out 
of the reach of his enemies. 

The king, having soon exhausted all 
the wealth left him by his father, as well 
as the supplies which he could by fair 
means obtain from his parliament, ap- 
plied to Wolsey for new methods of re- 
plenishing his cofl'ers. The minister's 
first scheme was to get a large sum from 
the people under the title of a benevo- 
lence ; though no title could be more im- 
properly applied, as it was not granted 
without the greatest murmurings and 
complaints. Wolsey even met with op- 
position in the levying of it. In the first 
place, having exacted a considerable sum 
from the clergy, he next applied himself 
to the house of commons ; but they only 
granted him half the sum he demanded. 
The minister was at first highly ofl^ended, 
and desired to be heard in the house ; 
but they replied, that none could be per- 
mitted to speak there except such as 
were members. Soon after, the king, 
having occasion for new supplies, by 
Wolsey's advice, attempted to procure 
them by his prerogative alone, without 
consulting his parliament. He issued 
commissions to all the counties of Eng- 
land for levying four shillings in the 
pound from the clergy, and three shil- 
lings and four pence from the laity. 
This stretch of royal power was soon 
opposed by the people, and a general in- 



surrection seemed ready to ensue. Henry 
endeavored to pacify them by circular 
letters ; in which he declared, that what 
he demanded was only by way of benev- 
olence. The city of London, however, 
still hesitated to the demand ; and in 
some parts of the country insurrections 
were actually begim. These were sup- 
pressed by the duke of Suffolk ; biit the 
cardinal lost much of the king's favor on 
account of the improper advice he had 
given him. To reinstate himself in his 
good graces, Wolsey made the king a 
present of a noble palace called York- 
place, at Westminster, assuring him that 
from the first he had intended it for the 
king's use. In order to have a pretence 
for amassing more wealth, Wolsey next 
undertook to found two new colleges at 
Oxford ; and for this purpose he received 
every day fresh grants from the pope and 
the king. The former gave him liberty 
to suppress some monasteries, and make 
use of their revenues for the erection of 
his new colleges ; but this was a fatal 
precedent for the pontifl''s interests, as it 
taught the king to seize on the monastic 
revenues whenever he stood in need of 
money. 

For a considerable time Wolsey con- 
tinued to enjoy the king's favor in an ex- 
treme degree ; and as no monarch was 
ever more despotic than Henry VIll, no 
minister was ever more powerful than 
Wolsey. This extraordinary elevation, 
however, only served to render his fall 
the more conspicuous. The cause of his 
final overthrow was the desire king Henry 
began to entertain of having his queen 
Catherine divorced. The doctrines of 
the reformation, propagated l)y lAither in 
1517, had gained considerable ground in 
England, and many professed a belief in 
them, notwithstanding the severe perse- 
cution which had been carried on against 
heretics during some of the preceding 
reigns. The clergy had become so ex- 
ceedingly corrupt, and were so ignorant, 
that they were universally hated even by 
their own party, while no regard at all 
was paid to their decisions. Even the 
papal authority, though still very great, 
had declined very sensibly. The mar- 
riage of king Henry, therefore, being in 
itself looked upon by all parties as illegal, 



ENGLAND. 



201 



and only sanctified by a dispensation 
from the pope, had been frequently ob- 
jected to on different occasions. We are 
informed by some authors, that when 
Henry VII, betrothed his son, at that 
time only twelve years of age, he evi- 
dently showed an intention of taking af- 
terwards a proper opportunity to annul 
the contract ; and that he ordered prince 
Henry, as soon as he should come of 
age, to enter a protestation against the 
marriage ; charging him on his death- 
bed not to finish an alliance so unusual, 
and liable to such insuperable objections. 
The queen was six years older than 
the king. All her children had died in 
infancy except one daughter, the princess 
Mary ; and Henry was, or pretended to 
be, greatly struck with this, as it seemed 
something like the curse of being child- 
less, pronounced in the Mosaic law 
against evil-doers. Another point of the 
utmost importance was the succession 
to the crown, which any question con- 
cerning the legitimacy of the king's mar- 
riage would involve in confusion. It was 
also supposed, with great reason, that 
should any obstacles of this kind occur, 
the king of Scotland would step in as the 
next heir, and advance his pretensions 
to the crown of England. But, above 
all, it is most probable that he was in- 
fluenced by a new passion for Anne 
Boleyn, who had been appointed maid of 
honor to the queen. In this office Henry 
had frequent opportunities of seeing her, 
and finding that his passion could not be 
gratified but by marriage, he sent his 
secretary to Rome to obtain from Clement 
a bull for dissolving his marriage with 
Catherine. That he might not seem to 
entertain any doubt of the pope's prerog- 
ative, he insisted only on some grounds 
of nullity in the bull granted by his pre- 
decessor Julius for the accomplishment 
of the marriage. In the preamble to this 
bull, it had been said, that it was granted 
only upon the solicitation of Henry him- 
self; though it was Imown that he was 
then a youth under twelve years of age : 
it was likewise asserted, that the bull 
was necessary for maintaining the peace 
between the two crowns ; though other- 
wise it is certain that there was no ap- 
pearance of a quarrel between them. 
26 



These false premises seemed to afford a 
very good pretence for dissolving it ; but, 
as matters then stood, the pope was in- 
volved in the greatest perplexity. Queen 
Catherine was aunt to the emperor. On 
the other hand, Henry was his protector 
and friend ; the dominions of England 
were the chief resource from whence his 
finances were supplied ; and the king of 
France, some time before, had received 
a bull of divorce in circumstances nearly 
similar. In this exigence he thought 
the wisest method would be to spin out 
the affair by negotiation ; and in the 
mean time he scut over a commission to 
Wolsey, in conjunction with the arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, or any other Eng- 
hsh prelate, to examine the validity of 
the king's marriage, and of the former 
dispensation ; granting them also a pro- 
visional dispensation for the king's mar- 
riage with any other person. 

The pope's message was laid before 
the council in England ; but they con- 
sidered, that an advice, given by the 
pope in this secret manner, might very 
easily be disavowed in pul)Uc ; and that 
a clandestine marriage would totally in- 
validate the legitimacy of any issue the 
king might have by such a match. In 
consequence of this, fresh messengers 
were despatched to Rome, and evasive 
answers returned ; the pope never im- 
agining that Henry's passion would hold 
out during the tedious course of an eccle- 
siastical controversy. But in this he was 
mistaken. The king of England had 
been taught to dispute as well as the 
pope, and valued himself not a little in 
his knowledge on theology ; and to his 
arguments he added threats ; telling him 
that the English were but too well dis- 
posed to withdraw from the holy see ; 
and that if he continued uncomplying, 
the whole country would readily follow 
the example of their monarch, who 
would not pay obedience to a pontiff that 
had treated him so unjustly. 

The pope, perceiving the king's eager- 
ness, at last sent cardinal Campeggio, 
his legate, to London ; v/ho, with Wol- 
sey, opened a court for trying the legiti- 
macy of the king's marriage with Cathe- 
rine, and cited the king and queen to 
appear before them. The trial com- 



202 



ENGLAND. 



menced the 31st of May, 1529 ; and both 
parties presented themselves. The king 
answered to his name when called; but 
the queen, insteatl of answering to hers, 
rose from her seat, and, throwing herself 
at the king's feet, made a very pathetic 
address ; which her dignity, her virtue, 
and mislbrtunes, rendered still more af- 
fecting. She told her husband, " That 
she was a stranger in his dominions, 
"without protection, without counsel, and 
without assistance ; exposed to all the 
injustice which her enemies were pleased 
to impose upon her ; that she had quit- 
led her native country, without any other 
resource than her connections with him 
and his family; and that, instead of suf- 
fering thence any violence or iniquity, 
she had been assured of having in them 
a safeguard against every misfortune. 
That she had been his wife during twenty 
years ; and would here appeal to him- 
self, whether her affectionate submission 
to his will had not merited other treat- 
ment than to be thus, after so long a 
time, thrown from him with indignity. 
That she was conscious, he himself was 
assured, that her connections with his 
brother had been carried no farther than 
the mere ceremony of marriage. That 
their parents, the kings of England and 
Spain, were esteemed the wisest princes 
of their time, and had undoubtedly acted 
by the best advice when they formed the 
agreement for that marriage, which was 
now represented as so criminal and un- 
natural ; and that she acquiesced in their 
judgment, and would not submit her 
cause to be tried by a court, whose de- 
pendence on her enemies was too visible 
ever to allow her any hopes of obtaining 
from them an equitable or impartial de- 
cision." Having si)oken these words, 
the queen rose, and, making the king a 
low reverence, left the court ; nor would 
she ever again appear in it. The legate, 
having again summoned the queen to 
appear before them, on her refusal, de- 
clared her contumacious, and the trial 
proceeded in her absence. But when 
the business seemed to be nearly decided, 
Campeggio, on some frivolous pretence, 
prorogued the court, and transferred the 
cause to the see of Rome. 

All this lime cardinal Wolsey seemed 



to be in the same dilemma with the pope, 
and indeed much worse ; as he could not 
boast of the same independence which 
his hohness possessed. On the one hand, 
he was solicitous to gratify the king, his 
master, who had distinguished him by so 
many and extraordinary marks of favor ; 
on the other, he feared to offend the pope, 
whose servant he more immediately was, 
and who likewise had power to punish 
his disobedience. He soon saw thai this 
unfortunate quarrel was likely to end in 
his ruin ; and by attempting to please all 
parties, he fell under the displeasure of 
every one ; so that he was at last left 
without a single friend. The king was 
displeased on account of his not entering 
into his cause with the warmth he thought 
he had reason to expect ; Anne Boleyn 
imputed to him the disappointment of her 
hopes ; while queen Catherine and her 
friends expressed the greatest indigna- 
tion against him on account of the part 
he had openly taken in the affair of her 
divorce. In this situation, the king sent 
him a message by the dukes of Norfolk 
and Suffolk, demanding the great seal : 
the cardinal refused to deliver it without 
a more express warrant; upon which 
Henry wrote him a letter, and on receipt 
of this it was instantly given up. The 
seal was bestowed on sir Thomas More ; 
a man who, besides elegant literary tal- 
ents, was possessed of the highest integ- 
rity and virtue. Wolsey was next com- 
manded to retire to Esher, a coimtry-seat 
which he possessed near Hampton-court, 
and there to wait the king's pleasure. One 
disgrace followed another , and his fall 
was at length completed by a simimons 
to London to answer a charge of high 
treason. This summons he at first re- 
fused to answer, as being a cardinal. 
However, being at length persuaded, he 
set out on his journey ; but was taken ill, 
and died some distance from London. 
After the death of Wolsey, the king, 
by the advice of Cranmer, had the legali- 
ty of his marriage debated in all the uni- 
versities of Europe ; and the votes of 
these were obtained in his favor by the 
aid of money. To a subdeacon he gave 
a crown, to a deacon two crowns, and so 
to the rest in proportion to the import- 
ance of their station or opinion. 



ENGLAND. 



203 



Being thus fortified by the opinions of 
the universities, and even of the Jewish 
rabbis, Henry began to think he might 
safely oppose the pope himself. He be- 
gan by reviving in parliament an old law 
against the clergy, by which all those 
who had submitted to the authority of the 
pope's legate were condemned to severe 
penalties. The clergy, to conciliate the 
king s favor, were obliged to pay a fine 
of 118,000/; a confession was likewise 
extorted from them, that the king, and 
not the pope, was the supreme head of 
the church and clergy of England. An 
act was soon after passed against le\'ying 
the first-fruits, or a year's rent of all the 
bishoprics, that fell vacant. About this 
period, the king privately married Anne 
Boleyn ; he afterwards passed with her 
through London with great magnificence : 
the streets were strewn with flowers, the 
walls of the houses hung with tapestry, 
and an universal joy seemed to be dif- 
fused among the people. The imfortunate 
queen Catherine, perceiving all further 
opposition to be vain, retired to Ampthill 
near Dunstable, where she continued the 
rest of her days in privacy and peace. 
Her marriage with Henry was at last de- 
clared invalid, but not till after the latter 
had been married to Anne Boleyn. 

The pope was no sooner informed of 
these proceedings, than he passed a sen- 
tence, declaring Catherine to be the king's 
only lawful wife ; requiring him to take 
her again, and denouncing his censures 
against him in case of a refusal. Henry, 
on the other hand, knowing that his sub- 
jects were entirely at his command, re- 
solved to separate totally from the church 
of Rome. In the year 1534, he was de- 
clared head of the church by parliament ; 
the authority of the pope Avas completely 
abolished in England ; all tributes former- 
ly paid to the holy see were declared il- 
legal ; and the king was intrusted with 
the collation to all ecclesiastical bene- 
fices. All the credit which the popes 
had maintained over England for ages 
was now overthrown at once, and none 
seemed to regret the change, except those 
who were immediately interested by their 
dependence on Rome. 

But though the king thus separated 
from the church of Rome, he by no means 



j adhered to the doctrines of Luther which 
j had been lately published. He had 
written a book against this celebrated 
reformer, which the pope pretended 
I greatly to admire ; and honored king 
Henry, on its account, with the title of 
"Defender of the Faith." This charac- 
ter he seemed to be determined to main- 
tain, and therefore persecuted the reform- 
ers most violently. Many were burnt 
for denying the papal doctrines, and some 
also were executed for maintaining the 
supremacy of the pope. The courtiers 
knew not which side to take, as both the 
new and old religions were equally per- 
secuted ; and as both parties equally 
courted the favor of the king, he was by 
that means enabled to assume an abso- 
lute authority over the nation. '^ As the 
monks had all along shown the greatest 
resistance to Henry's ecclesiastical char- 
acter, he resolved at once to deprive them 
of the power of injuring him. He ac- 
cordingly empowered Cromwell, secre- 
tary of state, to send commissioners into 
the several counties of England to in- 
spect the monasteries, and to report with 
rigorous exactness, the conduct and de- 
portment of such as were found there. 

The persons employed in this under- 
taking discovered that every kind of ex- 
cess was committed in the religious 
houses. Frauds were constantly prac- 
tised, to increase the devotion and liber- 
ality of the people, and an exaggerated ac- 
count of these facts prepared the way for 
the entire suppression of these commu- 
nities. In 1536, three hundred and sev- 
enty-six monasteries were abolished, and 
their revenues, amounting to 32,000/ per 
annum, confiscated to the king's use, in 
addition to a vast quantity of plate and 
other valuable property, computed at 
more than 100,000/. In 1538, the great- 
er monasteries shared the fate of their 
predecessors ; and to lessen the odium 
of such conduct, the most improbable 
tales were invented relative to the life 
which the friars led. 

It was expected that the spirit of op- 
position shown by Henry to the church 
of Rome, would have at last made him 
fall in Avith the doctrines of the reformed ; 
but though he had been gradually chang- 
ing the theological system in which he 



204 



ENGLAND. 




Execution of Anne Boleyr, 



was educated, ever since he came to 
years of maturity, he was equally positive 
and dogmatical in the few articles he re- 
tained, as though the whole fabric had 
continued entire and unskaken ; and 
though he stood alone in his opinion, the 
flattery of courtiers had so much inflamed 
liis tyrannical arrogance, that he thought 
himself entitled to regidate by his own 
particular standard the religious faith of 
the whole nation. The point on which 
he chiefly rested his orthodoxy, was the 
most absurd in the whole Catholic doc- 
trine ; namely, that of transubstantiation. 
All departure from this he held to be a 
damnable error ; and nothing, he thought, 
could be more honorable for him, than, 
while he broke off all connection with 
the Roman pontiff, to maintain, in this 
essential article, the purity of the Catho- 
lic faith. 

In this tyrannical and overbearing man- 
ner, Henry proceeded with regard to ec- 
clesiastical affairs. In other respects 
his conduct was equally violent. With 
regard to his domestic concerns, history 
scarce affords his parallel. We have al- 
ready taken notice of his extreme love 
for Anne Boleyn, whom he married, con- 
trary even to his own principles, before the 



marriage with Catherine was dissolved. 
His affection for the former was carried 
to such a height, that he even procured 
an act excluding from the succession the 
issue of queen Catherine, in favor of the 
children of Anne Boleyn, and failing 
them to the king's heirs for ever. 

The unfortunate queen Catherine died, 
in her retreat at Ampthill, in the year 
1536. On her death-bed she Avrote a 
most pathetic letter to the king, in which 
she forgave him all the injuries she had 
received, and recommended to him, in 
the strongest terms, their daughter, the 
princess Mary. Henry's passion for 
Anne Boleyn now began to decline, and 
to this her delivery of a dead son did not 
a little contribute ; for such was his de- 
sire for male issue, that the disappointment 
in this respect alone Mas sufficient to 
alienate his affection from his wife. The 
levity of her temper, and her extreme 
gaiety of behavior, gave her enemies an 
opportunity of exciting the king's jeal- 
ousy against her. The viscountess of 
Rochford, in particular, a woman of pro- 
fligate manners, and who was married to 
the queen's brother, had the cruelty to 
report to the king that her husband com- 
mitted incest with his own sister. At 



ENGLAND. 



205 



the same time, it must not be forgotten 
that he, who insisted on such rigid fidelity 
from his wives, was himself the most faith- 
less of mankind. She was speedily tried 
and condemned, and the sentence pro- 
nounced against her was that she should 
be burned or beheaded at the king's 
pleasure. On hearing this dreadful denun- 
ciation, she exclaimed, " O Father ! O 
Creator ! thou who art the way, the truth, 
and the life ! thou knowest that I have not 
deserved this fate." She then made the 
most solemn protestations of innocence 
before her judges. Anne was beheaded 
by the excutioner of Calais, who was 
reckoned more expert than any in Eng- 
land, and Henry was thus enabled to 
marry Jane Seymour. His satisfaction, 
however, was of no long continuance ; 
for the queen died in two days after the 
birth of her first child, who, being a son, 
was baptized by the name of Edward 
VI. The king's grief, which is said to 
have been A^ery violent, did not hinder 
him from entering very soon afterwards 
into a new matrimonial scheme, in which 
he met with many difiiculties. His first 
proposals were made to the duchess 
dowager of Milan, niece to the emperor 
and to Catherine, his own former queen ; 
but as he had behaved so indifferently to 
the aunt, it is scarcely to be supposed 
that liis addresses could prove agreea- 
ble to the niece. On this he demanded 
the duchess dowager of Longueville, 
daughter of the duke of Guise ; but on 
making the proposal to the French mon- 
arch, Francis I, he was informed that the 
princess had been already betrothed to 
the king of Scotland. Henry, however, 
would take no refusal. He had learned 
that the object of his affection was endow- 
ed with many accomplishments, and was 
very beautiful. Francis, to prevent any 
more solicitations on this subject, sent 
the princess to Scotland, but at the same 
time made Henry an offer of Mary of 
Bourbon, daughter of the duke of Ven- 
dome. This princess was rejected by 
Henry, because he had heard of her 
being formerly refused by the king of 
Scotland. He was then offered his 
choice of the two younger sisters of the 
queen of Scotland, both of them being 
equal in merit as well as size to the one 



whom he had desired ; but Henry, un- 
willing to trust to any reports concerning 
the beauty of these ladies, or even to 
their pictures, proposed to Francis that 
they should have a conference at Calais 
under pretence of business, and that the 
latter should bring with him the two 
princesses of Guise with the finest la- 
dies of quality in France, that he might 
make a choice. To this proposal Fran- 
cis returned for answer, that he was too 
much impressed with regard for the fair 
sex to carry ladies of the first quality, 
like " geldings, to a market," to be chosen 
or rejected according to the humor of 
the purchaser Henry remonstrated and 
stormed as usual ; but though Francis 
at this time earnestly wished to oblige 
him, he at last totally rejected the pro- 
posal. Negotiations were then entered 
into for a German match, and the prin- 
cess of Cleves was proposed by Crom- 
well, on account of the great interest her 
father had with the protestant princes of 
Germany. Henry had also become en- 
amoured with her person from a picture 
of her ; but when the negotiation was 
quhe finished, and the bride arrived in 
England, he lost all patience, swearing 
that she was a great " Flandcr's mare," 
and that he could never bear her the 
smallest affection. The matter was still 
worse, when he found that she could 
speak no language but Dutch, of which 
he was entirely ignorant. Notwith- 
standing all these objections, however, 
he determined to complete the mar- 
riage, telling Cromwell that since he 
had gone so far, he must now put his 
neck into the yoke. The reason for this 
was, that the friendship of the German 
princes had now beconie more than ever 
necessaiy for Henry, and it was sup- 
posed that the affront of sending the prin- 
cess back to her own country might be 
resented. Soon after the marriage his 
aversion had increased to such a degree, 
that he determined to rid himself of his 
queen and prime minister both at once. 
Cromwell had long been an object of 
aversion to the nobility, who hated him 
on account of his obscure birth, his fath- 
er having been a blacksmith. By his 
office of vicar-general he had an almost 
absolute authority over the clergy ; he 



206 



ENGLAND. 



was also lord privy seal, lord chamber- 1 
lain, and master of the wards. He had 
also been invested with the order of the [ 
g^arter, and was created earl of Essex. 
This was sufficient to raise the envy of 
the courtiers ; but he had also the mis- 
fortune to fall under the displeasure of 
both protestants and catholics, the form- 
er hating him on account of his concur- 
rence with Henry in their persecution, 
and the latter looking upon him as the 
greatest enemy of their religion. To 
these unfortunate circumstances on the 
part of Cromwell, may be added the 
fact that Henry, having fallen in love 
with Catherine Howard, determined to 
divorce Anne of Cleves. By the insin- 
uations of this lady and her uncle, Crom- 
well's ruin was accomplished ; and he 
was condemned not only without any 
trial, but even without an examination. 
The charge was of heresy and high 
treason, but the instances of the latter 
were quite absurd and ridiculous. He 
submitted, however, without murmuring, 
knowing that any complaints on his part 
would be revenged on his son. He was 
terribly mangled by the executioner be- 
fore his head could be struck oil'. His 
death was followed by the dissolution 
of the marriage with the princess of 
Cleves, which was annulled by the con- 
sent of both parties. The princess parted 
from him with the utmost indifl'erence, and 
accepted of 3,000^, per annum, as a com- 
pensation, but refused to return to her own 
country after the affront she had received. 
The king's marriage with Catherine 
Howard soon succeeded the dissolution 
of that with Anne of Cleves ; but the 
event may be regarded as a punishment 
upon this tyrant, whose cruelty, lust, and 
other bad qualities can scarcely find a 
parallel in history. Henry imagined 
himself so happy in this new marriage, 
that he publicly returned thanks for his 
conjugal felicity. But shortly after in- 
formation was given to Cranmer by a dis- 
carded servant, named Lascelles, whose 
sister had also been servant to the duch- 
ess dowager of Norfolk ; he not only 
charged her with licentious amours before 
marriage, but affirmed that she had con- 
tinued the same practices ever since. 
Two of her paramours were arrested, 



and confessed their crimes ; the queen 
herself also confessed her guilt before 
marriage, but denied having ever been 
false to the king's bed. She was behead- 
ed on Towerhill along with the viscount- 
ess of Rochford, who had been a confidant 
in her crimes. The latter was a principal 
instrument in procuring the destruction 
of the unhappy Anne Boleyn, and there- 
fore died unpitied ; while the virtuous 
character of that unfortunate lady received 
an additional confirmation from the dis- 
covery of this woman's guilt. 

To secure himself from any further 
disasters of this kind, Henry passed a 
most extraordinary law, enacting that any 
one who should know, or strongly sus- 
pect, any guilt in a queen, might, within 
twenty days, disclose it to the king or 
council, without incurring the penalty of 
any former law against defaming the 
queen ; though at the same time every 
one was prohibited from spreading matter 
abroad, or even privately whispering it 
to others. It was also enacted that if 
the king married any woman who had been 
incontinent, she should be guilty of trea- 
son, if she did not previously reveal her 
guilt to him. In less than a year after 
the death of Catherine Howard, Henry 
married for his sixth wife, Catherine 
Parr, widow of Nevil, lord Latimer. This 
lady, being somewhat inclined to the 
doctrines of the reformation, and having 
the boldness to tell her husband her mind 
upon the subject, had like to have shared 
the fate of the rest. The furious mon- 
arch, incapable of the least contradiction, 
was so exasperated, that he consented 
that articles of impeachment should be 
drawn up against her. But the attack 
proved abortive by the prudence and ad- 
dress of the queen. 

Henry still continued to tyrannise over 
his nobility in the most cruel manner. 
The old countess of Salisbury, the last 
of the house of Plantagenet, was execu- 
ted with circumstances of great cruelty. 
She had been condemned, as usual, with- 
out any trial ; and when she was brought 
to the scaffold, refused to lay her head 
on the block in obedience to a sentence, 
to the justice of which she had never 
consented. She told the executioner, 
therefore, that if he would have her head, 



ENGLAND. 



207 



he must win it the best way he could ; 
and the executioner aimed many fruitless 
blows at her before he was able to put 
an end to her life. Soon after her, the 
lord Leonard Grey was hkewise execu- 
ted for high treason. 

A period was put to the cruelties and 
violence of the king by his death, which 
happened on the 28th January, 1546, the 
night before Norfolk was to have been 
executed. 

Henry was succeeded by his only son 
Edward, a boy of nine years of age. The 
most remarkable transactions of this 
reign are those which relate to the dis- 
putes between the catholics and protes- 
tants. The restraints which Henry VIII 
had laid upon the latter were taken off; 
and they not only maintained their doc- 
trines openly, but soon became the pre- 
vailing party. 

A commission was granted to the pri- 
mate and others, to search after all ana- 
baptists, heretics, or contemners of the 
new liturgy. Among the numbers who 
were found guilty upon this occasion, was 
Joan Boucher, commonly called Joan of 
Kent. This poor woman was condemned 
to be burnt to death as a heretic. The 
young king, Avho it seems had more sense 
than his teachers, refused at fi-st to sign 
the death warrant ; but at last, being 
overcome by the repeated importunities 
of Cranmer, he reluctantly complied ; 
declaring, that if he did wrong, the sin 
should be on the head of those who had 
persuaded him to it. The primate, after 
making an unsuccessful effort to reclaim 
the woman from her opinions, committed 
her to the flames. Some time after, Van 
Paris, a Dutchman, was condemned to 
death for Arianism. He suffered with 
so much fortitude, that he caressed the 
fagots that were consuming him. 

The duke of Northumberland, who 
assumed the ofllce of protector, represent- 
ed to Edward, who was now in a de- 
clining state of health, that his sisters 
Mary and Elizabeth, who were by Hen- 
ry's will to succeed, in failure of direct 
heirs to the crown, had both been de- 
clared illegitimate by parliament ; that 
the queen of Scots, his aunt, stood exclu- 
ded by the king's will ; and, being an 
alien also, lost all right of succeeding. 



The three princesses, being thus exclu- 
ded, the succession naturally devolved to 
the marchioness of Dorset, eldest daughter 
of the French queen, Henry's sister, who 
had married the earl of Suffolk after her 
first husband's death. The next heir to 
the marchioness, was lady Jane Grey, a 
lady universally respected, both on ac- 
count of the charms of her person, and 
the virtues and endowments of her mind. 
The king, who was accustomed to sub- 
mit to the politic views of his minister, 
agreed to have the succession submitted 
to the council, where Northumberland 
hoped to procure an easy concurrence. 
The judges, however, who were appoint- 
ed to draw up the king's letters patent 
for this purpose, warmly objected to the 
measure ; and gave their reasons before 
the council. They begged that a parlia- 
ment might be summoned both to give 
it force, and to free its partisans from 
danger: they said that the document was 
invalid, and would not only subject the 
judges who drew it, but every counsellor 
who signed it, to the pains of treason. 
But Northumberland was not to be thwart- 
ed in his designs ; a method was found 
out of screening the judges from danger, 
by granting them the king's pardon for 
what they should draw up ; and at length 
the patent for changing the succession 
was completed, the princesses Mary and 
Elizabeth were set aside, and the crown 
settled on the heirs of the duchess of 
Suffolk, who, it appears, had consented 
to relinquish her claim. 

For some time the young king had suf- 
fered from pulmonary disease, which 
continued to gain gi-ound. After this set- 
tlement of the crown, his health visibly 
declined every day, and little hopes were 
entertained of his recovery. To make 
matters worse, his physicians were dis- 
missed by Northumberland's advice ; and 
he was put into the hands of an ignorant 
woman, who undertook speedily to effect 
liis recovery. But the use of her medi- 
cines aggravated the disease ; and he ex- 
pired at Greenwich on the 6th of July, 
1553, in the sixteenth year of his age, 
and the seventh of his reign. 

After the death of Edward, little re- 
gard was paid to the new patent by which 
lady Jane Grey had been declared heir 



208 



ENGLAND. 



to the crown of England. The legal 
right of Mary to the throne, notwithstand- 
ing the unnatural behavior of her father 
and his servile parliaments, was acknow- 
ledged by the whole nation. Northum- 
berland, however, was resolved to put the 
late king's will into execution. He there- 
fore carefully concealed the death of 
Edward, in hopes of securing the person 
of Mary, who, by an order of council, 
had been required to attend her bother 
during his illness ; but being informed of 
his death, she innnediately prepared to 
assert her right to the crown. Northum- 
berland, accompanied by the duke of 
Suffolk, the earl of Pembroke, and some 
other noblemen, saluted lady Jane Grey 
as queen of England. Jane was in a 
great measure ignorant of these transac- 
tions, and it was with the utmost difficulty 
she was persuaded to accept the dignity 
conferred upon her. At last she com- 
plied, and suffered herself to be conveyed 
to the Tower, where it was then usual for 
the sovereigns of England to pass some 
days after their accession. Mary, how- 
ever, who had retired to Kenning-hall in 
Norfolk, in a few days found herself 
at the head of 40,000 men ; and lady 
Jane resigned the sovereignty in ten days, 
with more pleasure than she had received 
it. She retired with her mother to their 
castle ; and Northumberland, finding his 
affairs quite desperate, attempted to quit 
the kingdom. But he was stopped by the 
band of pensioner guards, who informed 
him that he must stay to justify his con- 
duct in taking arms against their lawful 
sovereign. He therefore surrendered 
himself to Mary ; and was soon after 
executed, together with sir John Gates 
and sir Thomas Palmer. Sentence was 
also pronounced against lady Jane Grey 
and her husband, lord Guilford ; but with- 
out any intention of putting it in execu- 
tion against them at present, as their youth 
and innocence pleaded so strongly in their 
favor, neither of them having reached 
their sevent.^ cnth year. 

Mary now entered London, and took 
possession of the throne without any ef- 
fusion of blood. Though she had at 
first solemnly promised to defend the re- 
ligion and laws of her predecessor, she 
no sooner saw herself firmly established 



on the throne than she resolved to restore 
the catholic religion, and give back their 
former power to the clergy. Gardiner, 
Bonner, and the other bishops who had 
been imprisoned or suffered loss during 
the last reign, were taken from prison, 
reinstated in their sees, and now tri- 
umphed in their turn. On pretence of 
discouraging controversy, the queen, by 
her prerogative, silenced all the preach- 
ers throughout England, except such as 
should obtain a particular license, and 
this she was resolved to give only to 
those of her own persuasion. The 
greater part of the foreign protestants 
took the first opportunity of quitting the 
kingdom ; and many of the arts and 
manufactures, which they had success- 
fully introduced, fled with them. In a 
short time the queen called a parliament, 
which seemed willing to concur in all her 
measures. They at once repealed all the 
statutes with regard to religion, that had 
passed during the reign of Edward VI, 
and the national religion was again 
placed on the same footing in which it 
had been at the death of Henry VIII. 

To strengthen the cause of the catho- 
lics, and give the queen more pov/er to 
establish the religion to which she was 
so much "ttached, a proper match was 
sought for her. Her affection at first 
seemed to be engaged by the earl of De- 
vonshire ; but as he was attached to the 
princess Elizabeth, he received the over- 
tures which were made him from the 
queen with neglect. The next person 
mentioned as a proper match for her was 
cardinal Pole, a man greatly respected 
for his virtues ; but as he Avas now in 
the decline of life, Mary soon dropped 
all thoughts of that alliance. At last she 
determined on a marriage with Philip 
II, of Spain, son to the emperor Charles 
V. He was then in the twenty-seventh 
year of his age, and consequently agree- 
able in that respect to Mary ; but when 
her intentions with regard to this match 
became known, the greatest alarm took 
place throughout the whole nation. The 
commons presented such a strong remon- 
strance against a foreign alliance, that 
the queen dissolved the parliament in or- 
der to get quit of their importunity. To 
obviate, however, all clamor, the articles 



ENGLAND. 



209 



of marriage were drawn up as favorably 
as possible for the interests of England. 
It was agreed, that though Philip should 
have the title of king, the administration 
should be entirely in the queen ; that no 
foreigner should be capable of holding 
any office in the kingdom ; nor should 
any innovation be made in the laws, cus- 
toms, and privileges of the people ; that 
Philip should not carry the queen abroad 
without her consent, or any of her chil- 
dren without the consent of the nobility. 

All these concessions, however, were 
not sufficient to quell the apprehensions 
of the people ; they were considered 
merely as words of course, wliich might 
be retracted at pleasure ; and the whole 
nation murmured loudly against the pro- 
posed alliance. An insurrection was 
raised by sir Thomas Wyatt, a Roman 
Catholic, at the head of 4,000 men, who 
set out from Kent to London, publishing 
a declaration against the Spanish match 
and the queen's evil counsellors. Having 
advanced as far as Southwark, he requi- 
red that the queen should put the Tower 
of London into his hands ; that she should 
deliver four counsellors as hostages; and, 
in order to ensure the liberty of the na- 
tion, should marry an Englishman. But 
his force was at present by far too small 
to support such magnificent pretensions ; 
and he uiduckily wasted so much time 
without attempting any thing of import- 
ance, that the popular ferment entirely 
subsided, his followers abandoned him 
gradually, and he was at last obliged to 
surrender himself to sir Maurice Berke- 
ley, near Temple-bar. His followers 
were treated with great cruelty, no fewer 
than 400 of them suffered by the hands 
of the executioner ; 400 more were par- 
doned, whilst Wyatt himself was con- 
demned and executed. 

This rebellion had almost proved fatal 
to the princess Elizabeth, who for some 
time past had been treated with great se- 
verity by her sister. Mary had never for- 
gotten the quarrel between their mothers ; 
and when a declaration was made after 
her own accession, recognising queen 
Catherine's marriage as legal, she was 
thus furnished with a pretence for declar- 
ing Elizabeth illegitimate. She was like- 
wise obnoxious on account of her reli- 
27 



gion ; but above all, her standing so high 
in the afiection of the earl of Devonshire 
was a crime never to be forgiven, and 
Mary made her sensible of her displeas- 
ure by numberless mortifications. She 
was ordered to take place at court after 
the duchess of Suffolk and the coimtess 
of Lennox ; to avoid which, and other 
indignities, Elizabeth at last retired from 
court altogether into the country. 

Wyatt's rebellion proved fatal to many 
persons of distinction ; but of all those 
who perished on this occasion, none ex- 
cited more universal compassion than the 
unfortunate lady Jane Grey and her hus- 
band lord Guildford Dudley. They had 
already received sentence of death as 
has been mentioned ; and two days af- 
ter the execution of Wyatt, they received 
orders to prepare for eternity. Lady 
Jane, who had been in expectation of 
this blow, was no way intimidated, but 
received the news with the most heroic 
resolution. The place intended at first 
for their execution was Tower-hill ; but 
the council, dreading the effects of the 
people's compassion for their youth, 
beauty, and innocence, gave directions 
that they should be beheaded within the 
verge of the Tower. The duke of- Suf- 
folk was soon after tried, condemned, 
and executed ; but would have met with 
more compassion, had not his ambition 
been the cause of his daughter's unhap- 
py fate. 

Notwithstanding this unpopularity, 
however, the rebellion of Wyatt had so 
strengthened the hands of government, 
that a parliament was assembled in 
hopes of gratifying the queen's wishes 
in regard to her marriage with Philip of 
Spain. To facilitate this purpose also, the 
emperor of Germany sent over to England 
400,000 crowns to be distributed among 
the members of parliament in bribes and 
pensions ; a practice of which there had 
previously been no example in England. 
Soon after this the marriage with Philip 
was solemnized ; but as the latter had es- 
poused his queen merely with a view to 
become king of England, he no sooner 
found himself disappointed in this than he 
showed a total want of affection for her 
as a wife. He passed most of his time 
at a distance from her in the Low Coun- 



210 



ENGLAND. 



tries ; and seldom wrote to her except 
when he wanted money. 

The enemies of the state being sup- 
posed to be suppressed, those of the 
Catholic religion were next persecuted. 
The old sanguinary laws which had 
been rejected by a former parliament 
were now revived. The bloody scene 
began by the execution of Hooper, bish- 
op of Gloucester, and Rogers, prebenda- 
ry of St. Paul's. These were quickly 
followed by others, of whom the princi- 
pal were archbishop Cranmer, Ridley, 
bishop of London, and Latimer, bishop 
of Worcester. These persecutions soon 
became odious to the whole nation, and 
the perpetrators of them were all will- 
ing to throw the blame from themselves 
upon others. A bold step was now taken ! 
to introduce a court similar to the Spanish 
inquisition, that should be empowered to i 
try heretics, and condemn them without i 
any other law but its own authority. But 
even this was thought a method too dila- 
tory in the present exigence of aflairs. 
A proclamation was issued against books 
of heresy, treason, and sedition, and de- 
clared, that whosoever had such books in 
his possession, and did not burn them 
without reading, should sufler as a rebel. 
This was attended with the execution of 
such numbers, that at last the magistrates 
who had been instrumental in these cru- 
elties refused to give their assistance 
any longer. It was computed, that dur- 
ing this persecution, 349 persons sufTer- 
ed by fire, besides those punished by 
imprisonments, fines, and confiscations. | 
Among those who suffered by fire were 
5 bishops, 21 clergymen, 8 lay gentle- \ 
men, 84 tradesmen, 100 husbandmen, 55 
women, and 4 children. 

The only remarkable political trans- 
action which occurred during this reign 
was the loss of Calais, which had been ' 
in possession of the English for upwards ' 
of 200 years. This circumstance exci- 
ted the greatest regret, and the queen was 
heard to say in her last illness, that, 
when dead, the name of Calais would 
be found engraven on her heart. She 
did not long survive this loss ; but died 
in the year 1558, of a lingering illness, I 
after a reign of five years, four months, i 
and eleven days. j 



On the death of Mary, several noble- 
men who had formed her council of state, 
immediately repaired to Elizabeth at 
Hatfield, with the intelligence ; and on 
the 23rd of November, 1558, the new 
queen set forward for her capital, atten- 
ded by a train of a thousand nobles, 
knights, gentlemen, and ladies, and took 
up her abode at the dissolved monastery 
of the Chartreux, or Charterhouse, then 
the residence of Lord North, a splendid 
pile, which oflered ample accommoda- 
tion for a royal retinue. Her next re- 
move, in compliance with ancient cus- 
tom, was to the Tower. On this occa- 
sion, all the streets from the Charter- 
house were spread with fine gravel, 
singers and musicians were stationed by 
the way, and an immense concourse of 
people freely lent their joyful acclama- 
tions, as, preceded by her heralds and 
great officers of state, she passsd along, 
mounted on her palfrey, acknowledging 
the salutations of her humblest subjects. 

After a fcAv days spent in the Tower, 
Elizabeth passed by water to Somerset 
Palace ; and thence, about a fortnight af- 
ter, when the funeral of her predeces- 
sor was over, to the palace of Westmin- 
ster, where she kept her Christmas. 

Busy preparation was now making in 
her "good city of London" against the 
solemn day of her passage in state from 
the Tower to her coronation at West- 
minster. The usages and sentiments 
of that age conferred upon these public 
ceremonials a character of earnest and 
dignified importance now lost ; and on 
this meinorable occasion, when the min- 
gled sense of delivrance received, and of 
future favor to be conciliated, had open- 
ed the hearts of all men, it was resolved 
to lavish in honor of the new sovereign 
every possible demonstration of loyal af- 
fection, and to grace the occasion with 
every known device of .festal magnifi- 
cence. 

On the 15th of January, 1558, Eliza- 
beth was crowned at Westminster. Great 
perplexity was occasioned by the refu- 
sal of the whole bench of bishops to 
perform the coronation service ; but at 
length, to the displeasure of his brethern, 
Ogelthorpe, bishop of Carlisle, suffered 
himself to be gained over, and the rite 



ENGLAND. 



211 



was duly celebrated. This refractory- 
spirit of the episcopal order was wisely 
overlooked by the new government ; but 
it proceeded no doubt from the principle, 
that the marriage of Henry VIII, with 
Catherine of Aragon having been decla- 
red lawful and valid, the child of Anne 
Boleyn must be regarded as illegitimate, 
and legally incapable of succeeding to 
the throne. The compliance of Ogel- 
thorpe could indeed be censured by the 
other bishops on no other ground than 
their disallowance of the title of the sov- 
ereign ; in the office itself, as he per- 
formed it, there was nothing to which the 
most rigid catholic could object, for the 
ancient ritual is said to have been fol- 
lowed without the slightest modification. 
The circumstance has been adduced, 
among others, to show that it was rather 
by the political necessities of her situa- 
tion, than by her private judgment and 
conscience in religious matters, that 
Elizabeth was impelled finally to abjure 
the Roman catholic system, and to de- 
clare herself the general protectress of 
the protestant cause. 

The accession of Francis II, husband 
to the queen of Scots, to the French 
throne, in 1559, threatened Elizabeth 
with the hostility of both France and 
Scotland ; and in the politic resolution 
of removing from her own territory to 
that of her enemies the seat of a war 
which she saw to be inevitable, she le- 
vied a strong army, and sent it, under the 
command of the duke of Norfolk and 
lord Grey de Wilton, to the I'rontiers of 
Scotland. She also entered into a close 
connection with the protestant party in 
that country, who were already in arms 
against the queen-regent and her French 
auxiliaries. Success attended this well- 
planned expedition, and, at the end of a 
single campaign, Elizabeth was able to 
terminate the war by the treaty of Edin- 
burgh ; a convention, the terms of which 
were such as effectually to secure her 
from all fear of future molestation in 
this quarter. 

During the period of these hostilities, 
however, her situation was an anxious 
one. It was greatly to be feared that 
the emperor and the king of Spain, for- 
getting in their zeal for the Catholic 



Church, the habitual enmity of the house 
of Austria against that of Bourbon, would 
make common cause with France against 
a sovereign, Avho now stood forth the 
avowed protectress of protestanism. By 
skilful negotiation, however, Elizabeth 
found means to avert these evils, and by 
her selection of diplomatic agents on this 
important occasion, gave striking evidence 
of her judgment. 

While the treaties for peace were in 
preparation, Mary, the queen-regent of 
Scotland, died. Her death was shortly 
after followed by that of the French mon- 
arch, Francis II, leaving his queen, Ma- 
ry, a widow, at the age of eighteen. 
She persuaded herself that all obstacles 
were now removed, and that she might 
resume the government of her native 
kingdom; when the English ministers saw 
her design, they determined as much as 
possible to prevent her return to Scotland. 

Mary effected her voyage to Scotland, 
secure from the attempts of Elizabeth, 
who following the suggestions of lord 
James and others, had sent a fleet to ar- 
rest her progress ; but owing to a propi- 
tious fog, the Scottish queen reached the 
land of her fathers, and entered the capi- 
tal amidst the shouts and congratulations 
of her subjects. 

The marriage of the Scottish queen 
was a matter of intrigue in the courts of 
England and Scotland. She married 
Dandey, whom she had created earl of 
Ross and duke of Albany, in the chapel 
of Holyrood-house, and issued a procla- 
mation, commanding that all writs should 
run in the style of Henry and Mary, king 
and queen of Scotland. 

Mary, whose passion for Darnley had 
caused her to overlook the natural defects 
of his character, soon found that he was 
capricious, violent, and vindictive ; and 
that he had, acquired such a habit of in- 
ebriety, as sometimes even to forget the 
respect due to his consort. But, above 
all, he was ambitious, and felt incensed 
against his queen, because she refused 
to secure to him by act of parliament the 
kingdom of Scotland during his natural 
life ; and he directed his resentment 
against her advisers, particularly against 
her secretary, David Rizzio, which end- 
ed in the murder of the latter. 



212 



ENGLAND. 



Shortly after this event, Mary gave 
birth to a son. All parties now looked 
forward to the succession being finally 
established in the union of the two crowns 
of England and Scotland, in the person 
of the new born prince. It is extremely 
probable that such might be the intention 
of Elizabeth, had not the indiscreet par- 
tiality shown by Mary towards James 
Hepbiurn, earl of Bothwell, a man of pro- 
fligate manners, but the head of an ancient 
family, proved detrimental to her cause. 

After the death of Rizzio, Bothwell, in 
his efforts to assuage the suflerings of 
Mary under the brutal conduct of her 
husband, had so completely wormed him- 
self into her royal favor, that she raised 
him to the highest offices of power and 
trust, and followed his advice in all mat- 
ters of importance. The murder of Riz- 
zio, by staying the proceedings of the 
conspirators, had cooled the ardor of 
Darnley's ambition, and had rendered 
him an object of contempt to l^oth parties. 
Mary formed a new administration, the 
chief ministers of which were Huntley, 
Bothwell, Murray, and Argyle ; and, in 
direct opposition to the advice of her 
husband, she admitted Maitland to be of 
her council. He soon suggested to them 
the propriety of a divorce between the 
queen and Darnley ; and even ventured 
to propose it to Mary. At first she listen- 
ed willingly, but after more consideration 
she refused to adopt the plan, and said, 
" I will that ye do nothing through which 
any spot may be laid to my honor or 
conscience ; and, therefore, I pray you, 
rather let the matter be in the state it is, 
abiding till God of his goodness put 
remedy thereto." 

Disappointed in the plan of a divorce, 
the lords again consulted on the means 
to rid themselves of Darnley, and decided 
on assassination. The conspirators took 
advantage of the queen's absence at a 
ball, to blow up with gunpowder the 
house in which Darnley slept. The ex- 
plosion shook the city ; the bodies of the 
king, and Taylor, his page, were found 
in the garden ; and three men, with a 
boy, were buried in the ruins. No ques- 
tion in history has been more perse- 
veringly discussed than this ; and it is 
still a matter of doubt, whether the Scot- 



tish queen was or was not pri\7- to the 
death of her husband. 

It is said that when Bothwell under- 
took to murder Darnley, he demanded 
the hand of Mary as the price of his 
services ; to eflect this, twenty-four of 
the principal peers subscribed a new 
I bond, in which they asserted their be- 
lief that Bothwell was innocent, and 
obliged themselves to defend him against 
all calumniators, with their bodies, heri- 
tages, and goods ; and they promised, 
upon their consciences, to promote a 
marriage between him and the queen, as 
soon as she might think convenient. The 
next day he seized her person and con- 
ducted her to the castle of Dunbar, where 
he pressed his suit most earnestly, and 
gave for her perusal the bond which the 
lords had signed in his favor. From 
Dunbar he conducted her to the castle of 
Edinburgh. Bothwell there obtained a 
divorce from his wife, Janet Gordon ; and 
just one month after his trial, he led the 
queen to the court of sessions, where, in 
the presence of the judges, she forgave 
him the forcible abduction of her person ; 
the next day she created him duke of 
Orkney, and was immediately married to 
him at Holyrood. 

Scarcely four days, however, had 
elapsed, when many of the lords, who 
previously had favored Bothwell's cause, 
rose in rebellion against him, and con- 
spired to take his life, and to depose the 
queen. They succeeded in separating 
them, and the confederates conducted 
Mary to Lochleven Castle, where she 
was kept in confinement. When Eliza- 
beth became informed of these events, 
she sent Throckmorton to Scotland. This 
minister was as much the agent of Cecil 
as of his sovereign, and beheld in silence 
the pi'oceedings of the confederates to 
depose the queen ; nay more, he secret- 
ly advised her to sign her " resignation of 
the crown to her son ; to consent to the 
nomination of Murray as regent, and to 
the appointment of certain persons to act 
for him in his absence." Throckmorton, 
under the guise of friendship, wrote his 
' opinion to Mary, that as no deed, exe- 
cuted under her present circumstances, 
could be binding, she had better affect 
not to hesitate ; which advice caused her 



ENGLAND. 



213 



to sign the papers, without even knowing 
the whole of their contents. The infant 
prince, then in his thirteenth month, was 
crowned and anointed ; and Murray, who 
had been in France, hastened to Edin- 
burgh. 

With great difficulty, Mary effected 
her escape from Lochleven, and being 
joined by several thousand of her follow- 
ers, encountered the regent, Murray, at 
Langside. But her army was entirely 
defeated, and being pursued by the vic- 
torious troops, she rode sixty miles in one 
day, and then formed the fatal resolution 
of seeking an asylum in the domains of 
the English queen. Her friends strong- 
ly objected to this measure, but she re- 
lied upon the hollow protestations of 
friendship which Elizabeth had freely 
made use of through her agents. Although 
Elizabeth had declared to her foreign al- 
lies her determination to replace Mary 
on the throne, had forbidden her ambas- 
sador to be present at the coronation of 
the prince, and had refused to Murray the 
title of regent, yet her ministers were 
leagued with the enemies of Mary, and 
rejoiced at her arrival in England, be- 
cause they thought themselves more sure 
of their prey. Cecil suggested the pro- 
posal of keeping her in confinement for 
life, as the mode most conducive to the 
security of Elizabeth, and the interests 
of the reformed religion. 

Mary proposed a visit to Elizabeth, 
that she might acquaint her with the par- 
ticular account of her misfortunes, the 
wrongs she had endured, and the calum- 
nies which had been heaped upon her ; 
but Cecil hinted to his sovereign, that she, 
being a maiden queen, could not in de- 
cency admit to her presence a woman 
who was charged with adultery and mur- 
der. Mary, on learning this opinion, ex- 
postulated with the dignity of a queen, 
and with a spirit becoming innocence. 

It was principally her dread of the 
Spaniards, which influenced Elizabeth in 
her deceitful professions and empty ne- 
gotiations with the profligate court of 
France, which, in the judgment of posteri- 
ty, have redounded so little to her honor, 
but which appeared to her of so much 
importance, that she now thought her- 
self peculiarly fortunate in having discov- 



ered an agent capable of conducting them 
with all the wariness, penetration, and 
profound address so peculiarly requisite, 
where sincerity and good faith are want- 
ing. This agent was sir Francis Wal- 
singham, whose rare acquisitions of po- 
litical knowledge, made principally du- 
ring the period of his voluntary exile for 
religion, and still- rarer talents for public 
business, had induced lord Burleigh to 
recommend him to the service and con- 
fidence of his mistress. For several 
years from this time he resided as the 
queen's ambassador at the court of France, 
at first as coadjutor to sir Thomas Smith, 
a learned and able man, who afterwards 
became a principal secretary of State. 
There was not in England a man who 
was regarded as a more sincere and ear- 
nest protestant than VValsingham ; yet 
such was at this time his sense of the 
importance to the country of the French 
alliance, that he expressed himself strong- 
ly in favor of the match between Eliza- 
beth and the duke of Anjou, and, as a 
minister, spared no pains to promote it. 

Similar language was held on this sub- 
ject both by Leicester and Burleigh, but 
the former was perhaps no more in ear- 
nest on the subject than his mistress ; and 
finally, all parties, except the French 
protestants, who looked ou the conclusion 
of these nuptials as their best security, 
seem to have been not ill pleased, when, 
the marriage treaty being at length laid 
aside, a strict league of amity between 
the two countries was agreed upon in its 
stead. 

Elizabeth was enjoying the festivities 
prepared by Leicester for her reception 
at his castle at Kenilworfh, when the 
news arrived of the execrable massacre 
of Paris, an atrocity scarcely to be paral- 
leled in history. {See France.) Troops 
of affrighted Huguenots, who had escaped 
through a thousand perils with life, and 
life alone, from the hands of their pitiless 
assassins, arrived on the English coast, 
imploring the commiseration of their 
brother protestants, and relating in ac- 
cents of despair their tale of horrors. 
After such a stroke no one knew what to 
expect ; the German protestants flew to 
arms ; and even the subjects of Eliza- 
beth trembled for their countrymen trav- 



214 



ENGLAND. 



elling on the continent, and for themselves I 
in their island-home. The pope is said 
to have openly applauded the savage i 
deed; the court of Spain showed itself 
united hand and heart with that of France, j 
to the astonishment of Elizabeth, who had | 
been taught to believe them at enmity ; 
and it seemed as if the signal had been 
given of a general crusade against the re- 
formed churches of Europe. 

The provinces of Holland and Zealand, 
goaded into revolt by the bigotry and bar- 
barity of Philip of Spain, had from the 
first experienced in the English nation, 
a disposition to encourage and shelter 
them, sent a solemn deputation to Eliza- 
beth, offering her the sovereignty of the 
provinces on condition of her defending 
them from the Spaniards. Although her 
pride was flattered by the proposition, in 
a short time she dismissed the envoys 
with an absolute refusal. 

The religious wars of France, and the 
revolt of the Dutch provinces from Spain, 
proved in many ways the safeguard of 
the peace of England. They furnished 
so much domestic occupation to the two 
catholic sovereigns of Europe, most for- 
midable by their power, their bigotry, 
and their unprincipled ambition, as effec- 
tually to preclude them from uniting their 
forces to put in execution against Eliza- 
beth the papel sentence of deprivation. 
But circumstances were now tending 
with increased velocity towards a rupture 
with Spain, which had now clearly be- 
come inevitable ; and, in 1577, the queen 
of England saw herself compelled to take 
steps in the affairs of the Low Countries 
equally offensive to that power and to 
France. 

Great interest was excited 1)y the ar- 
rival in Plymouth harbor, in Novemlier, 
1580, of the celebrated Francis Drake, 
from his circumnavigation of the globe. 
National vanity was flattered by the idea 
that this Englishman should have been 
the first commander by whom this great 
and novel enterprise had been success- 
fully achieved, and both himself and his 
ship became in an eminent degree the 
objects of public curiosity and wonder. 
The courage, skill, and perseverance of 
this great navigator, were deservedly ex- 
tolled : the wealth which he had brought 



home from the plunder of the Spanish 
settlements awakened the cupidity which, 
in that age, was a constant attendant on 
the daring spirit of maritime adventure, 
and half the youth of the country were 
anxious to embark in expeditions of pil- 
lage and discovery. 

In 1582, an attempt was made by the 
king of Spain, to incite the catholic in- 
habitants of Ireland to a general rebellion, 
by throwing on the coast a small body of 
troops, seconded by a very considera- 
ble Sinn of money. But the vigorous 
measures of Arthur lord Grey, the deputy, 
by holding the Irish in check, rendered 
this effort abortive. The Spaniards, un- 
able to penetrate into the country, raised 
a fort near the place of their landing, 
which they hoped to be able to hold out 
till the arrival of re-enforcements. They 
obstinately refused the terms of surrender 
first offered them by the deputy ; and the 
fort being afterwards taken by assault, 
the whole garrison, with the exception 
of the officers, was put to the sword ; an 
act of cruelty which the deputy is said 
to have commanded with tears, in obedi- 
ence to the decision of a court-martial, 
from which he could not venture to de- 
part, and which Elizabeth afterwards 
publicly reprobated. 

At this time the mind of Elizabeth was 
a prey to the most uneasy apprehensions, 
lest the Scottish queen should effect her 
escape. She hardly knew how to intrust 
any person to be her keeper ; and while 
the royal captive was committed to the 
care of the earl of Shrewsbury, his most 
trivial actions were under the scrutiny 
of all around him. Indeed so strong was 
Elizabeth's propensity to jealousy, that 
her favorite minister, Burleigh, was an 
object of her malevolent suspicions ; and 
when he went to Buxton for relief Irom 
the gout, she accused him of going there 
to intrigue with Mary. These continued 
persecutions of Mary and her friends, 
were more especially directed against 
those who adhered to the faith of the 
I church of Rome, and it cannot appear 
singular that the catholics of England, 
who groaned under the penal statutes en- 
forced by Elizabeth, should look forward 
to the son of Mary, who, in all probabili- 
ty, would in a few years reign over them, 



ENGLAND. 



215 



with a degree of cheering hope. Though j 
James was educated by the disciples of | 
Knox, yet the kindness with which he ^ 
had received certain catholic priests at j 
Holyrood-house, was construed by Mary 
and her friends, into the most favorable 
disposition towards her cause ; and it was 
resolved, in a consultation held secretly 
at Paris, that Mary and James, ought to 
reign jointly as king and queen, on the 
throne of Scotland : and, as James had 
expressed his apprehension lest he might 
be compelled, through poverty, to submit 
to the pleasure of Elizabeth, persons has- j 
tened to Valladolid, and obtained a pre- 
sent of 12,000 crowns from Philip, for! 
the use of the Scottish king ; while ' 
Creighton, another missionary, proceeded 
on the same errand to Rome, and received 
a promise from the pope to pay the body- 
guard of James for twelve months' ser- 
vice. These proceedings did not escape 
the watchful attention of the English ca- 
binet. Hitherto Elizabeth and Henry of 
France had stood in mutual awe of each 
other, but now ambassadors of Henry had I 
arrived in the Scottish court, to aid James 1 
in recovertng his liberty ; and having es- 
caped from those who had presumed to 
act as his keepers, he summoned his 
partisans to meet him at St. Andrew's. 
Without any apparent reason, Walsing- 
ham suddenly made his appearance at 
James' court. The monarch received 
the aged statesman coolly, and replied to 
his friendly lectures on government with j 
reserve, so that Elizabeth complained of j 
the disrespect shown to her ambassador, i 
whose real object in taking the journey , 
was to study the disposition and opening i 
character of James, to learn his resour- i 
ces, and to dispose with advantage of the 
money he carried from England, to pur- 
chase partisans by pensions and prom- 
ises. Mary's hopes were again revived 
by the late favorable tiu-n in her son's af- 
fairs ; and powerful friends in France 
avid Spain were preparing to restore the j 
long captive queen to liberty ; but Mary, ' 
aware that her keepers had orders to ' 
punish any attempt to escape by depriv- j 
ing her of life, acquainted Elizabeth with | 
her desire to leave the administration en- } 
tirely to her son, and to reside as a pri- ' 
vate person in England, a proposal which } 



was refused ; but another, from Mary, to 
conclude a league of perpetual amity 
between the two crowns, through the me- 
diation of Castelnau, was received with 
apparent pleasure, but was afterwards 
frustrated by the private intrigue of the 
French king, who feared, by freeing 
Elizabeth from apprehension on the part 
of Scotland, to give her an opportunity 
to support the protestants in France. 

Mary, by the intrigues of Walsingham 
and others, was drawn into a plot, which 
finally cost her life. Previous to arrest- 
ing the persons of the conspirators, she 
was confined in a chamber of the house 
of Tixal, where she was prohibited the 
use of pen and ink, whilst her drawers 
were ransacked by Paulet, and all her 
papers seized. From that moment the 
proceedings against Mary excite pity for 
her untimely fate, and admiration at the 
magnanimity with which she met it. The 
principal charges against her were two. 
To the first, that she had conspired with 
foreigners to procure the invasion of Eng- 
land, Mary, without denying or admitting 
its justice, maintained that she was fully 
authorized by law to seek her deliverance 
from an illegal captivity. But the sec- 
ond charge, of her having conspired the 
death of Elizabeth, she denied in the 
strongest language and with tears. The 
aid which the unfortunate captive might 
have looked for from her son, and the 
kings of France and Spain, was, from 
their several peculiar circumstances, 
withheld; withElizabeth alone the last pe- 
riod of her fate rested. The sentence of 
her judges against her was announced in 
London by the ringing of bells for twenty- 
four hours ; also by bonfires and other 
demonstrations of joy. But of all the pro- 
ceedings in the cause of Mary, the dissim- 
ulation with which queen Elizabeth acted 
during the whole period of the Scottish 
queen's imprisonment, — a period com- 
prising almost twenty years ! — was the 
most extraordinary ; and it seemed to in- 
crease after the fatal judgment had been 
pronounced. From a feigned miwilling- 
ness to shed the blood of her Idnswoman, 
the warrant was allowed to remain un- 
signed for two months. The persons 
employed by James to intercede with 
Elizabeth for the life of his mother de- 



216 



ENGLAND. 




Execution of Mary queen of Scuts. 



ceived him. While Gray delivered pub- 
licly the message with which he was 
intrusted by the Scottish monarch to 
Elizabeth, he said in her ear privately, 
" The dead cannot bite." 

The hints thrown out by Elizabeth 
respecting the private disposal of Mary, 
having proved unavailing, she signed the 
warrant, and gave it to her secretary, 
Davison, with orders for him to get the 
great seal attached to it. Davison, puz- 
zled how to act, delivered the warrant 
back into the hands of lord Burleigh, 
from whom he had received it. Burleigh 
called a council, who were unanimous 
in opinion that the queen had done all 
the law required ; and Leicester intima- 
ting to them that the queen wished them 
to proceed without further consulting her 
feelings, the warrant was despatched to 
Fotheringay. When the earl of Shrews- 
bury and the earl of Kent arrived in the 
presence of Mary, she listened to the 
reading of the warrant in silence, and 
with an unruffled countenance. After 
enumerating the wrongs she had suffered, 
she placed her hand on a testament which 
lay on the table, and said, " As for the 
death of the queen, your sovereign, I call 
God to witness, that I never imagined it, 
never sought it, nor ever consented to it." 



She requested the assistance of Le 
Preau, her confessor, whom she knew 
to be then in the house, but this was re- 
fused. This important night, the last of 
Mary's life, she divided into three parts. 
The arrangement of her domestic affairs, 
the writing of her will, and of three let- 
ters, to her confessor, her cousin of Guise, 
and the king of France, occupied the first 
and larger portion. The second she 
gave to exercises of devotion. About 
four in the morning she retired to rest, 
but it was observed she did not sleep ; 
her lips were in constant motion, and her 
mind seemed absorbed in prayer. 

In the midst of the great hall of the 
castle had been reared a scaffold, covered 
j with black serge, and surrounded with a 
low railing. About seven the doors were 
thrown open ; the gentlemen of the coun- 
ty entered with their attendants ; and 
Paidet's guard augmented the number 
from between one hundred and fifty to 
two hundred spectators. Before eight a 
, message was sent to the queen, who re- 
I plied that she would be ready in half an 
hour. At that time Andrews, the sheriff, 
! entered the oratory. Mary arose, taking 
the crucifix from the altar in her right, 
I and carrying her prayer-book in her left 
I hand. Her servants were forbidden to 



ENGLAND. 



217 



follow : they insisted ; but the queen bade 
them to be content, and turning towards 
them, gave them her blessing. They 
received it on their knees, some kissing 
her hands, others her mantle. The door 
closed ; and the burst of lamentation 
from those within resounded through the 
hall. 

Her step was firm, and her counte- 
nance cheerful. Paulet offered her his 
arm, to aid her as she mounted the scaf- 
fold. " I thank you, sir," said Mary, 
" it is the last trouble I shall give you, 
and the most acceptable service you 
have ever rendered me." The queen 
seated herself on a stool which was pre- 
pared for her. On her right stood the 
two earls, on the left the sheriff, and 
Beal, the clerk of the council ; in front the 
executioner from the Tower, in a suit of 
black velvet, .with his assistants also clad 
in black. The warrant was read ; and 
Mary, in an audible voice addressed the 
assembly. She stated that she would 
have them recollect she was a sovereign 
princess, not subject to the parliament of 
England, but brought there to suffer by 
injustice and violence. She, however, 
thanked her God that he had given her 
this opportunity of publicly professing 
her religion, and of declaring, as she had 
often before declared, that she had never 
imagined, nor compassed, nor consented 
to the death of the English queen, nor 
even sought the least harm to her person. 
After her death many things, which were 
then buried in darkness, would come to 
light. But she pardoned from her heart 
all her enemies, nor should her tongue 
utter that which might turn to their pre- 
judice. When her maids, bathed in tears, 
began to disrobe their mistress, the exe- 
cutioners, fearing to lose their usual per- 
quisites, hastily interfered. The queen 
remonstrated ; but instantly submitting to 
their rudeness, observing to the earls 
with a smile, that she was not accustom- 
ed to employ such grooms, or to undress 
in the presence of so numerous a com- 
pany. Her servants, at the sight of their 
sovereign in so lamentable a state, could 
not suppress their feelings ; but Mary, 
putting her finger to her lips, commanded 
silence, gave them her blessing, and soli- 
cited their prayers. She then seated her- 
28 



self again ; a kerchief edged with gold 
was then pinned over her eyes ; the exe- 
cutioners, holding her by the arms, led 
her to the block, and the queen kneeling 
down, said repeatedly with a firm voice, 
" Into thy hands, O God, 1 commend 
my spirit." But the sobs and groans of 
the spectators disconcerted the heads- 
man. He trembled, missed his aim, and 
inflicted a deep wound on the lower part 
of the skull. The queen remained mo- 
tionless, and at the third stroke her head 
was severed from the body. It is well 
deserving of remark, that the most cruel 
and extraordinary act of the whole ad- 
ministration of Elizabeth — that which 
brought the blood of a sister queen upon 
her head, and indelible reproach upon 
her memory — appears to have been pro- 
ductive of scarcely any assignable effect: 
it changed her relations with no foreign 
power ; and it altered very little the state 
of parties at home. 

We are now to call our reader's atten- 
tion to one of the most memorable events 
in English history : we allude to the pro- 
jected invasion of England by Philip of 
Spain. The invincible armada, or arma- 
ment, by which it was proposed to be ef- 
fected, consisted of the most powerful na- 
vy which had ever been brought together 
since the employment of gunpowder as a 
vehicle for the destruction of hostile fleets. 
Philip, disappointed in his hopes of mar- 
rying Elizabeth, returned the queen her 
collar of the garter, and from that time the 
most irreconcilable jealousy appears to 
have existed between the two sovereigns. 
Towards the close of 1587, it became 
obvious that both Italy and France would 
aid the designs of Spain, and Elizabeth 
sent out Admiral Drake with thirty vessels 
to watch the movements of the enemy. 

The land forces under the control of the 
queen in the spring of 1588, were scarce- 
ly sufficient to garrison the fortifications 
and other military works ; but no sooner 
was Philip's intended invasion announced, 
than the nobility vied v/ith each other in 
their efforts of assistance. 

Queen Elizabeth, having fully ascer- 
tained the views of the Spanish king, or- 
dered 20,000 troops to be cantoned along 
the southern coast of the kingdom, in 
such a manner, that in forty-eight hours 



218 



ENGLAND. 



the whole might be assembled at any 
port where there was a probability of 
the enemy's landing their troops. A 
large corps, well disciplined, was en- 
camped at Tilbury Fort, near the mouth 
of the Thames, under the command of the 
earl of Leicester, whom she created 
general-in-chief of all her troops. These 
troops she reviewed, and rode through 
the lines with the general. A third army, 
amounting to 36,000 men, was command- 
ed by lord Hunsdon, appointed to defend 
her majesty's person. By the advice 
and direction of lord Cobham, beacons 
were erected in Kent, by the help of 
which, in half an hour after the first sight 
of the enemy, the alarm might reach Lon- 
don, and be communicated all over the 
country. Charles lord Howard of Ef- 
fingham was created lord high admiral, 
and sir Francis Drake vice-admiral. They 
joined their fleets ofTthe coast of France ; 
and lord Henry Seymour was stationed 
on the Flemish coast with forty sail, to 
prevent the duke of Parma's putting to sea. 

On the 29th of xMay, 1588, the Span- 
ish Armada sailed from Lisbon. It was 
commanded by the duke de Medina Si- 
donia, a person wholly unacquainted with 
maritime affairs, but of a noble family. On 
the 30th he met with a violent storm, 
Avhich did some mischief. Advice was 
brought to the queen of this disaster ; but 
the account was so much exaggerated, 
that she apprehended the fleet to be to- 
tally destroyed, and ordered her secretary, 
Walsingham, to write to the lord admiral 
to send home four of his largest ships, 
and discharge the seamen. But he dis- 
obeyed this order, answering the secre- 
tary, "that he did not think the danger 
was already over, and therefore begged to 
retain those four ships till he had more 
certain intelligence, though it should be 
at his own expense." He was soon con- 
firmed in his opinion, and sailed with his 
whole fleet to attack the Spaniards ; but 
the wind sliifting, he was obliged to re- 
turn towards Plymouth. 

According to the plans which had been 
formed by the king of Spain, the Armada 
was to sail to Dunkirk, and, after being 
joined there by the duke of Parma's for- 
ces, to proceed to the Thames, and when 
the whole army had landed, it was to 



march directly for London, in order to 
make a speedy and entire conquest of the 
kingdom. In prosecution of this plan, 
Philip gave orders to the duke of Medina, 
that when he came to the mouth of the 
English Channel he should sail as near 
the French coast as possible, to avoid 
meeting with the English fleet, and if he 
did meet it, to act only on the defensive. 
However, notice being given by an Eng- 
lish fisherman, whom the Spaniards took 
in the Channel, that the English admiral 
at Plymouth had laid up his ships, and 
discharged most of the seamen, upon the 
report of the Armada's being quite dis- 
abled by the late storm, the duke of Me- 
dina, deceived by this false intelligence, 
and persuaded by Diego Flores de Val- 
dos, commander of the Andalusia squad- 
ron, on whose judgment and experience 
he greatly relied, that it was very easy to 
destroy the English ships* in their har- 
bor, he, contrary to his orders, sailed di- 
rectly for Plymouth. 

A week after the lord admiral's return 
thither, he received intelligence by one 
of his advice-boats, that the Armada was 
on the 19th of July near the Lizard. This 
the Spaniards mistaking for the Ram- 
head near Plymouth, bore out to sea, with 
an intention of returning next morning to 
attack the English ships in that port. The 
lord admiral had just time to get to sea 
with the greatest part of his fleet, when 
he saw the Spanish Armada coming under 
full sail towards him, in two divisions, in 
the form of a half moon, stretching about 
seven miles from the extremity of one di- 
vision to that of the other. 

On the 21st of July, the lord admiral, 
approaching the Armada, sent his pin- 
nace, the Disdain, to defy the Spaniards; 
and then advancing towards a large ves- 
sel, commanded by Alphonso de Levalos, 
he attacked her ; and other ships coming 
to her assistance, the engagement became 
very hot. In the mean time sir Francis 
Drake, with Hawkins and Frobisher, 
fought the vice-admiral of Portugal in the 
rear squadron, commanded by Martin de 
Recaldes, and so battered her, that she 
was forced to leave the line and fly to 
the headmost squadron for shelter ; at 
which instant a great galleon, commanded 
by the admiral of the Andalusia squadron, 



ENGLAND. 



219 



sprung her foremast, and was taken by sir 
Francis Drake in the Revenge, who sent 
the Roebuck with her to Dartmouth, to- 
gether with 304 soldiers and 118 marin- 
ers, prisoners. 

The action lasted two hours ; during 
which time, a great ship of about 800 tons 
was blown up, and most of the crew per- 
ished. On board it was the king of 
Spain's treasure, but the Spaniards had 
secured it before the English made them- 
selves masters of the remains of the ship, 
which was carried into Weymouth on the 
22nd of July. In tlie night the great 
galleaces separated from the rest of the 
Armada, in order, as it was supposed, to 
avoid fighting with the English ships. 
As the Armada advanced up the Channel, 
the English himg upon its rear, and con- 
tinually galled it with skirmishes. 

The 23rd of July, early in the morn- 
ing, the Spaniards tacked about upon the 
English, and each striving for the weath- 
er-gage, a sharp conflict ensued between 
part of the two fleets, but the English had 
the advantage of the enemy. So much 
powder was expended in these engage- 
ments, that the admiral was often obliged 
to send for fresh supplies of it, which he 
received from the earl of Sussex, sir 
George Gary, lord Buckhurst, and other 
governors of forts and castles on the 
coast, where magazines were provided 
for the service. The alarm having now 
spread from one end of the English coast 
to the other, the nobility and gentry has- 
tened out with their vessels from every 
harbor, and re-enforced the English fleet, 
which soon amounted to 140 sail. The 
earls of Oxford, Northumberland and 
Gumberland, sir Thomas Gecil, sir Rob- 
ert Cecil, sir Walter Raleigh, sir Thomas 
Vavasor, sir Thomas Gerard, sir Charles 
Blount, Henry Brook, William Hatton, 
Robert Gary, Ambrose Willoughby, Ar- 
thur Gorges, and many others, distin- 
guished themselves by this generous and 
disinterested service of their country. 

On the 24th of July, the lord admiral 
divided the fleet into four squadrons, the 
better to pursue and annoy the enemy ; 
the first squadron he kept himself, the 
second he assigned to sir Francis Drake, 
the third to sir John Hawkins, and the 
fourth to sir Martin Frobisher. 



The next day there was a very hot en- 
gagement ; the lord admiral in the Ark, 
and the lord Thomas Howard in the Gol- 
den Lion, distinguished themselves by 
their bravery ; and the galeaces, in which 
the main strength of the Spaniards lay, 
had been so roughly handled by the Eng- 
lish fleet, that they heavily pursued their 
course towards Flanders ; and the Eng- 
lish admiral thought it best to spare his 
powder, and let the Armada move on till 
he came off" Dover, where he expected to 
be joined by the lord Seymom and sir 
William Winter, after which he proposed 
to come to a general and decisive battle. 

On the 27th of July, the Spaniards 
came to an anchor about a league and a 
half oft' Calais, as did the lord admiral, 
now joined by lord Seymour, with two 
other squadrons, within cannon shot of 
them. This alarmed the Spaniards, and 
they sent express after express to the 
duke of Parma, who was then at Bruges, 
desiring him to send them forty fly-boats, 
and to put to sea with his army, and 
make a descent upon England. But though 
that prince, pursuant to the orders he had 
received from the Spanish king, had fur- 
nished himself both with troops and trans- 
ports, he found it impracticable to put to 
sea with them while the lord Seymour 
and sir William Winter lay ready to in- 
tercept them, without throwing both his 
fleet and army upon certain destruction. 
But as the duke de Medina Sidonia was 
now come so near him, he drew 10,000 
men towards Dunkirk, with intention to 
put them aboard his fleet, which the lord 
admiral being informed of, and apprehend- 
ing very ill consequences from the ene- 
my's receiving such a re-enforcement, it 
was resolved in a council of war to make 
a bold push for their destruction the fol- 
lowing night, viz. the 28th of July. 

Accordingly, in the dead of the night, 
the admiral sent eight fire-ships among 
the Armada, and the Spaniards were 
seized with such a panic, that they cut 
their cables, slipped their anchors, hoist- 
ed their sails, and put to sea with the ut- 
most hurry and confusion, in which the 
Capitana galeace, commanded by don 
Hugh de Aloncada fell foul of another 
ship. Next day, making use of her oars, 
they brought her nearer the shore of Ca- 



220 



ENGLAND. 



lais, where she broke her nidcler, and ran 
upon the sands, on which the lord admi- 
ral sent a ship to take possession of her, 
but the Spaniards offering some resist- 
ance, the English engaged them, and 
don Moncada being killed by one of the 
first shots, most of the Spaniards leaped 
into the water to save themselves by 
swimming, but many of them were 
drowned. The English boarded her, and 
were very busy in plundering her, when 
the governor of Calais sent to acquaint 
them that the ship, guns, and stores, be- 
longed to his port ; but the English 
slighting his message, he caused the ar- 
tillery of the place to be discharged, 
though rather to frighten than hurt them, 
upon which the English retired, and 
abandoned the battered galeace to him ; 
but they took out of her 22,000 ducats of 
gold, which were afterwards shared 
among the sailors, besides fourteen chests 
of rich moveables, and some prisoners of 
distinction. 

Mean time sir Francis Drake, captain 
Fenner, sir John Hawkins, the captains 
Fenton, Southwell, Beaston, Cross, Ri- 
nian, and captain Richard'Hawkins, with 
other ships of Drake's and Hawkins' 
squadron, fell upon the Spaniards as they 
were assembling at Gravelines, and broke 
through them. The lord admiral, the 
earl of Cumberland, the lord Thomas 
Howard, and the lord Sheffield, had also 
a part in this action. Four of the Eng- 
lish ships battered a huge galleon with 
great fury, yet the Spaniards on board of 
her behaved so gallantly that they brought 
her off to the rest of the fleet, but she 
sank soon after. Some of the ships which 
got clear of the shoal water, suftered 
great damage however from the English 
shot. The day following, July 29, the lord 
Henry Seymour, and sir William Win- 
ter, engaged the St. Philip and the St. 
Matthew, two of the largest galleons in 
the whole Armada, and drove them upon 
the coast near Ostend, where, being disa- 
bled, they were seized by the Zealanders, 
and carried into Flushing, and their crews 
were made prisoners. 

The queen having appointed thirty 
sail of Dutch ships to lie at anchor be- 
fore Dunkirk, where the duke of Parma 
was to have embarked his flat-bottomed 



boats, made purposely for the descent 
upon England, the duke was so discour- 
aged that he gave over all thoughts of it ; 
and the Spanish admiral prepared to re- 
turn homewards ; but finding the winds 
so contrary for his passage through the 
Channel, he resolved to sail northward, 
and to reach the Spanish harbors by 
making the tour of the whole island. 
The lord admiral pursued the Spaniards 
till they were past Edinburgh Frith, and 
then meeting with bad weather, gave 
over the chase. This, according to H ume 
arose from a want of ammunition, with 
which, if the English had been duly 
supplied, they might have obliged the 
wh)le Armada to surrender at discretion. 
Such a conclusion would, indeed, as the 
historian adds, have been more glorious 
to the English navy; but the event pro- 
ved altogether as fatal to the Spaniards ; 
for their fleet was driven by tempests be- 
yond the Orkney Islands. The ships 
had already lost their anchors, and were 
obliged to keep the sea. The mariners, 
not accustomed to such hardships, nor 
able to govern such unwieldy vessels in 
stormy weather, suffered their ships to 
drive either to the western isles of Scot- 
land, or on the coast of Ireland, where 
multitudes, both of mariners and soldiers, 
as appeared by their bodies cast ashore, 
were miserably shipwrecked. So that 
what with the destruction made by the 
two elements of fire and Avater, not one 
half of the boasted invincible Armada 
returned to Spain. 

In the year 1590, the Earl of Essex 
married in a private manner the widow of 
sir Philip Sidney, and daughter of Wal- 
singham ; a step with which her majesty 
did not scruple to show herself highly 
offended. The inferiority of the con- 
nection in the two articles of birth and 
fortune to the just pretensions of the 
earl, and the circumstance that the union 
had been formed without that previous 
consultation of her gracious pleasure, 
which from her high nobility and favor- 
ite courtiers, and especially from those 
who, like Essex and his lady, shared the 
honor of her relationship, she expected 
as a homage and almost claimed as a 
right, were the ostensible grounds of her 
displeasure. But that peculiar compound 



ENGLAND. 



221 



of ungenerous feelings, which rendered 
her the universal foe of matrimony, 
formed, without doubt, the more genuine 
sources of her deep chagrin. 

Essex had now attained the zenith of 
his prosperity, but confident in the affec- 
tions of Elizabeth, he suffered himself to 
forget that she was still his queen ; he 
often neglected the attentions which 
would have gratified her ; on any occa- 
sional cause of ill humour he would drop 
slighting expressions respecting her age 
and person, which if they ever reached 
her ear could never be forgiven. On 
one memorable instance, he treated her 
with indignity openly and in her pres- 
ence ; a dispute had arisen between them 
in the presence of the lord high admiral, 
the secretary and the clerk of the signet, 
respecting the choice of a commander 
for Ireland; the queen resolving to send 
sir William KnoUes, the uncle of Es- 
sex, while he vehemently supported sir 
George Carew, because this person, who 
was haughty and boastful, had given him 
some offence, and he wanted to remove 
him out of the way. Unable, either by 
argument or persuasion, to prevail over 
the resolute will of her majesty, the fa- 
vorite at last forgot himself so far as to 
turn his back upon her with a laugh of 
contempt ; an indignity which she re- 
venged after her own manner, by boxing 
his ears, and bidding him " Go and be 
hanged." This retort so inflamed the 
blood of Essex, that he clapped his hand 
upon his sword, and while the lord ad- 
miral hastened to throw himself between 
them, he swore that not from Henry 
VIII himself would he have endured 
such an indignity, and foaming with rage 
he rushed out of the palace. 

This dispute, however, was at last 
finally adjusted, and Essex appeared 
at court as powerful as ever ; though 
some have believed, and with apparent 
reason, that from this time the senti- 
ments of the queen for her once cherish- 
ed favorite, partook more of fear than of 
love ; and that confidence was never re- 
established between them. Elizabeth, 
however, intrusted him with the com- 
mand of an army which she sent against 
Ireland, which country was now in a 
state of rebellion. 



It was in the month of March, 1599, 
that he embarked, and landing after a 
dangerous passage at Dublin, his first act 
was the appointment of his friend, the 
earl of Southampton, to the office of gen- 
eral of the horse ; a step which he after- 
wards found abundant cause to repent, as 
that nobleman was in disgrace with the 
queen, for having married contrary to her 
pleasure ; and he spent the summer in 
temporizing instead of fighting with the 
adverse party, and at length entered into a 
truce with O'Neal, by which he disap- 
pointed the hopes of the queen, and gave 
to his enemies the opportunity of exci- 
ting her doubts respecting his loyalty. 
Her majesty, in consequence, addressed 
an angry letter to Essex. On the re- 
ceipt of this epistle, he perceived that 
his enemies were busy in poisoning 
the ear of Elizabeth ; and imprudently 
adopted a step which gave them a fresh 
opportunity of exercising their malevo- 
lence, by hastening, unbidden, to throw 
himself at the feet of his exasperated 
sovereign. The sudden appearance of 
her favorite just after she had risen from 
her bed, imploring her forgiveness on his 
knees, disarmed the queen of her anger ; 
and he exclaimed exultingly on leaving 
the apartment, " that though he had en- 
comitered much trouble and many storms 
abroad, he thanked God he found a per- 
fect calm at home." The calm was, 
however, but of short duration, since a 
violent tempest burst that night over his 
head, and Essex found himself a prisoner 
in his own house. A severe illness was 
the result of this proceeding ; the life of 
Essex was said to be in danger, and 
Elizabeth was surprised into some signs 
of pity, and ordered that a physician 
should be admitted to visit him. Soon 
after this, a warrant was madg out for the 
earl's committal to the Tower, and al- 
though it was not carried into eficct, yet 
his chance of liberty grew almost hope- 
less ; and Essex, finding that the queen 
remained in the same angry disposition 
towards him, gave way to his natural vi- 
olence, spoke of her in disrespectful 
terms, and, among other things, said, 
"she was grown an old woman, and was 
become as crooked in her mind as in her 
body." Shortly after his disgrace, Es- 



222 



ENGLAND. 



sex wrote to James of Scotland, that the 
faction, which ruled the court, were in 
league to deprive him of his right to the 
throne of England, in favor of the Infan- 
ta of Spain ; and he oflered his services 
to extort from Elizabeth an acknowledg- 
ment of his claims. The Scottish mon- 
arch had received intimation of the intel- 
ligence thus confirmed to him by Essex, 
and gladly accepted the ofler made him 
by the latter. The conduct of the ex- 
favorite soon excited suspicion ; a sur- 
mise only would have been enough for 
his enemies to act upon ; but here was 
an actual attempt to arouse the people to 
rebellion, for the earl had formed the des- 
perate plan of imprisoning the whole of 
his enemies. 

But this plan was frustrated by the ac- 
tivity of the ministers, who could not see 
the crowds assemble at Essex-house, 
without thinking that some new turn was 
about to take place. Essex, and a num- 
ber of friends, were with some ditiiculty 
secured : the earl surrendered on a prom- 
ise that he should have a fair trial ; 
which he fancied was insured to him 
through his influence with the queen. 
Proceedings were conunenced against 
him instanter. The cause was opened 
by Coke, the attorney-general. He rep- 
resented the errors committed by Essex, 
during his administration in Ireland, in 
the most odious colors. The solicitor- 
general, Fleming, exposed the miserable 
situation in which he left Ireland ; and 
Francis Bacon closed the charge Avith an 
exaggerated statement of the undutiful 
expressions used by the earl in his let- 
ters. The trial ended with the condem- 
nation of Essex ; judgment was pronoun- 
ced against him, and against his friend 
the earl of Southampton. With many it 
became a doubtful question whether the 
queen could prevail with herself to sign 
the warrant for executing a man for whom 
it was known she had harbored a very 
strong affection ; she did, however, and 
Essex was conducted to the fatal block, 
where he met his death with great 
fortitude.* 

* In the height of his prosperity, Essex had 
received a ring from Elizabeth, as a pledge on the 
return of which she would pardon any offence he 
might commit. This ring he intrusted to the j 



The queen seems to have deeply re- 
gretted her precipitancy in signing the 
death-warrant of Essex, and her godson, 
sir John Harrington, describes her ma- 
jesty, in October, 1601, as altered in fea- 
tures, and reduced to a skeleton ; he 
says, " Her food was only manchet bread 
and succory pottage. Her taste for dress 
was gone. Nothing could please her : she 
was the torment of the ladies who waited 
on her person. She stamped with her 
feet and swore violently at the objects of 
her anger. For her protection she had 
ordered a sword to be placed by her ta- 
ble, which she often took in her hand, 
and thrust with violence into the tapestry 
of her chamber." 

The queen spent her days and nights 
in tears, and only spoke to mention 
some irritating subject ; and having expe- 
rienced some hours of alarming stupor, 
she persisted, after her recovery from it, 
to remain seated on cushions, from which 
she could not be prevailed upon to remove 
during ten days, but sat with her finger 
generally on her mouth, and her eyes 
open and fixed upon the ground, for she 
had a notion that if she lay down in bed 
she should not rise from it again. Her 
secretary, with the other great ministers 
of state, having met at Richmond, the 
queen was put into bed, and listened to 
prayers and exhortations from the arch- 
bishop. The next day she lay motion- 
less, and nearly insensible ; but on the 
following morning she addressed Cecil, 
and named the king of Scotland as suc- 
cessor to the throne. In the evening the 



countess of Nottingham, earnestly requesting her 
to deliver it personally to the queen. This lady, 
being a concealed enemy of the unfortunate earl, 
never delivered it, and thereby the proffered clem- 
ency was frustrated. Elizabeth was secretly fired 
at the obstinacy of Essex in making no applica- 
tion for mercy or forgiveness. Indeed, she ap- 
peared herself as much an object of pity as the 
unfortunate nobleman she was induced to con- 
demn. She signed the warrant for his execution 
— she countermanded it — again she resolved on 
his death — then relented — then decided again — 
and again felt a new return of tenderness. At 
last she consented to his execution, and was never 
seen to enjoy one happy day more. The count- 
ess, to whom was intrusted the ring, on her death- 
bed confessed the secret to the queen. Elizabeth 
became furious with rage on learning the earl's 
request for pardon and mercy. "God may for- 
give you," says she, "but I never, never can." 



FRANCE. 



223 



lords who were present requested her to 
make a sign, if she continued in the same 
mind respecting the succession. The 
queen raised her arms in the air, and 
closed them over her head. In a few 
minutes she began to doze, and at three 



the following morning composedly breath- 
ed her last. Elizabeth died on the 24th 
of March, 1603, in the 70th year of her 
age, and 45th of her reign. (For the his- 
tory of England after the union with 
Scotland, see Great Britain.) 



FRANCE. 



France was anciently called Gaul, and 
was subjected to the Romans by Julius 
Caesar, about fifty years previous to the 
commencement of the Christian era. It 
remained under their sway for the space 
of five centuries, troubled, nevertheless, 
during the latter half of the period, by the 
incursions, conflicts, and finally, by the 
settlement of barbarian invaders. Under 
the Romans, Gaul made rapid progress 
in improvement. It received the advan- 
tages of political union — of an enlighten- 
ed system of justice — of a long interval of 
peace ; and wealth, industry and agricul- 
ture followed as necessary consequences. 

The commencementof the fifth century 
is marked by the great and victorious ir- 
ruption of all the barbarian hosts into 
Gaul. They poured like a long pent up 
and gathering tide, in a thousand destruc- 
tive torrents throughout the land, sweep- 
ing away and overwhelming in a mass, 
life, property, and institutions. Years 
elapsed ere the agitations subsided, and 
the inebriety of conquest was over. When 
calm was restored, the Visigoths were in 
possession of Aquitaine and the lands 
southward of the Loire, with Toulouse 
for their capital. The Burgamdians held 
the provinces bordering on the Rhone, 
from the lake of Geneva to the Mediter- 
ranean. Britany had established a kind 
of independence. The Franks who had 
looked on themselves as the allies more 
than the enemies of Roman power, and 
who had at first bravely stood forth in its 
defence, had advanced their establish- 
ments over the present kingdoms of Hol- 
land and Belgium to the limits of modern 
France ; while the central provinces, 
preserved to the Roman empire by the 
victories of ^Etius, were gradually aban- 
doned to themselves, and came to obey, 



under Roman forms and titles, the wealth- 
iest and most powerful of the native pro- 
vincials. It was thus that count iEgidius, 
and after him his son Syagrius, governed, 
and were even said to have reigned at 
Soissons. 

Of the particular circumstances attend- 
ing the extension of the conquests of the 
Franks, from whom the country' derives 
its name, little is known with any degree 
of certainty. Their regular and connected 
history begins with Clovis, who was a 
man of great talent, and came to the 
tlnone A.D. 481. He speedily acquired 
possession of the whole country which 
lay between the Rhine and the Loire. 
The Roman power, which had for some 
time been on the decline in that part 
of Gaul, received its final overthrow by 
the destruction of Syagrius, who was 
defeated and taken prisoner by Clovis. 
This monarch had been educated in pa- 
ganism, and continued to profess that faith 
till the thirtieth year of his age ; he, how- 
ever, allowed his subjects the full liberty 
of conscience. His conversion to Chris- 
tianity was eflected by Clotilda, daughter 
of the duke of Burgundy, and a zealous 
Christian, whom he then married. This 
princess used all her influence with her 
husband to persuade him to embrace her 
religion, but for a time without success. 
Happening, however, to gain a victory, 
where, being in great danger, he had in- 
voked the assistance of the Christian 
Deity, he afterwards declared himself a 
convert, was baptized in 496, and his 
example was immediately followed by 
nearly all his subjects.* After the defeat 



* This occurred near Cologne. Clovis recall- 
ing the example of Constantine, prayed for victory 
to the God of Clotilda and the Roman emperor, 
won it soon after, and in acknowledgment of the 



224 



FRANCE 



of the Roman power, Clovis turned his 
arms against Armorica. The inhabitants 
of that country, which comprehended the 
maritime part of ancient Gaul, united 
for their defence ; and Clovis, finding 
tlicnj too powerful to be subdued by force, 
proposed a union with his people, which 
they readily accepted, and this the more 
easily on account of his professing the 
Christian religion. 

In 509, Clovis received the title of Ro- 
man consul, and was now supposed to be 
invested with a just title to all his con- 
quests, in whatever manner they had been 
acquired. He was solemnly invested 



divine aid, was baptized as above stated. The 
comparison between Clovis and Constantino 
might be followed farther. Their embracing 
Christianity had a similar effect upon both. In- 
stead of tempering their passions, and inspiring 
them with the virtues of mildness and mercy, it 
seems to have rather given rein to their ferocity 
and blood-thirstiness. Of the domestic murders 
committed by Constantino, that of his wife, and 
of his son, are known. To assassination, Clovis 
united perfidy. All the rival monarchs or chief- 
tains, whom he could conquer or entrap, were 
sacrificed to his jealousy or ambition. The whole 
race of a rival family was extirpated, in some in- 
stances, by the hand of Clovis himself. Can we 
suppose that either he or the Roman emperor, 
were influenced by the spirit of that religion, 
which each professed to believe ! 

The following circumstance is related for the 
purpose of illustrating the independent habits of 
the Franks at that age, and the power exercised 
over them by their loaders. At the conquest of 
Soissons, a silver vase, reserved for sacred uses, 
had been taken, amidst other plunder, from the 
church of Rheims. It was at Soissons that the 
distribution of booty was to take place. St. 
Remy, bishop of Rheims, came there, supplica- 
ting for the restoration of the silver vase. Clovis, 
anxious to secure the good opinion and influence 
of the clergy, addressed his assembled soldiers, 
and begged of them, in addition to his share to 
grant him the vase in question, that he might 
present, or restore it to the bishop. Ere the 
assembly could answer, a choleric soldier, jeal- 
ous of his rights, struck the vase with his axe, 
exclaiming — " The king has no right to more 
than falls to his allotment." Despite the rude- 
ness of the act, it was still consonant to the 
habits and laws of the free barbarians. Clovis 
was obliged to dissemble his resentment, and defer 
his vengeance. It was not until several months 
after, that at a review, he took an opportunity to 
find favdt with the breaker of the vase, for the 
bad condition of his arms. Clovis fltmg the sol- 
dier's axe to the ground, and while the latter stoop- 
ed to pick up the weapon, the monarch slew him 
with a blow of his own, exclaiming — " Thus 
didst thou serve the vase of Soissons." 



with his new dignity in the church of St. 
Martin, in the city of Tours ; after which 
he entered the cathedral, clothed in a 
purple tmiic and mantle, the badges of 
his office. 

Clovis died in the year 511, and Avas 
interred in the church of St. Peter and 
St. Paul, now Genevieve,* in the city of 
Paris. His dominions were divided 
among his four sons. Thieri, or Theo- 
doric, the eldest, had the eastern part of 
the empire ; and, from his making the city 
of Metz his capital, is commonly called 
theking of Metz. Clodomir, the eldest 
son by Clotilda, had the kingdom of Or- 
leans ; and ChUdehcrt and Clotaire, who 
were both infants, had the kingdoms of 
Paris and Soissons, under the tutelage 
of their mother. 

In 560, Clotaire became sole monarch 
of France. He had murdered the sons 
of Clodomir, who was killed in Burgimdy. 
Thieri and his children were dead, as 
was also Childebert ; so that Clotaire was 
sole heir to all the dominions of Clovis. 
He had five sons ; and the eldest of them, 
named Chramnes, had some time before re- 
belled against his father in Auvergne. As 
long as Childebert lived, he supported the 
young prince ; but on his death Chramnes 
was obliged to implore his father's cle- 
mency. He was at this time pardoned ; 
but he soon after engaged the count of 
Bretagne to assist him in another rebel- 
lion. The Bretons, however, were de- 
feated, and Chramnes attempted to make 
his escape ; but perceiving that his wife 
and children were surrounded by his 
father's troops, he attempted to rescue 
them. In this attempt he was taken pri- 
soner, and with his family was confined 
in a thatched cottage near the field of 
battle ; of which the king was no sooner 
informed, than he commanded the cot- 
tage to be set on fire, and all that were 
in it perished in the flames. 

Clotaire did not long survive this cruel 
execution of his son, but died in 562 ; and 
after his death the French empire was 
divided among his four remaining sons, 
Caribert, Gontran, Sigebert, and Chilpe- 
ric. The aged monarch made no diid- 



* Since the French Revolution, this edifice 
has been called the Pantheon, and is used for 
the reception of the ashes of great men. 



FRANCE. 



225 



sion of his dominions before he died, and 
the young princes divided the kingdom 
by lot ; when Caribert, the eldest, had 
the kingdom of Paris ; Gontran, the se- 
cond, had Orleans ; Sigebert had Metz ; 
and Chilperic had Soissons. Provence 
and Aquitaine were possessed by the 
princes in common. The peace of the 
empire was first disturbed in 563 by an 
invasion of the Abares, a rude nation, 
said to be remains of the Huns. They 
entered Thuringia, which belonged to the 
dominions of Sigebert; but by him they 
were totally defeated, and obliged to re- 
pass the Elbe with precipitation. Sige- 
bert closely pursued the Abares, but 
readily concluded a peace with them on 
their first proposals. To this he was in- 
duced, by hearing that his brother Chil- 
peric had invaded his dominions, and 
taken Rheims and some otherplaces in the 
neighborhood. Against him, therefore, 
Sigebert marched with his victorious ar- 
my, made himself master of Soissons his 
capital, and of the person of his eldest son 
Theodobert. He then defeated Chilpe- 
ric in battle ; and not only recovered the 
city which he had seized, but conquered 
the greatest part of his dominions : never- 
theless, on the mediation of the other two 
brothers, Sigebert abandoned all his con- 
quests, set Theodobert at liberty, and 
thus restored peace to the empire. 

Soon after this, Sigebert married Brune- 
haut, daughter to Athanagilde, king of 
the Visigoths in Spain. In 567, Chil- 
peric married Galswintha, Brunehaut's 
eldest sister. Before her arrival, he dis- 
missed his mistress Fredegonde, a wo- 
man of great abilities and firmness of 
mind, but exceedingly ambitious. The 
queen, who brought with her immense 
treasures from Spain, and made it her 
whole study to please the king, Avas for 
some time in high favor with the fickle 
monarch. By degrees, however, Chil- 
peric suffered Fredegonde to appear 
again at court, and was suspected of hav- 
ing renewed his intercourse Avith her ; 
Avhich gave such offence to the queen, 
that she desired leave to return to her 
own country, promising to leave behind 
her all the wealth she had brought. The 
king, knoAving that this would render 
him extremely odious, found means to 
29 



dissipate his wife's suspicions, and soon 
after caused her to be privately strangled, 
after which he publicly married Frede- 
gonde. 

In 583, Chilperic himself was mur- 
dered by some unknown assassins, when. 
his dominions were on the point of being 
conquered by Gontran and Childebert, 
Avho had entered into a league for that pur- 
pose. After his death, Fredegonde sought 
the protection of Gontran for herself and 
her infant son Clotaire, which he readily 
granted, and obliged Childebert to conclude 
the Avar. He found, however, gi-eat dif- 
ficulty in controlling Fredegonde and 
Brunehaut ; for these two princesses, 
having been long rivals and implacable 
enemies, were continually plotting the 
destruction of each other. This, hoAV- 
ever, he accomplished, by favoring some- 
times Brunehaut, and sometimes Frede- 
gonde ; so that, during his life, they Avere 
unable to effect any injury against each 
other. 

Early in 593 Gontran expired, at the 
age of sixty years, having reigned thirty- 
tAvo years. Childebert succeeded to the 
kingdom Avithout opposition, but did not 
long enjoy it ; he himself dying in the 
year 596, and his queen shortly after. 
His dominions were divided between his 
two sons, Theodobert and Thierri ; the 
first of whom Avas declared king of Aus- 
trasia, and the latter king of Burgmidy. 
As Theodobert was only in the eleventh 
year of his age, and Thierri in his tenth, 
Brunehaut governed both kingdoms with 
an absolute sway. Fredegonde, hoAv- 
ever, did not lose the opportunity offered 
her by the death of Childebert, but made 
herself mistress of Paris, and several 
other important places. Upon this Brune- 
haut sent against her the best part of the 
forces in Austrasia, Avho were totally de- 
feated ; but Fredegonde died before she 
had time to improve her victory, leaving 
her son Clotaire heir to all her dominions. 

For some time Brunehaut preserved 
her kingdom in peace ; but her ambition 
at lengUj proved her ruin. Instead of 
instructing Theodobert in Avhat was ne- 
cessary for a prince's education, she took 
care to keep him in ignorance, and even 
suffered him to marry a slave of his fath- 
er's. The new queen Avas possessed of 



226 



FRANCE, 



great beauty and some talents ; and she 
had gained such an influence over the 
affection of her husband, that he readily- 
consented to the banishment of Brune- 
haut, who fled to Thierri, king of Bur- 
gimdy, in the year 599. 

On the death of Thierri, Brunehaut 
immediately caused his eldest son, named 
Sigisbert, then in the tenth year of his 
age, to be proclaimed king. It is proba- 
ble that she intended to have governed 
in his name ; but Clotaire did not allow 
her time to discover her intentions. Hav- 
ing ascertained that the nobility in both 
Austrasia and Burgundy were disaffected 
to Brunehaut, he declared war against 
her ; and she being betra5^ed by her gen- 
erals, was taken prisoner by Clotaire, 
who gave her up to her nobles, by whom 
she was generally disliked. After treat- 
ing her with the greatest indignity, they 
bound her to a wild horse, and she thus 
perished by an ignominious and painful 
death. After this her body was reduced 
to ashes, which were afterwards interred 
in the abbey of St. Martin at Autun. 

Thus, in the year 613, Clotaire be- 
came sole monarch of France, and quiet- 
ly enjoyed his kingdom till his death, 
which happened in 628. He was suc- 
ceeded by Dagobcrt, who proved a great 
and powerful prince, and raised the king- 
dom of France to its highest point of 
splendor. This monarch founded the 
abbey of St. Denis, and he appears to 
have availed himself of every opportuni- 
ty of enricWng the church. Trade had 
now began to elevate the commercial 
classes, and we find a rich jeweller pre- 
senting the monarch with a throne form- 
ed of solid gold, and containing more of 
that precious metal than had been found 
in the treasuries of any of the previous 
kings of France. 

Dagobert was succeeded by his sons 
Sigcbert and Clovis ; the former of whom 
had the kingdom of Austrasia, and the 
latter that of Burgundy. Both the kings 
were minors at the time of their acces- 
sion to the throne, and the mayors of the 
palace, (the highest ofiicers under the 
crown), took advantage of this circum- 
stance to appropriate the whole govern- 
ment of the kingdom to themselves. 
Sigebert diedin 640, after a short reign 



of one year, leaving behind him an in- 
fant son, named Dagobert, whom he 
strongly recommended to the care of 
Griraoalde, his mayor of the palace. 
The minister caused Dagobert to be im- 
mediately proclaimed king, but did not 
suffer him long to enjoy that honor. He 
had not the cruelty, however, to put him 
to death, but sent him to a monastery in 
one of the Western Isles of Scotland, 
and then reported him dead, and advan- 
ced his own son Childebert to the throne. 
Childebert was expelled by Clovis, king 
of Burgundy, who placed on the throne 
Childeric, the second son of Sigebert. 
Clovis died soon after the revolution, 
and was succeeded in his dominions by 
his son Clotaire, who also died in a short 
time without issue ; he was succeeded 
by his brother Childeric, who was mur- 
dered with his queen and his infant son 
Dagobert ; though another named Daniel, 
fortunately escaped. 

The political affairs of France were 
now in the most deplorable situation. 
The princes of the Merovingian race had 
been for some time entirely dej^ived of 
their power by their ofiicers, called may- 
ors of the palace. In Austrasia the ad- 
ministration had been totally engrossed 
by Pepin and his son ; while Archam- 
band and Ebroin did the same in Neus- 
tria and Burgundy. On the re-union of 
Neustria and Burgundy to the rest of the 
French dominions, this minister ruled 
with such a despotic sway, that the no- 
bility of Austrasia were provoked to a 
revolt, electing for their dukes two chiefs, 
named Martin and Pepin. The forces 
of the confederates, however, were de- 
feated by Ebroin ; and Martin having 
surrendered on a promise of safety, was 
treacherously put to death. Pepin lost 
no time in recruiting his shattered for- 
ces ; but before he had occasion to try 
his fortune a second time in the field of 
battle, the assassination of Ebroin de- 
livered him from all apprehensions from 
that quarter. After his death, Pepin car- 
ried every thing before him, overthrew 
the royal army under the command of 
the new minister Bertaire ; and, having 
got possession of the capital, caused 
himself to be declared mayor of the pal- 
ace, in which office he continued to 



FRANCE. 



227 



govern the kingdom during the remainder 
of his life. 

Pepin, (who was surnamed Heristal, 
from his palace on the Mense), died in 
the year 714, having enjoyed unlimited 
power for more than twenty-six years. 
He appointed his grandson Thendobalde, 
then only six years of age, to succeed 
him in his post of mayor of the palace. 
This occurred during the reign of Da- 
gobert already mentioned ; but this prince 
had too much spirit to suffer himself to 
be deprived of his authority by an infant. 
The adherents of the young mayor were 
defeated in battle, and this defeat was 
soon followed by his death. Charles, 
however, the illegitimate son of Pepin, 
was now raised to the dignity of duke by 
the Austrasians, and from his great abili- 
ties seemed peculiarly well fitted to that 
high but perilous rank. The murder of 
Dagobert freed him from a powerful op- 
ponent ; and the young Chilperic, who, 
after Dagobert's death, was brought from 
a cloister to a throne, could by no means 
cope with so powerful an antagonist. 
On the 19th of March, 717, Charles had 
the good fortune to surprise the royal 
camp as the army passed through the 
forest of Arden ; and soon after a battle 
ensued, in which the king's forces Avere 
entirely defeated. 

Charles, although advanced to the pos- 
session of great power, treated Chilperic 
with kindness ; and on the death of Clo- 
taire, caused him to be proclaimed king of 
Austrasia; by which, however, his own 
power was not at all diminished ; and from 
this time the authority of the kings of 
France became merely nominal. Charles, 
however, had still one competitor to con- 
tend with ; this was Rainfroy, who had 
been appohited mayor of the palace, and 
who made such a determined resistance 
that Charles was obliged to allow him | 
the possession of the country of Anjou. 
No sooner, however, had Charles freed 
himself from domestic enemies, than he i 
was threatened with destruction from : 
foreign nations. The Saracens, having 
overrun great part of Asia, now turned j 
their victorious arms Avestward, and 
threatened Europe with total subjection. I 
Spain had already submitted to the yoke ; | 
and having passed the Pyrenees, they | 



next invaded France, appearing in vast 
numbers under the walls of Toulouse. 
Here they Avere met by Eudes, and after 
an obstinate engagement, defeated ; but 
this proved only a partial check. The 
Saracens once more passing the Pyre- 
nees, entered France Avith such a poAver- 
ful army, that Eudes Avas no longer able 
to resist them. He met them, indeed, 
with his accustomed A'alor ; but being 
forced to yield to superior numbers, he 
solicited the protection and assistance of 
Charles. The latter, on account of his 
bravery and great personal strength, had 
acquired the name of Martel, in allusion 
to the violence of the strokes he be- 
stowed upon his enemies. Their united 
forces having come up with the Saracens, 
many thousands of the infidels, among 
Avhom Avas the commander Abderah- 
man himself, are said to have perished 
in the battle. This brilliant and most 
important victory over an enemy Avho, 
until that celebrated day, had been deem- 
ed invincible, threw a blaze of glory 
around the name of Charles Martel Avhich 
time can never extinguish. The Sara- 
cens Avere soon after entirely expelled 
from France, and relinquished all hopes 
of subduing that kingdom. 

So poAverful had Charles now become, 
that his alliance and protection were so- 
licited by almost all the neighboring poAV- 
ers. Pope Gregory HI chose him for 
his protector ; and offered to shake off 
the yoke of the Greek emperor, and in- 
A'est him Avith the dignity of Roman con- 
sul. But Avhile this negotiation was 
pending, the pope, the emperor, and 
Charles Martel himself, died. After 
this event, Avhich occurred in the year 
741, his dominions Avere shared by his 
three sons, Carloman, Pepin, and Grip- 
pon. Carloman, the eldest, obtained Aus- 
trasia ; Pepin, the second, Neustria and 
Burgundy ; Avhile Grippon had only 
some lands assigned to him in France, 
with Avhich he was so much displeased, 
that the tranquillity of the empire was 
soon disturbed. With the assistance of 
his mother, Sonnechilde, he seized on 
the city of Lahon, Avhere he Avas be- 
sieged by his tAvo brothers, Avho com- 
pelled him after a protracted resistance, 
to submit, and imprisoned him in a cas- 



228 



FRANCE 



tie at Arden ; Sonnechilde was immured 
within the walls of a monastery. Hav- 
ing thus freed themselves from their do- 
mestic enemies, the two brothers for a 
time continued to govern the kingdom 
with uninterrupted harmony. 

By the resignation of Carloman, which 
happened in the year 746, Pepin was 
left in the undivided possession of the 
kingdom ; and his conduct in this exalted 
station has received the praises of all 
the historians of the period. 

Pepin having subdued all his foes, both 
foreign and domestic, began to think of 
assuming the title of king, after having 
so long enjoyed the regal power. His 
wishes in this respect were quite in ac- 
cordance with those of the nation in 
general, 'i'he nobility, however, were 
bound by an oath of allegiance to Chil- 
deric, the nominal monarch at that time ; 
and this oath could not be dispensed with 
but by the authority of the pope. Am- 
bassadors for this purpose were therefore 
despatched, both from Pepin and the no- 
bility, to pope Zachary, the reigning pon- 
tiff. His holiness replied, that it was 
lawful to transfer the regal dignity from 
hands incapable of maintaining it to 
those who had so successfully preserv- 
ed it, and that the nation might unite 
in the same person the authority and 
title of king.* On this, Childeric was 
degraded from his dignity, and con- 
fined in a monastery for life ; Pejnn 
assumed the title of king of France, 
and the line of Clovis was finally set 
aside. This revolution took place in the 
year 751. The attention of the new 
monarch was first claimed by a revolt 
of the Saxons ; but they were soon re- 
duced to subjection, and obliged to pay 
an additional tribute ; and, during his ex- 
pedition agahist them, the king had the 
satisfaction of ridding himself of his 
restless competitor Grippon, whom Pe- 
pin had released from prison. This tur- 
bulent prince, having become weary of 
residing at the court of Aquitaine, deter- 
mined to escape from thence, and put 
himself under the protection of Astol- 
phus, king of the Lombards ; but he was 

* It was upon this occasion that the popes first 
assumed that right which they afterwards used 
of throning and dethroning kings. 



killed in attempting to force a pass on 
the confines of Italy. Pepin in the mean 
time continued to push his good fortune. 
The submission of the Saxons was soon 
followed by the reduction of Britany, 
and that by the recovery of Narbonne 
from the infidels. His next exploit was 
for the protection of Pope Stephen III 
against Astolphus, the king of the Lom- 
bards, who had seized on the exarchate 
of Ravenna, and insisted on being ac- 
knowledged king of Rome. The pope, 
unable to contend with such a powerful 
rival, hastened to cross the x\lps and im- 
plore the protection of Pepin, who re- 
ceived him with all the respect due to 
his character. He was lodged in the 
abbey of St. Denis, and attended by the 
king in person during a dangerous sick- 
ness with Avhich he was seized. On his 
recovery Stephen solemnly placed the 
diadem on the head of his benefactor, 
bestowed the regal unction on his sons 
Charles and Carloman, and conferred on 
each of the three princes the title of pa- 
trician of Rome. In return for these 
honors, Pepin accompanied the pontifl' in- 
to Italy at the head of a powerfid army. 
Astolphus, unable to withstand such a 
powerful antagonist, shut himself up in 
Pavia, where he was closely besieged 
by the Franks, and obliged to renounce 
all pretensions to the sovereignty of 
Rome, as well as to restore the city and 
exarchate of Ravenna, and swear to the 
observance of the treaty. No sooner 
was Pepin gone, however, than Astol- 
phus broke the treaty he had just ratified 
with such solemnity. The pope was 
again reduced to distress, and again ap- 
plied to Pepin. He now sent him an 
epistle in the style and character of St. 
Peter himself, which so much inflamed 
the zeal of Pepin that he instantly set 
out for Italy, and compelled Astolphus a 
second time to submit to his terms, which 
were now rendered more severe by the 
imposition of an annual tribute. Pepin 
next made a journey to Rome ; but find- 
ing that his presence there gave great 
uneasiness both to the Greeks and to the 
pope himself, he thought proper to finish 
Ids visit in a short time. Soon after 
his return Astolphus died, and his domin- 
ions were usurped by his general, Didier, 



FRANCE. 



229 



who, however, obtained the papal sanc- 
tion for what he had done, and was re- 
cognised as lawful sovereign of the 
Lombards in the year 756. 

Pepin returned to France in triumph ; 
but the peace of his dominions was soon 
disturbed by the revolt of the Saxons, 
who were always impatient under the 
French yoke. Their present attempts, 
however, proved equally unsuccessful 
with those they had formerly made ; be- 
ing obliged to submit and purchase their 
pardon, not only by a renewal of their 
tribute, but by an additional supply of 
300 horse. But while the king was ab- 
sent on this expedition, Vaisar, duke of 
Aquitaine, took the opportunity of ravag- 
ing Burgundy, where he carried his de- 
vastations as far as Chalons. Pepin soon 
returned ; and, entering the dominions of 
Vaisar, where he defended himself as 
long as possible, but was at last deprived 
both of his crown and life by the victor. 

Thus the duchy of Aquitaine was 
once more annexed to the crown of 
France ; but Pepin had scarce time to 
indulge himself with a view of his new 
conquest when he was seized with a 
slow fever, which put an end to his life 
in the year 768, the fifty-fourth of his 
age, and seventeenth of his reign. On 
his tomb was inscribed, " Here lies the 
father of Charlemagne." 

Pepin was succeeded in his authority 
by his two sons, Charles and Carloman, 
to whom with his dying breath he be- 
queathed his dominions. 

The death of Carloman, which hap- 
pened in the year 771, left Charles entire 
master of France ; but the revolt of the 
Saxons involved him in a series of wars, 
from which he did not extricate himself 
for more than thirty years. These had 
long been tributaries to the French, but 
frequently revolted ; and now, when freed 
from the terror of Pepin's arms, thought 
they had a right to shake off the yoke 
altogether. 

At this period, Didier, the king of Lom- 
bardy, having seized and killed pope 
Stephen IV, used his utmost endeavors 
to reduce his successor, Adrian I, to a 
state of entire dependence on himself. 
Adrian applied to the French monarch 
for assistance, which was willingly ren- 



dered. Didier was taken prisoner and 
carried into France. His kingdom was 
totally dissolved, and Charles was crown- 
ed king of Lombardy at Milan, in the 
year 774. 

In the year 779, he paid a visit to Italy 
with his two sons, Carloman and Louis. 
Having passed the winter at Pavia, he 
entered Rome next spring amidst the ac- 
clamations of the inhabitants. Here, in 
the 39th year of his age, he divided his 
dominions in presence of the pope, be- 
twixt his two sons, Carloman and Louis. 
The former, who now took the name of 
Pepin, had Lombardy ; the latter Aqui- 
taine. Having then received the sub- 
mission of Tassilon, duke of Bavaria, he 
set out for Saxony, where he took a most 
signal revenge on the inhabitants of that 
country, who had again opposed him in 
the field. 

Charles having thus brought his affairs 
in Saxony to a successful conclusion, 
turned his arms against Tassilon, duke of 
Bavaria, who had privately supported the 
Saxons in their revolt. Having entered 
his country with a powerful army, in the 
year 787, he made such rapid advances, 
that the total destruction of Tassilon seem- 
ed inevitable. Charles had advanced as 
far as the river Leech, when Tassilon sud- 
denly entered liis camp, and threw him- 
self at his feet. The king had compas- 
sion on his faithless kinsman, and par- 
doned him ; but no sooner did he find 
himself at liberty, than he stirred up the 
Huns, the Greek emperor, and the fugi- 
tive Adalgise, against the king. He fo- 
mented also the discontents of the fac- 
tious nobles of Aquitaine and Lombardy ; 
but his subjects, fearing lest these in- 
trigues should involve them in destruc- 
tion, made a discovery of the whole to 
Charles. Tassilon, ignorant of this, en- 
tered the diet at Ingelheim, not suspect- 
ing any danger, but was instantly arrest- 
ed by order of the French monarch. 
Being brought to a trial, the proofs of his 
guilt were so apparent, that he was con- 
demned to lose his head : the punish- 
ment, however, was afterwards mitigated 
to perpetual confinement in a monastery, 
and the duchy of Bavaria was annexed to 
the dominions of Charles. 

The Huns, and other enemies of the 



230 



FRANCE. 



French monarch, continued to carry on 
their enterprises without regarding the 
fate of their associate Tassilon. Their 
attempts, however, only served to in- 
crease the fame of Charles. He defeat- 
ed the Huns in Bavaria, and the Greek 
emperor in Italy ; obliging the latter to 
renounce for ever the fortunes of Adal- 
gise. The Huns, not disheartened by their 
defeat, continuing to infest the French do- 
minions, Charles entered their country at 
the head of a formidable army, and having 
forced their entrenchments, penetrated as 
far as Raal on the Danube, but was com- 
pelled by an epidemic distemper to re- 
tire before he had finished his conquest. 
And no sooner had he returned to his own 
dominions, than he had the mortification 
to be informed that his eldest son Pepin had 
conspired against his sovereignty and life. 
The plot was discovered by a priest, who 
had accidentally fallen asleep in a church 
in which the conspirators were assembled. 
Being awakened by their voices, he over- 
heard them consulting on the proper 
measures for completing their purpose ; 
on which he instantly set out for the pal- 
ace, and summoned the monarch from his 
bed to inform him of the guilt of his son. 
Pepin was seized, and condemned to 
expiate his offences by spending the re- 
mainder of his days in a monastery. 

Charles was no sooner freed from this 
danger, than he was again called to arms 
by a revolt of the Saxons on the one hand, 
Avhile a formidable invasion of the Moors 
assailed him on the other ; the Huns at 
the same time renewing their depreda- 
tions on his dominions. The king did 
not proceed against the Moors, doubtless 
foreseeing that they would speedily be 
called off' by their Christian enemies in 
Spain ; and this soon occurred, as the 
victories of Alonzo the Chaste, obliged 
them to quit France entirely. After this, 
Charles marched in person to attack the 
Saxons and Huns. The former consent- 
ed to receive the Christian religion, and 
were compelled to deliver up a third part 
of their army to be disposed of at the 
king's pleasure ; but the Huns defended 
themselves with great vigor. Though 
often defeated, their love of liberty was 
unconquerable ; and the war was only 
terminated by the death of the king, and 



almost total destruction of the people ; 
and even then only one tribe could be 
induced to acknowledge the authority of 
the French monarch. 

These exploits were fmished betwixt 
the years 793 and 798 ; after which 
Charles invaded and subdued the islands 
of Majorca and Minorca, which the dis- 
sensions of the Moorish chiefs gave him an 
opportunity of doing. The satisfaction he 
felt from this new conquest, however, was 
soon damped by the troubles which broke 
out in Italy. Alter the death of pope Adri- 
an, his nephew aspired to the papal digni- 
ty ; but a priest named Leo being prefer- 
red, the disappointed candidate determin- 
ed on taking revenge. He managed to 
conceal his designs for four years, and at 
last attacked Leo on the eve of a splen- 
did procession. The unfortunate pontiff 
was left for dead on the ground ; but hav- 
ing with difficulty recovered, and made 
his escape to the Vatican, he was pro- 
tected by the duke of Spoleto, at that 
time general of the French forces. His 
cause was warmly espoused by Charles, 
who invited him to his camp at Pader- 
born ; whence he despatched him with a 
numerous guard to Rome, promising soon 
after to visit that metropolis, and redress 
all his grievances. His attention was, 
however, called by a descent of the 
Normans in one of the principal maritime 
provinces of his dominions, so that he 
was obliged to defer the promised assis- 
tance for some time longer. Having 
constructed forts at the mouths of most 
of the navigable rivers, and further pro- 
vided for the defence of his territories, 
by instituting a regular militia, and ap- 
pointing proper squadrons to cruise 
against the invaders, he set out, for the 
fourth and last time, on a journey to 
Rome. Here he was received with the 
highest possible honors. Leo was al- 
lowed to clear himself, by oath, of the 
crimes laid to his charge by his enemies, 
while his accusers were sent into exile. 
On the festival of Christmas, in the year 
800, after Charles had made his appear- 
ance in the cathedral of St. Peter, and 
assisted devoutly at mass, the pope sud- 
denly put a crown on his head ; and the 
place instantly resounded with acclama- 
tions of " Long life to Charles the Au- 



FRANCE. 



231 




Crowning of Charlemagne 



gxist, crowned by the hand of God! Long- 
life and victory to the great and pacific 
emperor of the Romans ! " His body 
was then consecrated and anointed with 
holy oil ; and after being conducted to a 
tlu'one, he was treated with all the res- 
pect usually paid to the ancient C?esars. 
The holy oil employed in the anointing 
of this prince was said to have been 
brought down from heaven in the reign 
of Clovis ; but it appears, by the testi- 
mony of some of the most accurate his- 
torians of the period, that it did not in 
reality make its appearance till the reign 
of this prince. 

After this ceremony he was honored 
with the title of Charlemagne. Charles 
afterwards denied having any previous 
knowledge of the pope's intention ; and 
that, had he known it, he would have dis- 
appointed him by his absence ; but these 
protestations were not generally believed ; 
and the care he took to have his new 
title acknowledged by the eastern empe- 
rors evidently showed how much he es- 
teemed it. 

Charles, now raised to the supreme 
dignity in the West, proposed to unite 
in himself the whole power of the first 
Roman emperors, by marrying Irene, the 



But in this he was 
marriage of that 



empress of the East, 
disappointed by the 
princess with Nicephorus ; however, the 
latter acknowledged his new dignity of 
Augustus, and the boundaries of the two 
empires were amicably settled. Charles 
was further gratified by the respect paid 
him by the great Haroun Al-Rashid, ca- 
liph of the Saracens, who yielded to him 
the city of Jerusalem, and the holy se- 
pulchre there. 

The decease of the emperor, in 841, 
was followed by a civil Avar among his 
sons. The united forces of Lothaire and 
his nephew Pepin were defeated by those 
of Charles and Louis, in an obstinate 
engagement in the plains of Fontenoy, 
where 100,000 Franks perished; this 
occurred in the year 842. This victory, 
however, did not decide the fortune of 
the war. The conquerors having, through 
motives of interest or jealousy, retired 
each into his own dominions, Lothaire 
found means not only to recruit his shat- 
tered forces, but pressed the other two 
princes so vigorously, that they were 
glad to consent to a new partition of the 
empire. By this, Lothaire was allowed 
to possess the whole of Italy, with the 
whole tract of country between the rivers 



232 



FRANCE. 



Rhone and Rhine, as well as that be- 
tween the Meuse and Scheldt. Charles 
had Aquitaine, with tlie country lying be- 
tween the Loire and the Meuse ; while 
Louis had Bavaria, with the rest of Ger- 
many, from whence he was distinguished 
by the appellation of Louis the German. 

By this partition, Germany and France 
were so completely separated, that they 
were never again united under one head. 
That part of France which was allowed 
to Lothaire, was from him called Lotha- 
ringia ; and now, by a gradual corruption 
of the word, Lorrain. The sovereignty, 
however, which that prince had purchas- 
ed at the expense of every filial duty, and 
purchased at so much blood, afibrded him 
now but little satisfaction. Disgusted 
with the cares and anxieties of his situa- 
tion, he sought relief in a monastery, in 
the year 855. On his retreat from the 
throne, he allowed to his eldest son, 
Louis II, the sovereignty of Italy ; to 
his second son, Lothaire, the territory of 
Lorrain, with the title of king ; and to 
his youngest son Charles, surnamed the 
Bald, Provence, Dauphiny, and part of 
the kingdom of Burgundy. From the 
year 845 to 857, the provinces subjected 
to his jurisdiction had been infested by 
the annual depredations of the Normans, 
from whom Charles was at last fain to 
purchase peace at a greater expense than 
might have carried on a successful war. 
The people of Britany had also revolted ; 
and though obliged by the appearance of 
Charles himself, at the head of a power- 
ful army, to return to their allegiance, 
they no sooner perceived him again em- 
barrassed by the incursions of the Nor- 
mans, than they threw oft' the yoke, and 
under the conduct of their duke Louis, 
subdued the neighboring diocese of Ren- 
nes ; after which exploit, Louis assumed 
the title of king, which he transmitted to 
his son Herispee. By him, Charles was 
totally defeated ; and his subjects, per- 
ceiving the weakness of their monarch, 
put themselves under the protection of 
Louis the German. His ambition prompt- 
ed him to give a ready ear to the propo- 
sal ; and, therefore, taking the opportu- 
nity of Charles' absence in repelling the 
invasion of the Danes, he marched with 
a formidable army into France, and was 



solemnly crowned by the archbishop of 
Sens, in the year 857. Being too con- 
fident of success, and considering him- 
self firmly established on the throne, he 
was persuaded to dismiss his German 
forces ; which he had no sooner done, 
than Charles marched against him with 
a large army, and Louis abandoned his 
new kingdom as easily as he had ob- 
tained it. 

Notwithstanding this success, the 
throne of Charles still remained in a very 
tottering condition. The Normans ha- 
rassed him in one quarter, and the king 
of Britany in another. He marched 
against the latter in the year 860 ; but 
was defeated in an engagement which 
lasted two days. The Adctory was as- 
cribed to the prowess of a celebrated 
warrior named Robert le Fort, or the 
Strong, who commanded the Bretons ; 
but Charles found means to gain him 
over to his party, by investing him with 
the title of duke of France, including the 
country which lies between the rivers 
Seine and Loire. 

For some time the abilities of Robert 
continued to support the tottering throne 
of Charles ; but his difficulties retmned 
on the death of that noble, who was kill- 
ed in repelling an invasion of the Danes. 
His loss, however, was shortly after 
counterbalanced by the death of the king 
of Lorrain, in the year 869 ; by which 
event the territories of Charles were aug- 
mented by the cities of Lyons, Vienne, 
Toulouse, Besan^on, Verdun, Cambray, 
Viviers, and Urez, together with the ter- 
ritories of Hainault, Zealand, and Hol- 
land. Cologne, Utrecht, Treves, Mentz, 
Strasburg, with the rest of the territories 
of Lothaire, were assigned to Louis the 
German. 

The Normans, however, were the en- 
emies of both Britany and France, and 
the tAvo kings joined their forces together, 
which event proved unfortunate to the 
Norman invaders ; for their principal 
leaders Avere besieged in Anglers, and 
obliged to purchase leave to depart by re- 
linquishing all the spoil they had taken. 

Charles died in the 38th year of his 
reign, being poisoned, it is supposed, by a 
Jewish physician. He was succeeded 
by his son Louis, surnamed the stam- 



FRANCE. 



233 



merer, from a defect ia his speech. He 
died in 879, and was succeeded by Charles 
the Gross, emperor of Germany. He was 
deposed, and Eudcs, count of Paris, was 
chosen Iving by the nobility during the 
minority of Charles, the son of Adelaide, 
afterwards named Charles the Simple. He 
defeated the Normans, and endeavored to 
repress the power of the nobility ; on 
which account a faction was formed in 
favor of Chaifles, who was sent for, with 
his mother, from England. On which 
Eudes quietly resigned the greatest part 
of the kingdom to him, and consented to 
do homage for the rest. He died soon 
after this agreement, in the year 898. 

During the reign of Charles the Sim- 
ple, the power of the French government 
rapidly declined. By the introduction of 
fiefs, those noblemen who had possessed 
large property, having had these confirm- 
ed to them and their heirs for ever, be- 
came, in a manner, independent sover- 
eigns ; and as these great lords had others 
under them, and they in like manner had 
others under them, and even these again 
had their vassals ; instead of the easy 
and equal government which prevailed 
before, a vast number of insupportable 
little tyrannies were erected. The Nor- 
mans, too, ravaged the country in the most 
terrible manner, and desolated some of 
the finest provinces in France. At last 
Charles ceded to RoUo, their captain, the 
duchy of Neustria ; who, thereupon, be- 
came a Christian, changed his own name 
to Robert, and that of his principality to 
Normandy. 

During the remainder of the reigni of 
Charles the Simple, and the entire reigns 
of Louis IV, surnamed the Stranger, 
Lothaire, and Louis V, the power of the 
Carlovingian race continually declined ; 
till at last they were supplanted by Hugh 
Capet, who had been created duke of 
France by Lothaire. Tliis revolution 
happened in the year 987, and was 
brought about much in the same manner 
as the former one had been by Pepin. 
He proved an active and prudent mon- 
arch, and possessed such other qualities 
as were requisite for keeping his tumul- 
tuous subjects in awe. He died on the 
24th of October, 997, leaving his domin- 
ions to his son Robert. 
30 



As Robert was of opinion that peace 
and tranquillity were preferable to wide- 
extended dominions with a precarious 
tenure, he refused the kingdom of Italy, 
and the imperial crown of Germany, both 
which were ofiered him. He died on 
the 20th of July, 1030; having reigned 
thirty-three years. 

Robert was succeeded by his eldest 
son, Henry I, who in the beginning of 
his reign met with great opposition from 
his mother. She had always hated him, 
and preferred his younger brother Rob- 
ert, in whose favor she now raised an 
insurrection. By the assistance of Rob- 
ert, duke of Normandy, however, Henry 
overcame all his enemies, and establish- 
ed himself firmly upon the throne. In 
return for this, he warmly supported 
William, Robert's natural son, in the pos- 
session of the duchy of Normandy. After- 
wards, however, growing jealous of his 
power, he not only supported the pre- 
tenders to the duchy of Normandy se- 
cretly, but himself invaded that country 
in their favor. This enterprise proved 
unsuccessful, and Henry was obliged to 
make peace ; but no sincere reconciliation 
ever took place, for the king retained a 
deep sense of the disgrace he had met 
with, and the duke never forgave him for 
invading his dominions. The treaty be- 
tween them, therefore, was quickly bro- 
ken, and Henry once more invaded Nor- 
mandy, was again unsuccessful, and was 
at last totally defeated ; after which Hen- 
ry was compelled to agree to such terms 
as the duke thought proper to stipulate ; 
but the dislike between them never ceas- 
ed, and was in reality the cause of that 
strong feeling of aversion, which, for a 
series of years, produced perpetual quar- 
rels between the kings of France and 
those of the Norman race in England. 

Henry died in 1059, and not without 
a suspicion of being poisoned. He was 
succeeded by his eldest son Philip, at 
that time in the eighth year of his age. 
Baldwin, earl or Flanders, was appointed 
his guardian, and died in 1066, the same 
year that William of Normandy became 
king of England. From that period 
Philip began to display a very insincere 
and oppressive disposition. He engaged 
in a war with William the Conqueror, 



234 



FRANCE. 



and supported his son Robert in his re- 
bellion against him. 

Louis died in 1137, leaving the king- 
dom to his son Louis VII. 

The young king was not endowed by 
nature with any of those qualities which 
constitute a great monarch. From the 
superstition common to the age in which 
he lived, he undertook an expedition into 
the Holy Land, from Avhence he returned 
without glory.* In this expedition he 
was accompanied by his queen Eleanor ; 
but was so much displeased with the im- 
propriety of her conduct that he divorced 
her, and returned the duchy of Guienne, 
which he received Avith her as a portion. 
Six weeks after this she married Henry, 
duke of Normandy, count of Anjou and 
Mahie, and heir-apparent to the crown of 
England. This marriage was a source 
of great mortification to Louis, and pro- 
cured him the surname of the Young, on 
account of the folly of his conduct. When 
Henry ascended the throne of England, 
a war was carried on between hun and 
Louis, with little advantage on either 
side ; at last, however, a perfect recon- 
ciliation took place, and Louis took a voy- 
age to England, in order to visit the 
shrine of St. Thomas of Canterbury. On 
his return, he was struck with a fit of 
apoplexy ; and though he partially re- 
covered, yet continued ever after para- 
lytic on "the right side. After having 
languished for about a year under this 
malady, he died on the 1 8th of Sept. 1180, 
leaving the kingdom to his son Philip. 

This prince, surnamed the Gift of God, 
the Magnanimous, and the Conqueror, du- 
ring his lifetime, and, as if all these titles 



* During a war which Louis had waged against 
Thibaud, count of Champagne, an accident occur- 
red, which had a marked cfl'ect upon the future 
conduct and character of the king. He had ta- 
ken by storm tlie castle of Vitry, and set fire to 
it. The flames chanced to catch a neighboring 
church hito which the population had crowded to 
preserve themselves from the fury of the soldiery. 
It appears that they had no means of escape ; 
and 1300 men, women and children, perished in 
the conflagration. Louis was horror-struck on 
beholding the mass of half-consumed bodies, — 
and the weight of the remorse hmig ever after 
upon him, and weighed down his spirit. It was 
the chief cause that induced him to assume the 
cross, and to lead that expedition to Jerusalem, 
which is known in history as the second orusade. 



had fallen short of his merit, styled Au- 
gustus after his death, is considered one 
of the greatest princes that ever sat on 
the throne of France. It doth not, how- 
ever, appear that these titles were alto- 
gether well founded. In the beginning 
of his reign he was opposed by a strong 
faction excited by his mother. Them, 
indeed, he repressed with a vigor and 
spirit which did him honor ; but his 
taking part with the children of Henry 
II, of England, in their unnatural contests 
with their father, and his alliance with 
John to seize his brother's kingdom when 
he was detained in prison by the empe- 
ror of Germany, must be indelible stains 
in his character. 

Whilst Philip Augustus was engaged 
in wars with king John of England, and 
whilst he adroitly wrested Normandy and 
its dependencies from the hands of John, 
a series of events took place in Langue- 
doc, which had the effect of destroying 
its independence, and of bringing that 
fine region not only nominally, as it had 
hitherto been, but really under the do- 
minion of the kings of France. The 
countries bordering on the Mediterra- 
nean had ever been foremost in the path 
of civilization. They were still so. The 
inhabitants of that part of France so sit- 
uated far surpassed their northern neigh- 
bors in refinement, in enlightenment, and 
wealth. A thriving commerce Avas the 
chief source of these advantages, joined 
with the municipal liberty, which they 
enjoyed even to a greater degree than 
countries around them. The towns were 
governed by consuls, like those of Italy ; 
and, being freed from either papal or im- 
perial pretensions, were far more tranquil 
than the republics of that land. The 
feudal lords lived in amity with the bour- 
geoisie, and shared its wealth ; commu- 
nicating at the same time to the middling 
ranks no small portion of their own chiv- 
alrous spirit. Little agitated, at least 
for that age, by the tumults and conten- 
tions of war, the Provencals gave them- 
selves to the cultivation of those intellec- 
tual employments which wealth and 
leisure, peace and a fine climate, suggest. 
In their valleys the muse of modern times 
had taken birth. They were the first 
poets of modern tongues. Nor did the 



I 



FRANCE. 



235 



troubadours confine their strains to the 
celebration of heroic deeds or the plead- 
ings of love ; they were moralists and sa- 
tirists, and undertook to lash as well as 
to amuse the age. The church was the 
chief object of their alternate ridicule and 
resentment. Dante and Petrarch, as 
well as our own Chaucer, afford samples 
of this spirit. They exclaimed against 
the licentious lives of the clergy ; rallied 
them on their rigid upholding of abstract 
dogmas, and their lax observance of mor- 
al ones. The troubadours stood forth as 
the asserters and avengers of common 
sense. And thus the earliest of modern 
poets, perhaps, merit the honor of being 
esteemed the first reformers. 

The speculations of the theologian, and 
the scruples of the devout, soon came to 
swell a passing disgust into permanent 
dissent. A numerous sect sprung up in 
Languedoc, which, abjuring much of the 
morality and tenets of the Romish church, 
was led of course to deny the authority 
of the pope and of his priesthood. For a 
long time the Holy See seemed not alive 
to the importance of this sect. It was 
pope Innocent III who first perceived its 
dangerous tendency, and who took cer- 
tain steps for its destruction. He issued 
interdicts against such princes as should 
favor them, and ofiered the spoil of the 
heretic to whoever should subdue and 
slay him. The principal lord of the south 
of France was, at that time, Raymond VI, 
count of Toulouse ; and he at least tole- 
rated the Albigenses, as those primitive 
reformers were called, aware of their 
moral purity and sincere devotion. Peter 
of Castlenau, the pope's legate, reproach- 
ed the count of Toulouse with his want 
of zeal, and was indignant at his forbear- 
ance to extirpa;te the new opinions by 
fire and sword. The legate used no 
measured language ; he not only excom- 
municated Raymond, but insulted him in 
his court, and then took his departure. 
The count of Toulouse expressed his in- 
dignant feelings before his followers, as 
Henry II did after the insolence of 
Thomas h Becket, and with the same 
fatal eftect. On the day after, Peter of 
Castlenau fell under the dagger of a gen- 
tleman of the count's, in a hostelry on the 
Rhone, where he had stopped. 



Pope Innocent was driven to trans- 
ports of rage on learning the assassina- 
tion of his legate. He not only excom- 
municated the count of Toulouse, but 
promulgated a crusade against him. He 
called on all the nobles of France, on its 
princes, and its prelates, to join in the 
holy war, to assume the cross, as being 
engaged against infidels. And the same 
privileges and indulgences were granted 
to the crusaders of this civil war, that 
previously were bestowed on those who 
embarked fortune and life in the perilous 
attempt to rescue the Holy Land from 
the Saracen. Spoil, wealth, and honor 
in this world, together with certain sal- 
vation in the next, were now ofiered at 
too cheap a rate to be refused. Crowds 
of adventurers flocked to the standard ; 
and a formidable army was assembled at 
Lyons, in the spring of 1209, under the 
command of the legate commander, 
Amalric, abbot of Citeaux. The pope at 
the same time created a new ecclesiasti- 
cal militia for the destruction of heresy. 
The order of St. Dominick, or of the 
friars inquisitors, was instituted ; and 
these infernal missionaries were let loose 
in couples upon the hapless Languedoc, 
like bloodhounds, to scent their prey and 
then devour it. 

Raymond, count of Toulouse, had nei- 
ther the force nor the courage to oppose 
so formidable an invasion. He repaired 
to the crusaders' army, delivered up his 
fortresses and cities, and suffered the hu- 
miliating penance of a public flogging in 
the church of St. Giles. The count's rela- 
tive and feudatory, Raymond Roger, vis- 
count of Beziers and Carcassonne, re- 
gions infected with the heresy of the 
Albigenses, came also to make submis- 
sion. The abbot of Citeaux, who was 
prudent enough to accept that of the 
count of Toulouse, feared to lose all his 
prey. He refused to admit the exculpa- 
tion of the viscount of Beziers, and plainly 
told him, that his only chance was to de- 
fend himself to the utmost. The young 
viscount courageously accepted the ad- 
vice. He summoned the most faithful 
of his vassals, abandoned the open coun- 
try as well as towns of lesser conse- 
quence to the enomy, and restricted his 
efforts to the defence of Beziers and of 



236 



FRANCE. 



Carcassonne. He shut himself up in the 
latter. The fury of the crusaders first 
fell upon Beziers : they had scarcely sat 
down before the unfortunate town, when 
a sally of the garrison was repulsed with 
such vigor, that the besiegers entered the 
town together Avith the routed host of the 
citizens. Word of this unexpected suc- 
cess was instantly brought to the abbot 
of Citeaux, and his orders were demanded 
as to how the innocent were to be dis- 
tinguished from the guilty. " Slay them 
all," exclaimed the legate of the vicar of 
Christ ; " the Lord will know his own." 
The entire population was in consequence 
put to the sword ; nor woman nor infant 
was spared. Upwards of 20,000 human 
beings perished in the massacre — the 
sanguinary first-fruits of modern persecu- 
tion. Carcassoime was next invested, 
bravely attacked, and as valiantly defend- 
ed ; the young viscount distinguishing 
himself in defence of his rights, while 
Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, was 
the most prominent warrior of the crusa- 
ders. At length the legate grew weary 
of the viscount's obstinacy, and offered 
him terms. He gave him a safe conduct, 
sanctioned by his own oath and that of 
the barons of his army. Raymond Roger 
came with 300 of his followers to the 
tent of the legate. " Faith," said the latter, 
" is not to be kept with those who have 
no faith ;" and he ordered the viscount 
and his friends to be put in chains. The 
inhabitants of Carcassonne found means 
to fly. In a general assembly of the cru- 
saders, the lordships of Beziers and Car- 
cassonne were given to Simon of Mont- 
*fort, in reward of his zeal and valor ; and 
to make the gift sure, it was accom- 
panied with the person of his rival. The 
unfortunate viscount, the victim of the 
legate's perfidy, soon after perished in 
prison. 

The victory of the crusaders was of 
course followed by executions at the 
stake and on the scaflbld. The friars 
inquisitors of the order of St. Dominick 
did not relax their zeal. A general re- 
volt against De Montfort was the ccnse- 
quence, in which the people of Toulouse 
joined. The Provenqal army was headed 
by Peter, king of Aragc^i, the uncle of the 
late viscount of Beziers. It was he who 



had persuaded the unfortunate viscount to 
trust himself to the legate, and to hhn in 
consequence fell the duty of taking ven- 
geance. The cross, however — the pro- 
faned cross — was still successful. The 
Provenqals were routed by Simon de 
Montfort at the battle of Muret, and the 
king of Aragon was slain. This victory 
seemed to establish the power of De 
Montfort in Languedoc. He took pos- 
session of all the provinces of his rival, 
even of the town of Toulouse ; and an 
assembly of prelates sanctioned the usur- 
pation. But the cruel spirit of De Mont- 
fort would not allow him to rest quiet in 
his new empire. Violence and persecu- 
tion marked his rule ; he sought to destroy 
the Provencal population by the sword or 
the stake, nor could he bring himself to 
tolerate the liberties of the citizens of 
Toulouse. In 1217, the Toulousans again 
revolted, and war once more broke out 
betwixt coimt Raymond and Simon de 
Montfort. The latter formed the siege 
of the capital, and was engaged in repel- 
ling a sally, when a stone from one of the 
walls struck him and put an end to his 
existence. The death of De Montfort 
was of course considered a martjTdom by 
the clergy, and his fame in their chroni- 
cles far outshines that of Godfrey of 
Bouillon or of Richard the Lion-hearted. 
King Philip was in the mean time pur- 
suing his darling object, the himibling the 
power of the princes of England. He 
had already driven John from the west 
of France. That monarch, at variance 
with his barons, and at the same time ex- 
communicated by the church, seemed an 
easy prey to Philip. The French king 
meditated the conquest of England. He 
leagued with the malcontents of that 
country, and fonned a powerful army for 
the purposes of invasion. John, to ward 
off the blow, not only became reconciled 
to the Roman see, but made himself 
and his kingdom feudatory to the pope. 
A papal legate immediately took John 
under his protection ; and the French 
monarch, rather than risk a quarrel with 
the church, turned his armies towards 
Flanders, Avhich he wasted and plundered 
impitiably, from hatred to its count. The 
emperor Otho, then in alliance Avith king 
John against France, came to the relief 



FRANCE. 



237 



of the Flemings ; and thus, for the first 
time since the accession of the new dy- 
nasty, the armies of France and Germany 
found themselves arrayed against each 
other in national hostility, each com- 
manded by its respective monarch. The 
rival hosts met at Bouvines, in the month 
O'f August, 1214. Twenty thousand com- 
batants on either side, together with the 
presence of two monarchs, gave gravity 
and importance to the action. It was 
sharply contested. Wherever the armed 
knight met the comparatively defenceless 
burgess, the latter was defeated ; the 
militia of the commons had not yet ac- 
quired discipline and hardihood sufficient 
to compete with the iron-clad warriors of 
the aristocracy. It was thus the cavalry 
of Otho broke through a band of militia, 
and reaching king Philip, threw him from 
his hoise, and would have killed him, but 
for the excellence of his armor and the 
devotion of several brave followers. The 
emperor Otho, on his side, encountered 
equal peril from the French knights, and 
escaped with difficidty from the field. 
The rebel counts of Boulogne and Flan- 
ders both were made prisoners. The- 
army of Philip gained a complete victory. 
Bouvines was the first important battle of 
the monarchy ; the first in which the king 
appeared in his place, at the head of his 
barons, leading them on to conquest. It 
materially increased the dignity and au- 
thority of the French king ; whilst, to 
Philip Augustus personally, it brought 
not only its just meed to praise, but an 
exaggerated portion of renown. 

The brilliant success of Bouvines 
seems to have contented and allayed the 
hitherto restless ambition of Philip. In 
a year or two after, the barons of Eng- 
land, discontented with Jolm, offered their 
crown to Louis, the son of Philip Augus- 
tus. The old monarch hesitated ; he 
dreaded the anathema with which the 
pope threatened him, if he attacked his 
vassal, John of England. Prince Louis 
was obliged to undertake the expedition 
with but scanty aid from his parent. He 
was at first successful. Almost all Eng- 
land owned his so\ ereignty. The castle 
of Dover alone held out. But the death 
of John, which took place during the 
siege, and the proclaiming of his son, 



Henry III, soon obliged the French 
prince to abandon his claim and his 
conquests in England. 

Philip Augustus died early in 1223, 
and was succeeded by his son Louis 
VIII, who was in his thirty-sixth year. 
His short reign was not marked by any 
great events ; but he distinguished its 
commencement by enfranchising a gTeat 
number of serfs or villains, a line of policy 
which had been adopted by his prede- 
cessors. This prince died much regret- 
ted, in 1226, after a short reign of three 
years ; in which period, however, he 
showed himself a firm friend to popular 
liberty. He was succeeded by Louis IX, 
in 1226, who is well known in history as 
St. Louis. This prince was certainly 
possessed of many excellent qualities, 
but deeply tinctured with the supersti- 
tion of the times. This induced him to 
engage in two crusades. The first was 
against the Saracens in Egypt; in which 
he was taken prisoner by the infidels, 
and treated with great cruelty ; but ob- 
tained his liberty, on condition of paying 
a million of pieces of gold, and surren- 
dering the city of Damietta. He no 
sooner regained his liberty than he en- 
tered Syria, with the intention of per- 
forming exploits worthy of his rank and 
character. From this expedition he was 
obliged to return sooner than he intended, 
on account of the decease of his mother, 
queen Blanche, whom he had appointed 
regent in his absence, and who had 
managed the national aflairs with the 
greatest prudence. The king, however, 
found many disorders in the kingdom 
upon his return ; and these he set him- 
self to reform with the utmost diligence. 
Having succeeded in this, he yielded to 
Henry III, of England, several provinces 
which he claimed, in consideration of 
Henry and his son prince Edward re- 
nouncing, in the fullest manner, all pre- 
tensions to Normandy and the other pro- 
vinces of France, which the English had 
formerly possessed. 

The reputation of this monarch for 
candor and justice was so great, that the 
barons of England, as well as Henry III, 
consented to make him umpire of the 
diflerences Avhich subsisted between 
them. But though he decided this mat- 



238 



FRANCE. 



ter very justly, his decision was not pro- 1 
ductive of any good effect. At last the 
king, having settled every thing relating 
to his kingdom in a proper manner, set 
out on another crusade for Africa, where 
he died of the plague, on the 25th of 
August, 1270. 

Notwithstanding the misfortunes of 
Louis, his successor Philip, surnamed 
the Hardy, continued the war against the 
infidels with great vigor. Being re-en- 
forced by his uncle Charles, king of 
Sicily, he brought the war to a more for- 
tunate conclusion than his predecessor 
had been likely to do. The Saracens 
were defeated in two engagements, and 
the king of Tunis obliged to sue for 
peace ; offering, at the same time, to 
double tlie tribute he formerly paid to the 
crown of Sicily ; to reimburse the ex- 
penses of the war ; and to permit the 
Christian religion to be freely propagated 
throughout his dominions. Having ac- 
complished this, the two princes set sail 
for Europe ; but the seeds of the dis- 
temper which had infected the army in 
Africa, not being eradicated, broke forth 
on their arrival in Sicily, and raged for 
some time with great violence. Besides 
many thousands of the inhabitants of 
France, the king's brother John, his 
queen Isabella, with his brother and sis- 
ter-in-law, the king and queen of Navarre, 
and his uncle and aunt, the count and 
countess of Poictiers, perished by this 
dreadful malady.- 

On the death of Philip the Hardy, the 
French crown devolved on his second 
son, called also Philip, and, from the 
beauty of his person, surnamed the Fair ; 
who had married the princess of Navarre, 
and at the time of his accession was in 
his seventeenth year. When the vene- 
rable James de Molay, grand-master of 
the Templars, was brought to execution, 
he is said to have uttered amidst protes- 
tations of his innocence, a solemn sum- 
mons to his chief accusers, king Philip 
and pope Clement, to appear before the 
throne of the Almighty, one in forty days, 
the other in the space of a year and a 
day. They died within these periods 
respectively. 

The most remarkable transaction of 
his reign was the expiUsion and confisca- 



tion of the estates of the Templars,* who 
at that time enjoyed immense possessions 
in France. The confiscations took place 
without any form of trial, and more than 
fifty of them Avere put to death with cir- 
cumstances of great cruelty. The grand- 
master, with three of his principal officers, 
were burnt by a slow fire in the presence 
of the king himself. The whole body of 
these unfortunate knights had been ac- 
cused of the most abominable crimes. 
The particulars were revealed, or pre- 
tended to be so, by two criminals, who 
received their pardon for the discoveries 
they made ; and these discoveries were 
confirmed by the confession of the Tem- 
plars themselves. But this confession 
was afterwards retracted, as being ex- 
torted from them by the fear of absolute 
destruction ; and those who suffered main- 
tained their purity to the last : and, on the 
whole, it was believed, that Philip con- 
sulted his avarice rather than his justice, 
by this cruel execution. 

The latter part of Philip's life was em- 
bittered by domestic misfortunes. His 
three daughters-in-law, Margaret, daugh- 
ter of the duke, and Jean and Blanche, 
daughters of the count of Burgundy, who 
had married his three sons, Louis, PhiHp, 
and Charles, were accused of infidelity 
to their husbands. After a severe ex- 
amination, Margaret and Blanche were 
condemned to perpetual imprisonment ; 
in which situation Margaret was after- 
wards strangled by order of her husband 
Louis. Their paramours, Philip and 
Walter de Launay, two brothers, were 
flayed alive, and afterwards hung upon a 
gibbet, with an usher of the chamber, 
who had been their confident. The un- 
easiness of mind which Philip suffered 
on this account is supposed to have im- 
paired his health, and he died of a con- 
sumption in the year 1314, being the 
thirtieth of his reign. 

His successors were Louis the Bois' 
terous, Philip the Long, Charles the Fair, 
and Philip the Fortunate. The war be- 
tween this last monarch and Edward of 
England is the next prominent event in the 

* Templars, a celebrated order of knights, 
which like the order of St. John, and the Teutonic 
order, had its origin in the Crusades. It was es- 
tablished in A. D. 1119. 



FRANCE. 



239 



history of France. After the great naval 
battle at Sluys, in 1340, in which 30,000 
Frenchmen perished, Edward landed his 
forces, and laid siege to Tournay. Philip 
marched to its relief with a very nume- 
rous army ; but acted with so much cau- 
tion, that Edward found himself in a 
manner blocked up in his camp : and 
the countess dowager of Hainault, sister 
to Philip, mother-in-law to Edward, and 
sister-in-law to Robert d'Artois^ coming 
out of a convent, to which she had re- 
tired, interposed with so much address, 
that she engaged all parties to agree to a 
truce for a year. 

In 1341, however, Edward's ambition 
was once more excited by the invitation 
of the count de Montfort, who had pos- 
sessed himself of the province of Britany, 
and applied to Edward to second his 
claims. An offer of this kind entirely 
coincided with Edward's most sanguine 
desires ; as Montfort was an active and 
valiant prince, closely united to him by 
interest, and who thus opened to him an 
entrance into the veiy heart of France. 
These flattering prospects, however, 
were for a while damped by the imprison- 
ment of Montfort ; whose treasonable 
plans being discovered, he was besieged 
in the city of Nantz and taken. But 
Jane of Flanders, his wife, courageously 
imdertook to support the falling fortunes 
of her family. She assembled the in- 
habitants of Rennes, where she then 
resided ; presenting her infant son to 
them, she earnestly implored them to aid 
her cause. The inhabitants of Nantz in- 
stantly espoused her interests, and all the 
other fortresses of Britany embraced the 
same resolution. The king of England 
was apprised of her efibrts ; and was 
entreated to send her troops with all pos- 
sible expedition to the town of Henne- 
bon, in which place she awaited the at- 
tack of the enemy. Charles de Blois, 
Philip's general, anxious to make himself 
master of so important a fortress as Hcn- 
nebon, and still more to take the countess 
a prisoner, sat down before the place 
with a large army, and conducted the 
siege with indefatigable industry. The 
defence was no less vigorous ; several 
sallies were made by the garrison, in 
which the countess herself led on to the 



assault. Observing one day that their 
whole army had quitted the camp to join 
in a general storm, she sallied out by a 
postern at the head of 300 horse, set fire 
to the enemy's tents and baggage, put 
their suttlers and servants to the sword, 
and occasioned such an alarm, that the 
French desisted from the assault, in order 
to cut off her communication with the 
town. Thus intercepted, she retired to 
Auray, but in a few days she returned, 
at the head of 500 horse, and fought her 
way through one quarter of the French 
camp, and returned to her faithful citizens 
in triumph. But the besiegers had at 
length made several breaches in the 
walls ; and it was apprehended that a 
general assault, which was hourly ex- 
pected, would be fatal. A capitulation 
was therefore proposed, and a conference 
was already begun, when the countess, 
who had mounted a high tower, and was 
looking towards the sea with great impa- 
tience, descried a fleet at a distance. 
She immediately proclaimed that suc- 
cors were arrived, and forbid any further 
capitulation. She was not disappointed 
in her wishes ; the fleet she discerned 
carried a body of English gentlemen, 
with 6,000 archers, prepared by Edward 
for the relief of Hennebon, but who had 
been long detained by contrary winds. 
They entered the harbor under the con- 
duct of sir Walter Manny, one of the 
most valiant commanders of his time. 
This relief served to keep up the declin- 
ing spirits of the Bretons, until the time 
appointed by the late truce with Edward 
was expired, on which he was at liberty 
to renew the war openly. 

The French having gained one success 
after another, till at length the entire de- 
struction of the English power seemed 
certain. In this situation, Edward re- 
solved to bring relief in person to his 
distressed subjects and allies ; and ac- 
cordingly embarked, in 1346, at South- 
ampton, on board a fleet of near 1,000 
sail. He carried with him, besides all 
the chief nobility of England, his eldest 
son the prince of Wales, (afterwards sur- 
named the Black Prince), a youth of 
about fifteen years old, and already re- 
markable both for understanding and va- 
lor above his age. His army consisted 



240 



FRANCE, 



F 




I£L.-=^ 


1 


jH jit^j 




1 


1 








p^ir^^ 


1 



The countess of Mont/or t descrying the English fleet. 
of 4,000 men at arms, 10,000 archers, ] was discovered by a peasant of the coun- 



10,000 Welsh infantry, and 6,000 Irish ; 
all which he landed safely at La Hogue, 
a port in Normandy, which country he 
determined to make the seat of the war. 
The intelligence of Edward's landing, 
and the devastation caused by his troops, 
who dispersed themselves over the whole 
face of the country, soon spread universal 
consternation through the French court. 
The rich city of Caen was taken and 
plundered by the English without mercy ; 
the villages and towns, even up to Paris, 
shared the same fate ; and the French 
had no other resource but by breakhig 
down their bridges, to place some boun- 
dary between them and the English army. 
In the meantime, Philip was not idle in 
making preparations to repress the ene- 
my. He had stationed one of his gene- 
rals with an army on the opposite side 
of the river Somme, over which Edward 
was to pass ; while he himself, at the 
head of 120,000 fighting men, advanced 
to give the English battle. Edward, thus 
unexpectedly exposed to the danger of 
being enclosed and starved in an enemy's 
country, published a reward to any per- 
son that should bring him intelligence of 
a passage over the river Somme. This 



try named Gobin Agace : and Edward 
had just time to get his whole army over 
the river, when Philip appeared in his 
rear. Of the battle that ensued, in which 
the French where entirely overthrown, 
see England. 

Edward next laid siege to Calais, 
which was then defended by John de 
Vienne, an experienced commander, and 
supplied with every thing necessary for 
its defence. It was at length taken, af- 
ter a twelvemonth's siege, the besieged 
having been reduced to the last extremity 
by famine and fatigue.* 



* To give a more full and detailed account of 
this siege, one of the most remarkable in history, 
the following is added : 

After the battle of Crecy, Edward laid siege 
to Calais, and fortified his camp in so impregna- 
ble a manner, that all the efforts of France 
proved ineffectual to raise the siege, or throw 
succors into the city- The citizens, under count 
Vienne, their gallant governor, made an admira- 
ble defence. France had now put the sickle in- 
to her second harvest, since Edward, with his 
victorious army, sat down before the town. The 
eyes of all Europe were intent on the issue. At 
length famine did more for Edward than arms. 
After suffering unheard of calamities, they re- 
solved to attack the enemy's camp. They bold- 
ly sallied forth ; the English joined battle ; and, 



FRANCE. 



241 




Surrender of Calai 



From the very beginning of this un- 
fortunate war, Philip had invariably shown 
himself desirous of peace, and the victory 
of Crecy rendered him still more so. 
Edward also, notwithstanding his sue- 



after a long and desperate engagement, count 
Vienne was taken prisoner, and the citizens who 
survived the slaughter, retired within their gates. 
The command devolving upon Eustace St. 
Pierre, a man of mean birth, but of exalted vir- 
tue ; he ofTered to capitulate with Edward, pro- 
vided he permitted him to depart with life and 
liberty. Edward, to avoid the imputation of 
cruelty, consented to spare the bulk of the ple- 
beians, provided they delivered up to him six of 
their principal citizens, with halters about their 
necks, as victims of due atonement for that spir- 
it of rebellion, with which they had inflamed the 
vulgar. When his messenger, sir Walter Mauny, 
delivered the terms, consternation and pale dis- 
may were impressed on every countenance. To 
a long and dead silence, deep sighs and groans 
succeeded, till Eustace St. Pierre, getting up to 
a little eminence, thus addressed the assembly : 
"My friends, we are brought to great straits this 
day. We must either yield to the terms of our 
cruel and ensnaring conqueror, or give up our 
tender infants, our wives and daughters to the 
bloody and brutal lusts of the violating soldiers. 
Is there any expedient left, whereby we may 
avoid the guilt and infamy of delivering up those 
who have sutfered every misery with you, on the 
one hand ; or the desolation and horror of a sack- 
ed city, on the other! There is, my friends; 
31 



cesses, was unable to support the ex- 
penses of the war any longer. The 
mediation of the court of Rome was 
therefore readily accepted, and a truce 
for three years concluded. 



there is one expedient left ; a gracious, an excel- 
lent, a godlike expedient ! Is there any here to 
whom virtue is dearer than life 1 liet him offer 
himself an oblation for the safety of his people ! 
He shall not fail of a blessed approbation from 
that Power, who oflfercd up his only Son, for the 
salvation of mankind." He spoke — but a uni- 
versal silence ensued. Each man looked around 
for the example of that virtue and magnanimity, 
which all wished to approve in themselves, though 
they wanted the resolution. At length St. Pierre 
resumed, " I doubt not but there many here as 
ready, nay, more zealous of this martyrdom, than 
I can be ; though the station to which I am raised, 
by the captivity of Lord Vienne, imparts a right 
to be the first in giving my life for your sakes. 
I give it freely ; I give it cheerfully. Who 
comes next"!" "Your son," exclaimed a youth, 
not yet come to maturity. " Ah, my child," 
cried St. Pierre, " I am then twice sacrificed. 
But no : I have rather begotten thee a second 
time. Thy years are few, but full, my son. The 
victim of virtue has reached the utmost purpose 
and goal of mortality. Who next, my friends ! 
This is the hour of heroes." " Your kinsman," 
cried John de Aire. "Your kinsman," cried 
James Wissant. " Your kinsman," cried Peter 
Wissant. " Ah !" exclaimed sir Walter Mauny, 
bursting into tears, " Why was not I a citizen of 



242 



FRANCE. 



Superstition had at this period attained 
a most extraordinary height in France. 
The ceremonies connected with the ab- 
juration of a leper will illustrate this fact. 
It is thus described by a French histo- 
rian. Towards the afternoon of an ap- 

Calais !" The sixth victim was still wanting, 
but was quickly supplied by lot, from numbers 
who were emulous of so ennobling an example. 
The keys of the city were then delivered to sir 
Walter! He took the six prisoners into his cus- 
tody ; then ordered the gates to be opened, and 
gave charge to his attendants to conduct the re- 
maining cTtizens, with their families, through the 
camp of the English. Before they departed, 
however, they desired permission to take their 
last adieu of their deliverers. What a parting! 
What a scene ! They crowded, with their wives 
and children, about St. Pierre and his fellow pris- 
oners. They embraced — they clung around — 
they fell prostrate before them. They groaned — 
they wept aloud — and the joint clamor of their 
mourning passed the gates of the city, and was 
heard throughout the English camp. The Eng- 
lish by this time, were apprised of what passed 
within Calais. They heard the voice of lamenta- 
tion, and their souls were touched with compas- 
sion. Each of the soldiers prepared a portion of 
his own victuals, to welcome and entertain the 
half famished inhabitants ; and they loaded them 
with as much as their present weakness was able 
to bear, in order to supply them with sustenance 
by the way. At length St. Pierre and his fellow 
victims appeared \inder the conduct of Sir Walter 
and a guard. All the tents of the English were 
instantly emptied. The soldiers poured from all 
parts, and arranged themselves on each side, to 
behold, to contemplate, to admire this little band 
of patriots, as they passed. They bowed down 
to them on all sides. They murmured their ap- 
plause of that virtue, which they could not but 
revere, even in enemies ; and they regarded those 
ropes which they had voluntarily assumed about 
their necks, as ensigns of greater dignity than that 
of the British garter. 

As soon as they had reached the presence, 
" Mauny," says the monarch, " are these the 
principal inhabitants of Calaisi" "They are," 
says Mauny : " They are not only the princi- 
pal men of Calais — they are the principal men 
of France, my lord, if virtue has any share in 
the act of ennobling." " Were they delivered 
peaceably!" says Edward. " Was there no re- 
sistance, no commotion among the people 1" 
" Not in the least, my lord ; the peoj)le would 
all have perished, rather than have delivered the 
least of these to your majesty. They are self- 
delivered, self-devoted ; and come to offer up 
their inestimable heads, as an ample equivalent 
for the ransom of thousands." Edward was 
secretly piqued at this reply of sir Walter : but 
he knew the privilege of a British subject, and 
suppressed his resentment. " Experience," says 
he, " has ever shown, that lenity only serves to 
invite people to new crimes. Severity, at times, is 



pointed day, a numerous assemblage of 
people being collected, the ceremony of 
separating the leper from his kindred and 
from the people was performed. The 
leper, clad in a shroud, awaited at the 
bottom of the stair. The clergy of his 



indispensably necessary to compel suDJects to sub- 
mission, by punishment and example. " Go," he 
cried to an officer," lead these men to execution." 

At this instant a sound of triumph was heard 
throughout the camp. The queen had just ar- 
rived with a powerful re-enforcement of gallant 
troops. Sir Walter Mauny flew to receive her 
majesty, and briefly informed her of the particu- 
lars respecting the six victims. 

As soon as she had been welcomed by Edward 
and his court, she desired a private audience. 
" My lord," said she, " the question I am to en- 
ter upon, is not touching the lives of a few me- 
chanics — it respects the honor of the English 
nation ; it respects the glory of my Edward, my 
husband, my king. You think you have sentenced 
six of your enemies to death. No, my lord, they 
have sentenced themselves ; and their execution 
would be the execution of their own orders, not 
the orders of Edward. The stage on which they 
would suffer, would be to them a stage of honor, 
but a stage of shame to Edward : a reproach on 
his conquests ; an indelible disgrace to his nam?. 
Let us rather disappoint these haughty burghers, 
who wish to invest themselves with glory at our 
expense. We cannot wholly deprive them of the 
merit of a sacrifice so nobly intended, but we 
may cut them short of their desires ; in the place 
of that death by which their glory would be con- 
summate, let us bury them under gifts; let us 
put them to confusion with applauses. We shall 
thereby defeat them of that popular opinion, which 
never fails to attend those who suffer in the 
cause of virtue." " I am convinced ; you have 
prevailed. Be it so," replied Edward: " Prevent 
the execution ; have them instantly before us." — 
They came ; when the queen, with an aspect 
and accents diffusing sweetness, thus bespoke 
them ; — " Natives of France, and inhabitants of 
Calais, you have put us to a vast expense of blood 
and treasure in the recovery of our just and natu- 
ral inheritance ; but you have acted up to the 
best of an erroneous judgment ; and we admire 
and honor in you that valor and virtue, by which 
we are so long kept out of our rightful posses- 
sions. You, noble burghers ! You, excellent 
citizens ! Though you were tenfold the enemies 
of our person and our throne, we can feel nothing 
on our part save respect and affection for you. 
You have been sufficiently tested. We loose 
your chains ; we snatch you from the scaffold ; 
and we thank you for that lesson of humiliation 
which you teach us, when you show us that ex- 
cellence is not of blood, of title or station ; — 
that virtue gives a dignity superior to that of kings ; 
and that those to whom the Almighty informs, 
with sentiments like yours, are justly and emi- 
nently raised above all human distinctions. You 
are now free to depart to your kinsfolk, your 



FRANCE. 



243 



parish had come in procession, and had 
conducted him to the church. An illu- 
minated bier was prepared, in which the 
leper was placed in a manner similar to 
that in which dead bodies usually lie in 
state. Then masses for the departed 
were sung, and the wonted besprinklings 
and incense offerings were made. He 
was then led by the bridge of St. Ladre, 
without the town, to the small house 
which he was to occupy. 

On arriving at the door, over which 
was placed a little clock surmounted by 
a cross, the leper, before casting off his 
garments, threw himself upon his knees. 
The curate who attended him, then made 
an affecting disccurse, exhorting him to 
patience, reminding him of the tribulation 
of Jesus Christ, pointing out to him above 
his head that heaven which was ready to 
receive him, as the future abode of the 
afflicted here, where there will be neither 
sickness nor leprosy, where all will be 
eternally pure and happy. After tliis 
address was concluded, the leper threw 
off his dress, put on the habiliments of a 
leper, and took his rattle (a toy similar 
to that which children use) to warn every 
one to fly at his approach. Then the 
curate, with a loud voice, pronounced in 
these terms the prohibitions ordered by 
the ritual. 

" I forbid thee to take off thy dress of 
a leper. 

" I forbid thee to walk bare-footed. 

" I forbid thee to pass through by-lanes 
or narrow streets. 

" I forbid thee to speak to any one who 
faces thee to the windward. 

" I forbid thee to enter into any church, 
monastery, fair, market, or into any place 
where men shall be assembled. 

" I forbid thee to drink, or to wash thy 
hands either in a fountain, or in a river. 



countrymen, to all those whose lives and liberties j 
you have so nobly redeemed, provided you refuse ' 
not the tokens of our esteem. Yet we would j 
rather bind you to ourselves by every endearing j 
obligation ; and for this purpose, we offer to you 
your choice of the gifts and honors that Edward 
has to bestow. Rivals for fame, but always 
friends to virtue, we wish that England were en- 
titled to call you her sons." " Ah, my country 1" 
exclaimed St. Pierre ; " It is now that I tremble 
for you. Edvv-ard only wins our cities, but Phil- 
lippa conquers hearts." 



1 " I forbid thee to handle any article 
, of merchandise before thou hast pur- 
chased it. 

" I forbid thee to touch, or to give any 
thing to children. 

" I forbid thee to live with any woman 
except thy wife." 

Then the priest gave him his hand to 
kiss, threw a shovel of earth upon his 
head, and closing the door, recommended 
him to the prayers of the assisting clergy. 
The goods accorded to the leper was safe 
from robbers ; his vineyard, his cow, his 
sheep might remain without a keeper, 
for no extremity of hunger could tempt 
any one to put forth his hand upon the 
property of the individual thus accursed. 
His former clothes, his house, his furni- 
ture, were burnt to ashes ; and if his 
wife chose to follow the footsteps of his 
despair, she also was devoted to the le- 
per's doom, and when dead, her remains 
were refused a resting-place in holy 
ground. 

The warlike and enterprising monarch 
of England, had never lost sight of the 
object he had originally embraced ; and 
on the expiration of the truce had sent 
his son, prince of Wales, and from the 
color of his armor, surnamed the Black 
Prince, with a fleet towards the coast of 
France. Young Edward had with this 
fleet entered the mouth of the river Ga- 
ronne, burnt the towns and villages of 
Languedoc, and retired with the plunder 
into the country of Guienne. Edward 
himself, who had likewise passed over 
to the continent, wasted the country as 
far as St. Omer ; but the French king, 
notwithstanding all these provocations, 
determined to avoid a battle, and there- 
fore prohibited his general, the constable 
of Bourbon, from coming to an engage- 
ment, though his army was much supe- 
rior to that of the prince of Wales. With 
the flower of his troops, however, he pur- 
sued Edward from St. Omer to Hesden, 
where he defied him to a pitched battle ; 
but the latter continued his march to Ca- 
lais, from whence he embarked for Eng- 
land. After his departure, John called 
an assembly of the states at Paris, where 
he explained the distressed situation of 
his finances, and showed so fully the ne- 
cessity of assisting him in the defence 



>44 



FRANCE 



of the kingdom, that they consented to 
maintain an army of 30,000 men during 
the war. To supply the other exigen- 
cies of government, they revived the du- 
ty on salt, and added a variety of other 
imposts ; but at the same time appoint- 
ed a committee of their own number to 
take care that the money was solely ap- 
propriated to the public service. 

The pleasure which John derived from 
these grants, and the suppression of some 
disturbances which happened about this 
time, was soon destroyed by the news 
that the prince of Wales had marched 
with an army of 12,000 men from Bor- 
deaux ; and, after ravaging Agenois, 
Q uercy, and the Limousin, had entered 
the province of Berry. The young Avar- 
rior had penetrated into the heart of 
France with this trifling body of forces, 
in hopes of joining the duke of Lancaster 
in Guienne. But he found that his scheme 
was impracticable ; the country before 
him Avas too well guarded to permit his 
advancing further ; and all the bridges 
behind were broken down, which eflec- 
tually barred a retreat. In this embar- 
rassing situation, his perplexity was in- 
creased, by being informed that the king 
of France was actually marching at the 
head of 60,000 men to intercept him. He 
at first thought of retreating ; but finding 
it impossible, he determined calmly to 
await the approach of the enemy ; and, 
notwithstanding the disparity of forces, 
to hazard a battle. 

It was at a place called Maupertius, 
near Poictiers, that both armies came in 
sight of each other. The French king 
might with ease have cut off all supplies 
from the English ; but such was the im- 
patient valor of the French nobility, and 
such their certainty of success, that it 
might have been fatal to attempt repress- 
ing their ardor to engage. In the mean 
time, while both armies were drawn out, 
and expecting the signal to begin, they 
were stopped l)y the appearance of the 
cardinal of Perigord, who attempted to 
be a mediator between them. However, 
John, who made himself sure of victory, 
would listen to no other terms than the 
restitution of Calais, with which the 
Black Prince refusing to comply, the on- 
set was deferred till the next morning, 



for wliich both sides waited in anxious 
suspense. 

I During this interval, the young prince 
' strengthened his post by new entrench- 
I ments ; and placed 300 men in ambush, 
with as many archers, who were com- 
j manded to attack the enemy in flank du- 
ring the heat of the engagement. Hav- 
j ing taken these precautions, he ranged 
I his army in three divisions ; the van was 
commanded by the earl of Warwick, the 
rear by the earls of Salisbury and Suffolk, 
and the main body by himself. In like 
manner, the king of P'rance arranged his 
forces in three divisions; the first com- 
manded by the duke of Orleans ; the se- 
cond by the dauphin, attended by his 
younger brothers ; while he himself led up 
the main body, seconded by his youngest 
and favorite son, then about fourteen years 
of age. As the English were to be attack- 
ed only by marching up a long narrow 
avenue, the French suflered greatly from 
their archers, who were posted on each 
side, behind the hedges. Nor were they 
in a better situation upon emerging from 
this diflicult pass, as they were met by 
the Black Prince himself at the head of 
a chosen body of troops, who made a fu- 
rious onset upon their forces, already in 
great disorder. A dreadful overthrow 
ensued ; those who were as yet in the 
lane recoiled upon their own forces ; 
while the English troops who had been 
placed in ambush took that opportunity 
to increase the confusion, and confirm 
the victory. The dauphin and the duke 
of Orleans were among the first that fled. 
The king of France himself made the 
utmost efforts to retrieve by his valor 
what his rashness had forfeited ; but 
his single courage was unable to stop 
that consternation which had now become 
general through his army ; and his cav- 
alry flying, he found himself exposed to 
the enemy's fury. At length, spent with 
I fatigue, and despairing of success, he 
yielded himself a prisoner. 

This dreadful defeat, which happened 
in the year 1356, almost ruined the gov- 
ernment then established in France ; and 
the miseries which ensued from this 
cause were greatly augmented by intes- 
tine commotions. The dauphin, who had 
now assumed the government, was alto- 



FRANCE. 



245 



gether unable to control a turbulent and 
seditious people at such a crisis. 

On the expiration of the truce in 1359, 
Edward again set sail for France, and 
anchored before Calais, with a fleet of 
1,100 sail, assumed the title of king of 
France, and augmented his array to 
100,000 men. The dauphin, finding him- 
self unable to withstand so great a power, 
was obliged to act on the defensive ; 
choosing the city of Paris for his station, 
and allowing the English to ravage all 
the open country. 

At last, after a long and destructive 
march, Edward arrived at the gates of 
Paris ; but the prudence of the dauphin 
and citizens of that metropolis had ren- 
dered it impregnable to the attacks of fam- 
ine as well as the assavdts of an army. 
The war continued in this state till 1360, 
when Edward proposed bringing hostili- 
ties to a conclusion ; for the English 
king saw that, notwithstanding all the 
victories he had gained, the French 
showed not the least disposition to favor 
his claim of succession ; the king of Na- 
varre was a dangerous rival, and the 
caution of the dauphin in avoiding an en- 
gagement deprived him of the advantages 
he might expect from his valor and mili- 
tary skill. Thus a conference was 
opened at Bretigny in the Chartraine ; 
and peace was at last concluded on the 
following conditions : That king John 
should pay for his ransom, at difTerent 
periods, three milUons of crowns of gold ; 
Edward should for ever renounce all 
claim to the kingdom of France ; and 
should remain possessed of the territories 
of Poictou, Xaintonge, I'Agenois, Peri- 
gord, the Limousin, Quercy, Rouvergne, 
I'Angoumois, and other districts in that 
quarter, together with Calais, Guisnes, 
Montreuil, and the county of Ponthieu on 
the other side of France. Some other 
stipulations were made in favor of the al- 
lies of England, as a security for the ex- 
ecution of these conditions. 

Charles, surnamed the Wise, succeeded 
his father on the throne of France ; and 
this monarch, merely by the force of a 
finely conducted policy, and even though 
suffering some defeats, restored his coun- 
try once more to tranquillity and power. 
The English, by their frequent levies, 



had been quite exhausted, and were una- 
ble to continue an army in the field. 
Charles, on the other hand, cautiously 
forbore coming to any decisive engage- 
ment ; but was contented to let his ene- 
mies waste their strength in attempts to 
plunder a fortified country. When they 
were retired, he then was sure to sally 
forth and possess himself of such places 
as they were not strong enough to defend. 
He first fell upon Ponthieu ; the citizens 
of Abbeville opened their gates to him ; 
those of St. Valois, Rue, and Crotoy, 
imitated the example, and ihe whole 
country was, in a little time, reduced to 
! total submission. The southern prov- 
' inces were, in the same manner, invaded 
by his generals with equal success ; 
while the Black Prince, destitute of sup- 
plies from England, and wasted by dis- 
ease, was obliged to return to his native 
country, leaving his affairs in the south 
of France in a state of ruin. 

In this exigence, the resentment of the 
king of England was excited to the ut- 
most pitch ; and he seemed resolved to 
take signal vengeance on his enemies of 
the continent. But the fortunate occa- 
sion was now elapsed, and all his suc- 
ceeding designs were marked with ill 
success. The earl of Pembroke and his 
whole army were intercepted at sea, and 
taken prisoners by Henry, king of Castile. 

He established once more the house 
of Valois on the throne of France, but 
did not long live to enjoy his good 
fortune. He died in the year 1380, at 
the age of 44, of the effects of poison 
formerly given him by the king of Na- 
varre. 

The courtly palace of Charles the 
Wise was of the most splendid descrip- 
tion. It has been thus vividly pourtrayed 
by a late historian : — " Represent to 
yourself a spacious hall, the walls cov- 
ered with the finest silken tapestries ; 
imagine, at certain distances, that there 
are sideboards for wine, laden with de- 
canters of gold and silver ; also side- 
boards for plate, adorned in profusion 
with rich jewelry, purchased with the 
fines paid by suiters. Suppose also, un- 
der a high canopy of velvet, several ta- 
bles of different sizes, to which you as- 
cend by steps covered with the richest 



246 



FRANCE. 



velvets ; in the midst of these, and under 
a festoon of cloth of gold, place a table 
for the king. Is the picture complete in 
your mind ? Well, then, behold the mon- 
arch approach in the centre of his grand 
train ; he is clothed in garments shining 
with gold and jewels ; he sits, with the 
crown on his head, yet placing himself be- 
low the archbishops and the bishops, al- 
though above all the other persons assem- 
bled. By whom think you is he served ? 
By the great nobles of the realm ? No. 
By digiutaries of the church 1 No ; 
those who attend the king are princes — 
even his brothers. Observe the im- 
mense number of officers, either of the 
hall or kitchen, clad in silk vestments, 
the colors of their respective functions, 
in the midst of the serjeants-at-arms, or 
of guards holding maces and lances in 
their hands, or surrounded by a crowd of 
servants, who carry torches to illumin- 
ate the feast ; all these persons come, 
go, return, pass, and repass each other 
without the slightest disorder or confu- 
sion. Meanwhile, the minstrels, accord- 
ing to custom, place trumpets to their 
lips, and by their flourishes amuse both 
the guests and spectators. 

" At the last course of the feast, the 
hypocras and wine are served ; and the 
king, who had washed before the repast, 
washes afterwards ; grace appropriated 
to royalty is then said, and wine and 
spices are handed round. Then the 
lung withdraws, preceded by the ushers 
and esquires of the body, and followed 
by the court. Meanwhile the queen 
takes her repast, on solemn occasions, 
in a different apartment to that occupied 
by the king ; sits in the midst of the prin- 
cesses and ladies, whilst a sedate male 
personage, at the bottom of the table, 
talks to her seriously upon the actions 
and manners of celebrated characters in 
former times." 

Charles V was succeeded by the dau- 
phin, who was crowned as Charles VI. 
This monarch was at times afflicted with 
insanity, and his relatives the dukes of Bur- 
gundy, 13ourbon and others, were intrust- 
ed with the government. Their conflict- 
ing interests, however, brought trouble 
and confusion into their public aflairs. 
Henry V, of England, taking advantage 



of this state of things, assembled a nu- 
merous fleet and army at Southampton ; 
and having induced all the military men 
of the kingdom to attend him, from the 
hopes of conquest, he put to sea, and 
landed at Harfleur, at the head of an ar- 
my of 6,000 men-at-arms, and 24,000 
foot, mostly archers. 

His first operations were upon Har- 
fleur ; which being closely pressed, prom- 
ised on a certain day to surrender, unless 
relieved before that time. The day ar- 
riving, and the garrison, unmindful of 
their engagement, still resolving to de- 
fend the place, Henry ordered an assault 
to be made, took the town by storm, and 
put all the garrison to the sword. From 
thence the victor advanced farther into 
the country. But although the French 
made but a feeble resistance, yet the 
climate seemed to fight against the in- 
vading army, as a contagious dysentery 
carried ofi" three-fourths of Henry's troops. 
In this situation, he had recourse to a 
singular expedient, to inspire his troops 
with confidence in their general. He 
challenged the dauphin, who commanded 
in the French army, to single combat, of- 
fering to stake his pretensions on the 
event. This challenge as might natural- 
ly be expected, was rejected ; and the 
French, though disagreeing internally, 
at last seemed to unite at the appearance 
of common danger. An army of 14,000 
men-at-arms, and 40,000 foot, was by 
this time assembled under the command 
of count Albert, and was so placed as to 
intercept Henry's weakened forces on 
their return. The English monarch, 
when it was too late, repented of his in- 
road into a country where disease and a 
powerful army every where threatened 
destruction ; he therefore thought of 
retiring into Calais. In this retreat, 
which was at once both painful and dan- 
gerous, Henry took every means to in- 
spire his troops with patience and per- 
severance ; and showed them in his own 
person the brightest example of deter- 
mined courage. He was continually 
harassed on his march by flying parties 
of the enemy ; and whenever he attempt- 
ed to pass the river Somme, across which 
his march lay, he saw troops on the oth- 
er side ready to oppose his passage 



FRANCE. 



247 



However, he was so fortunate as to 
seize by surprise a passage near St. 
Quintin, which had not been sufficiently 
guarded ; and there he safely carried 
over his army. 

But the enemy was still resolved to in- 
tercept his retreat ; and after he had pass- 
ed the small river of Terlrois at Blangi, 
he was surprised to observe from the 
heights the whole French army drawn 
up in the plains of Agincourt ; and so 
posted, that it was impossible for him to 
proceed on his march, without coming 
to an engagement. A battle accordingly 
took place, in which the English obtain- 
ed a victory, the most remarkable per- 
haps recorded in history. {See England.) 

This victory was, however, attended 
with no immediate eifects. Henry still 
continued to retreat after the battle, and 
carried his prisoners to Calais, and 
from thence to England. In 1417, he 
once more landed an army of 25,000 
men in Normandy, and prepared to strike 
a decisive blow for the crown of France, 
to which the English monarchs had so 
long made pretensions. At this period 
the whole of France appeared as one 
vast theatre of crimes — murders, injus- 
tice, and devastation. The duke of Or- 
leans was assassinated by the duke of 
Burgundy ; and the duke of Burgundy, 
in his turn, fell by the treachery of the 
dauphin. 

Henry having defeated the dauphin, 
fixed his residence at Paris ; and while 
Charles had a small court, he was at- 
tended with a very magnificent one On 
Whitsunda)'', 1421, the two kings and; 
their two queens, with crowns on their | 
heads, dined together in public ; Charles 
receiving apparent homage, but Henry 
commanding with absolute authority. 

The death of Charles VI followed, 
and Charles VII succeeded his father 
to a nominal throne. Nothing could be 
more deplorable than the situation of that 
monarch on assuming his title to the j 
crown. The English were masters of 
almost all France ; and Henry VI, though 
yet but an infant, was solemnly invested 
with regal power by legates from Paris. 
The duke of Bedford was at the head 
of a numerous army, in the heart of the 
kingdom, ready to oppose every insurrec- 



tion ; while the duke of Burgundy, who 
had entered into a firm confederacy with 
him, still remained steadfast, and second- 
ed his claims. Yet, notwithstanding 
these favorable appearances, Charles 
found means to break the leagues formed 
against him, and to bring back his subjects 
to their natural interests and their duty. 

His first attempts were, however, to- 
tally destitute of success. His authority 
was disputed even by his own servants ; 
advantage after advantage was gained 
against him ; and a battle fought near 
Verneuil, in which he was totally defeat- 
ed by the duke of Bedford, seemed to 
render his affairs altogether desperate. 
But from the want of new supplies, Bed- 
ford was obliged to retire into England ; 
and in the meantime, his vigilant enemy 
began to recover from his late consterna- 
tion. Dunois, one of his generals, at the 
head of 1,000 men, compelled the earl 
of Warwick to raise the siege of Mon- 
targis ; and this advantage, slight as it 
was, taught the French that the Eng- 
lish were not invincible. 

A new circumstance, apparently of the 
most trivial kind, tended to entirely 
change the fortune of the campaigTi, and 
place the French government in its prop- 
er position with reference to the Euro- 
pean powers. In the village of Domre- 
mi, near Vaucouleurs, on the borders of 
Lorrain, there resided a countiy girl, 
about twenty-seven years of age, called 
Joan de Arc. This girl had been a ser- 
vant at a small inn ; and in that humble 
station had submitted to those hardy em- 
ployments wliich fit the body for the fa- 
tigues of war. She was of an irre- 
proachable life, and contentedly fulfilled 
the duties of her situation, and was re- 
markable only for her modesty and love of 
religion. But the miseries of her country 
seemed to have been one of the greatest 
objects of her compassion and regard. Her 
mind, excited by these objects, began to 
feel a new impulse, which she was will- 
ing to mistake for the inspirations of 
heaven. Convinced of the reality of her 
own admonitions, she had recourse to 
Baudricourt, governor of Vaucouleurs, 
and informed him of her destination by 
heaven to free her native country from its 
invaders. Baudricourt treated her at first 



248 



FRANCE. 




Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans. 



with neglect ; but her iTiiportunities at 
length prevailed, and willing to make a 
trial of her pretensions, he gave her some 
attendants, who conducted her to the court 
which at this time resided at Chinon. 

The French court were probably sen- 
sible of the weakness of her pretensions ; 
but they were willing to make use of any 
artifice to support their declining fortunes. 
It was, therefore, given out that Joan 
was actually inspired ; that she had been 
able to discover the king among a num- 
ber of his courtiers, although he had laid 
aside all the distinctions of his authority ; 
that she had told him some extraordi- 
nary secrets, which were only known 
to himself; and that she had demanded, 
and minutely described, a sword in the 
chnrch of St. Catherine de Fierbois, 
which she had never seen. The pop- 
ulace being thus prepared for her appear- 
ance, she was armed cap-a-pie, and 
shown in that dress to the people. She 
was then brought before the doctors of 
the university ; and they, tinctured with 
the credulity of the times, or Avilling to 
second the imposture, declared that she 
had actually received her commission 
from above. 

When the preparations for her mission 



were completely blazoned, the next ob- 
ject was to send her against the enemy. 
The English were at that time besieging 
the city of Orleans, the last resource of 
Charles, and every thing promised them 
a speedy surrender. Joan undertook to 
raise the siege ; and, to render herself 
still more remarkable, girded herself with 
the miraculous sword, of which she be- 
fore had such extraordinary notices. 
Thus equipped, she ordered all the soldiers 
to confess themselves before they set 
out ; she displayed in her hand a conse- 
crated banner, and assured the troops of 
certain success. Such confidence on 
her side soon raised the spirits of the 
French army, and even the English, who 
pretended to despise her efforts, felt them- 
selves secretly influenced Avith the ter- 
rors of her mission. A supply of provi- 
sions was to be conveyed into the town ; 
, Joan, at the head of some French troops, 
I covered the approach, and entered Or- 
leans at the head of the convoy which 
she had safely protected. While she 
Avas leading her troops along, a dead si- 
i lence and astonisbment reigned among 
tbe English ; and they regarded with re- 
I ligious awe that temerity which they 
' thought nothing but supernatural assist- 



FRANCE. 



249 



ance could inspire. But tliey were soon 
roused from their state of amazement by a 
sally from the town ; Joan led on the be- 
sieged, bearing the sacred standard in her 
hand, encouraging them with her words 
and actions, bringing them to the trenches, 
and overpowering the besiegers in their 
own redoubts. In the attack of one of 
the forts, she was wounded in the neck 
with an arrow ; but instantly pulling out 
the weapon with her own hands, and 
getting the wound quickly dressed, she 
hastened back to head the troops, and to 
plant her victorious banner on the ram- 
parts of the enemy. These successes 
continuing, the English found that it was 
impossible to resist troops animated by 
such superior energy ; and Suffolk, who 
conducted the attack, thinking that it 
might prove extremely dangerous to re- 
main any longer in the presence of the 
victorious enemy, raised the siege, and 
retreated with all imaginable precaution. 

From being attacked, the French now 
in turn became the aggressors. Charles 
armed a body of 6,000 men, and sent 
them to besiege Jergeau, whither the earl 
of Suffolk had retired with the detach- 
ment of the English army. The city 
was taken ; Sutlblk yielded himself a 
prisoner ; and Joan marched into the 
place in triimiph at the head of the army. 
A battle was soon after fought near Pa- 
tay, where the English Avere worsted as 
before, and the generals Scales and Tal- 
bot were taken prisoners. 

The raising of the siege of Orleans 
was one part of the Maid's promise to 
the king of France ; the crowning him at 
Rheims was the other. She now declared 
that it was time to complete that ceremony ; 
and Charles, in pursuance of her advice, 
set out for Rheims at the head of 12,000 
men. The towns through which he passed 
opened their gates to receive him ; and 
Rheims sent him a deputation, with its 
keys, upon his approach. The ceremony 
of his coronation was there performed 
with the utmost solemnity ; and the Maid 
of Orleans, (for so she was now called,) 
seeing the completion of her promise, 
desired leave to retire, alleging that she 
had now accomplished her mission. But 
her services had been so great, that the 
king could not think of parting with her ; 
32 



he pressed her to stay so earnestly, that 
she at length complied with his request. 

A tide of successes followed the per- 
formance of this solemnity ; Laon, Sois- 
sons, Chateau-Thierri, Provins, and many 
other fortresses in that neighborhood, 
submitted to him on the first summons. 
On the other hand, the English found 
themselves deprived of the conquests 
they had gained, in the same manner as 
the French had formerly submitted to 
their power. Their own divisions, both 
abroad and at home, unfitted them en- 
tirely for carrying on the war ; and the 
duke of Bedford, notwithstanding all his 
prudence, saw himself divested of his 
strong holds in the country, without be- 
ing able to stop the enemy's progress. 
In order, therefore, to revive the declin- 
ing state of his affairs, he resolved to 
have Henry crowned king at Paris, 
knowing that the natives would be pleas- 
ed by the splendor of the ceremony. In 
1430, Henry was accordingly crowned, 
all the vassals that still continued under 
the English power swearing fealty and 
homage. But it was now too late for 
the ceremonies of a coronation to give 
a turn to the affairs of the English ; the 
great body of the people had declared 
against them, and the remainder only 
waited a convenient opportunity to follow 
the example. 

An accident ensued soon after, which, 
though it promised to promote the Eng- 
lish cause in France, in the end served 
to hasten its fall. The duke of Burgun- 
dy, at the head of a powerful army, had 
laid seige to Compeigne ; and the Maid 
of Orleans had thrown herself into the 
place, contrary to the wishes of the gov- 
ernor, who did not desire the company 
of one whose authority Avould be greater 
than his own. The day after her arrival, 
the Maid of Orleans headed a sally ; and 
having twice driven the enemy from 
their entrenchments, she was at last 
obliged to retire, placing herself in the 
rear to protect the retreat of her forces. 
But on attempting to follow her troops 
into the city, she found the gates shut, 
and the bridge drawn up, by order of the 
governor, who had long been plotting to 
betray her to the enemy. 

Nothing could exceed the joy of the 



250 



FRANCE 



besiegers, in having taken one who had | 
been so long a terror to their arms. The i 
service of Te Deum was publicly cele- i 
brated on this occasion ; and it was 
hoped, that the capture of this cxtraordi- 1 
nar}' person would restore the English to 
their former victories and successes. The 
duke of Bedford was no sooner inform- 
ed of her being taken than he purchased 
her of the count Vendome, who had , 
made her his prisoner, and ordered her I 
to be committed to close confinement. ' 
The credulity of both nations was at ' 
that time so great, that nothing was too 
absurd to gain belief that coincided with ' 
their passions. As Joan but a little be- 
fore, from her successes, was regarded as 
a saint, she was now, upon her captivity, ' 
considered as a sorceress, forsaken by : 
the demon who had granted her a falla- ' 
cious and temporary assistance. Ac- 
cordingly it was resolved in council to 
send her to Rouen to be tried for witch- I 
craft. The university of Paris joined in 
the same request. Several prelates, 
among whom the cardinal of Winches- 1 
ter was the only Englishman, were ap- 
pointed as her judges. They held their ' 
court in Rouen, where Henry then resi- 
ded ; and the Maid, clothed in her for- 
mer military apparel, but loaded with 
irons, was produced before this tribunal. 
Her behavior betrayed neither weakness 
nor submission, but she appealed to God 
and the pope, for the truth of her former 
revelations. She was found guilty of| 
heresy and witchcraft, and sentenced to I 
be burnt alive, the common punishment 
for such offences. 

But previous to the infliction of this 
dreadful sentence upon her, they were ! 
resolved to make her abjure her former^ 
errors ; and at length so far prevailed, i 
that she publicly declared herself willing 
to recant. This was what her enemies 
desired ; and, willing to show some ap- 
pearance of mercy, they changed her 
sentence into perpetual imprisonment. 
But the vindictive spirit of her enemies 
was not yet satiated. Suspecting that 
the female dress, which she had con- 
sented to wear, was disagreeable to her, 
they purposely placed in her apartment 
a suit of men's apparel. Joan struck 
with the sight of a dress in which she 



had gained so much glory, immediately 
threw off her penitent's robes, and put 
on the forbidden garment. Her impru- 
dence was considered as a relapse into 
her former transgressions. She was con- 
demned to be burnt alive in the market- 
place of Rouen ; and this infamous sen- 
tence was executed with brutal severity. 

From this period, the English power 
in France may be said to have ceased. 
The city of Paris returned to a sense of 
its duty. Lord Willoughby, who com- 
manded it for the English, was contented 
to stipulate for the safe retreat of his 
troops to Normandy. At length, both 
parties began to tire of a war, which, 
though carried on but feebly, was yet a 
burden greater than either could support. 
But the terms of peace insisted upon by 
both were so wide of each other, that no 
hopes of an accommodation could be ex- 
pected. A truce, therefore, for twenty 
two months, was concluded in 1443. 
No sooner was this agreed upon, than 
Charles employed himself with great 
judgment in repairing those ills to which 
his kingdom, from the continuance of 
wars, both foreign and domestic, had so 
long been exposed. He established dis- 
cipline among his troops, and justice 
among his governors. He revived agri- 
culture, and repressed faction. 

In 1449, the truce was allowed to ex- 
pire. The quarrels of York and Lan- 
caster had commenced, and England was 
unable to defend her foreign possessions. 
Normandy was invaded. The gallant 
Talbot, commander of the English, could 
not preserve Rouen with a disaffected 
population, and Charles recovered with- 
out loss of blood the second capital of 
his dominions. The only blow struck 
by the English for the preservation of 
Normandy was at Fourmigny near Bay- 
eux. They had been successful in driv- 
ing back the count of Clermont, when 
the constable appeared with a fresh army, 
attacked the English in turn, and routed 
them. In the result of this action, 
Charles saw clearly the advantages of 
his reform in the army. Native French 
archers here faced their ancient rivals. 
Normandy was for ever lost to the English 
after this action or skirmish. The fol- 
lowing year Guienne was invaded by 



FRANCE. 



251 



the count de Dunois. He met with no 
resistance. The great towns at that day 
had grown weakhy, and their maxim was 
to avoid a siege at all hazards. Thus 
Bordeaux, after having summoned the 
English by their public crier to come to 
their assistance, — a voice as likely to be 
heard by the battling Yorkists and Lan- 
castrians as if it had been trumpeted in 
their isle, surrendered to Charles. The 
submission of the Bordelais was, how- 
ever, but short. They rebelled ; the 
veteran Talbot came to their aid, at the 
head of 5,000 English. The French 
were engaged in the siege of Castillon, 
when Talbot marched against them. His 
first approach drove in the franc Arch- 
ers. This success emboldened him to 
attack the intrenched camp of the French. 
Though now eighty years of age, Talbot 
on foot led his men-at-arms to the as- 
sault. The fight was bravely sustained 
on both sides, till the English general 
was struck down by the fire of a culver- 
in. His son, lord Lisle, flung himself on 
the body of his parent. " Fly, my son," 
said the expiring Talbot ; " the day is 
lost. It is your first action, and you may 
without shame turn your back to the en- 
emy." Lord Lisle, nevertheless, togeth- 
er with thirty nobles of England, was 
slain before the body of Talbot. With 
that hero expired the last hopes of his 
country in regard to France. Guienne 
was lost as well as Normandy ; and 
Calais remained to England the only 
fruit of so much blood spilt, and so many 
victories achieved. 

On the death of Charles, his son Louis 
XI succeeded to the throne, who, after a 
life spent in continual deceit, hypocrisy, 
and cruelty, received warning of his ap- 
proaching end by a fit of apoplexy with 
which he was seized in the year 1480. 
He lay speechless and motionless for 
two days ; after which he partially re- 
covered, but never completely regahied 
his health and strength. His illness, 
however, neither prevented him from pur- 
suing the schemes of his ambition, nor 
from using the same methods as before 
to attain them. He seized, without any 
pretence, the estates of the duke of Bour- 
bon, the only nobleman in the kingdom 
whose power could give him any cause 



of suspicion ; yet, notwithstanding his 
assiduity for the interest of the dauphin, 
he kept him a kind of prisoner in the 
castle of Ambloise, permitting none but 
his own servants, or persons of the mean- 
est rank, to have access to him. He 
banished his own consort, the mother of 
the dauphin, to Savoy, and endeavored to 
inspire the prince with aversion towards 
her. Louis, after a long and sanguinary 
reign, died in 1483. His death was oc- 
casioned by a second stroke of apoplexy. 
Charles VIII, who succeeded his fa- 
ther, Louis XI, in 1483, was only four- 
teen years of age at the time of his death; 
but though he might, even at that age, 
have ascended the throne without any 
material violation of the laws of France, 
yet it was judged necessary to have a 
regent on account of the king's delicacy 
of constitution and want of education. 
Three competitors appeared as candi- 
dates for this important trust, viz, John, 
duke of Bourbon, a prince of the blood, and 
who had, till the age of sixty, maintained 
the most unblemished character ; Louis, 
duke of Orleans, presumptive heir to the 
crown, but who from his being only twen- 
ty years old himself, seemed incapaci- 
tated on that account from undertaking 
such an important office ; the third com- 
petitor was Anne, called the lady of 
Beaujeu, the eldest daughter of Louis, to 
whom the latter had in the last moments 
of his life committed the charge of the 
j kingdom, with the title of governess. The 
I claim of this lady was successful. 

The premature death of Charles in 1498, 
was supposed to have been owing to his 
irregular life, which had for some time 
! impaired his health, and brought on evi- 
j dent symptoms of his approaching disso- 
lution. At last he relinquished his irreg- 
I ularities, and retired with the queen to 
j the castle of Ambloise. Here, in pass- 
' ing through an arched door, he struck 
; his head with violence against the top. 
No unfavorable symptoms appeared at 
the time ; but soon afterwards, as he 
conversed with liis confessor, and avowed 
' his design of observing the nuptial fidel- 
i ity he owed to the queen, he suddenly 
fell backward in a fit of apoplexy. He 
, recovered his voice three times, and ut- 
tered some expressions of devotion ; but 



252 



FRANCE. 



instantly relapsed, and in a short time 
expired, notvvilhstanding every assistance 
that could be given. 

We may now take a brief view of the 
state of France at the close of the fom-- 
teenth century. The whole country was 
then emerging from the horrors of feu- 
dalism : it had burst the fetters of bon- 
dage. A large portion of the people 
were enfranchised, and thereby a third 
class (of burgesses) was added to the 
two already existing bodies of nobles and 
clergy. The cities, before deserted by 
the monarch, the nobles, and the church 
dignitaries, began to increase in opu- 
lence and consequence ; their number, 
moreover, had gradually risen to 2,000 
regular and fortified boroughs. Supported 
by their respective charters, the burgess- 
es exercised a sovereign power over their 
own civic economy, regulated the pay 
and number of their garrison troops, ap- 
pointed the officers, and even commenced 
war with neighboring towns or lordships, 
without interference from higher powers. 
The nobles, however, still affected a 
proud and high-minded independence, 
reckless of kingly coercion ; and the in- 
stitutions of feudalism, although yield- 
ing rapidly to the influences of luxury and 
civilization, were, in some respects, main- 
tained with the tenacity which habit and 
prejudice had imparted. The nobles, 
besides, possessed the privilege of refu- 
sing, at will, to follow their king to the 
field, except in case of a defensive war ; 
and the sovereign was prohibited, as yet, 
from maintaining a standing army. An 
augmentation of wealth and power to the 
sovereign was, nevertheless, produced by 
the law which gave to the lord para- 
moimt all fiefs, of which the natural heirs 
had become extinct ; and the practice, 
then recently introduced, of fixing the 
majority of the king at his fourteenth 
instead of his 21st year, assigned into the 
hands of the monarch the authority which 
would otherwise have been vested in one 
or more of the proud nobility during the 
period of minority. Influenced by these 
and other circumstances, the manners of 
the French began, at this period, to lose 
the chivalric, or rather barbarous, pecu- 
liarities which had formerly character- 
ized their civil commotions, their domes- 



tic policy, their very literature, and their 
diversions. 

The manufacture of arms had been 
hitherto carried on, independent of the 
city mechanic, within the very walls of 
the castle ; and even women were em- 
ployed in the preparation of arrows and 
lances, and several other descriptions of 
light weapons. But the recent discovery 
of Roger Bacon had begun to humble the 
pride of these nobles. Not only was the 
very existence of their habitations endan- 
gered by the new method of artillery ; 
but their capability of infringing upon the 
demesnes of others diminished by its 
success. The art of fortification would 
require from henceforward the sciences 
of arithmetic and geometry ; and as the 
inhabitants of towns, from their mechani- 
cal and commercial occupations, far sur- 
passed, in such knowledge, the proud and 
ignorant nobility, the importance of the 
burgesses began, in respect to warlike 
affairs, to gain the superiority. 

During the changes which the other 
orders of society experienced, the clergy 
preserved, or, perhaps, increased their 
ascendency. In some cities the bishop 
shared the temporal jurisdiction with the 
lord paramount : it was by no means un- 
usual to see a powerful baron constrained 
to hold the bridal of an abbe, and at 
meal-time to stand behind his chair, un- 
less the proud ecclesiastic chose to utter 
the condescending permission to sit down. 

Nor was this usurpation of authority 
and overweening influence of the clerg}-, 
in those days, peculiarly enjoyed in 
France. In the councils of other princes ; 
in the regulation of finance ; in the ad- 
ministration of justice ; in all departments 
of pubhc business, the clergy possessed 
the predominating influence; for often- 
times, even the helmet and sword were 
not considered incompatible with the 
priestly habit ; and when occasion re- 
quired, or self-interest called, the priestly 
hand was raised to strike a sturdy blow, 
to gain fresh concessions, or defend its 
already acquired rights. 

By the death of Charles VIII, the 
throne of France passed from the direct 
line of the house of Valois, and Louis, 
duke of Orleans succeeded to the throne. 
At the time of his accession he was in 



FRANCE. 



253 



his thirty-sixth year, and had long been 
taught prudence in the school of adversity. 
During the administration of the lady 
Beaujeu, he had been constantly in dis- 
grace ; and after his connection with the 
duke of Britany had spent a very consid- 
erable time in prison. 

During his reign, Henry VIII, of Eng- 
land, invaded France, and took Terruenne 
and Tournay ; and the Swiss invaded 
Burgundy with an army of 25,000 men. 
In this difficult situation of affairs the 
queen died, and Louis put an end to the 
opposition of his most dangerous enemies, 
by negotiating marriages with different 
branches of his family. To Ferdinand 
of Spain, he offered his second daughter 
for either of his grandsons, Charles or 
Ferdinand ; and to renounce in favor of 
that marriage, his claims on Milan and 
Genoa. This proposal was accepted ; 
and Louis himself married the princess 
Mary, sister to Henry VIII of England. 
He did not long survive this marriage, 
but died on the 2nd of January, 1514 ; 
and was succeeded by Francis /, coimt 
of Angouleme and duke of Bretagne and 
Valois. 

The new king was no sooner seated 
on the throne, than he resolved on an ex- 
pedition into Italy. He assembled for 
this purpose, at Lyons, an army of 60,000 
men, the most formidable in number that 
P^'rance had yet equipped. There were 
2,500 gentlemen cavaliers, each attended 
by his suite of four or five horsemen. 
These were the Gensdarmerie. The 
lansquenets, or hired German infantry, 
amounted to 22,000. Six thousand Gas- 
con infantry, as many more French pro- 
miscuously levied, and 3,000 pioneers, 
completed the army. The rear-guard 
advanced under the constable Bourbon to 
clear the passage of the Alps, and to force 
the Swiss from the post of Susa, which 
blocked up the only two known roads 
across the mountains. To find or make 
another path became necessary, in order 
to turn the impregnable position; and 
fortunately a guide xmdertook to lead the 
French over the Cottian Alps into the 
marquisate of Saluces. Even for the army 
to pass was a work of difficulty, but their 
artillery was what the French captains 
chiefly relied on to discomfit the Swiss. 



To drag cannons over deep valleys and 
precipitous steeps was more than Hanni- 
bal had achieved, and was afterwards 
one of the principal boasts of the army 
that conquered at Marengo. The sol- 
diers of France accomplished the task, 
however, and penetrated into Italy by the 
sources of the Po. The Italians did not 
suspect the possibility of so hardy an en- 
terprise. Prospero Colonna was travers- 
ing Piedmont, at the head of the papal 
cavalry to join the Swiss, and was re- 
posing at Villefranche, when the town 
was surprised, and Colonna himself, and 
his troops, taken prisoners by La Palisse 
and d'Aubigny. The news of this sur- 
prise soon reached the Swiss, and they 
abandoned in a rage their now useless po- 
sition, retreating to Milan, and pillaging 
the towns they were obliged to evacuate. 
Their disappointment produced quarrels 
between the chiefs. The cardinal of 
Sion reproached one of the captains of 
Berne, with partiality to the French. 
The captain and his soldiers, by way of 
retort, demanded their pay ; and the car- 
dinal, the sworn enemy of France, was 
obliged to fly from their clamors. 

This opened the way for negotiation. 
The king, with the rest of his army, had 
in the mean time crossed the Alps, and 
lay encamped at Marignano. The prow- 
ess of the Swiss was dreaded, and the 
terrific day of Novara was held in remem- 
brance. Consequently, when they de- 
manded a large sum of money for them- 
selves, and a pension for Maximilian 
Sforza, in return for evacuating the Mi- 
lanese, the terms were granted. Francis 
raised the money instantly by borrowing 
of his officers ; and envoys M^ere already 
despatched with the stipulated sum, when 
tidings were brought to the constable, 
that the Swiss, in heu of concluding a 
treaty, were meditating an attack. The 
cardinal of Sion had, in fact, hurried back 
to Milan on the first news of the accom- 
modation. He called his countrymen 
round him, harangued them, and rekindled 
that hatred to the French for which his- 
tory assigns no sufficient cause. 

The Swiss determined to surprise the 
French, to carry the artillery in the first 
attack, and turn it on their enemies, an 
operation so successful at Novara. Bour- 



'M 



FRANCE. 



bon, however, was prepared for them. 
The artiller\', consisting of seventy pieces, 
were placed behind an intrenchment, 
commanding the road ; the lansquenets 
were stationed to guard it, Avhile the cav- 
iilry, drawn up behind, and on each side, 
waited to observe the order of the Swiss. 
They came on in silence, without drum 
or trumpet ; a cloud of dust, raised by 
their speed, announcing, nevertheless, 
tlieir approach. It was the middle of 
September, several hours after noon. The 
Swiss came in one compact column, 
rushing on the artillen^"-, and against the 
lansquenets, those rivals in their merce- 
nary profession of war, whom they hated, 
and whom they swore that day to extermi- 
nate. Attirstthe lansquenets recoiled from 
the furious charge of the Swiss : some of 
the cannon were already captured ; when 
the cavalry and the black bands, the king 
himself amongst them, extended in the 
fonii of wings, and took the phalanx of the 
Swiss on either side in flank. The lans- 
quenets, thus supported, took courage. 
The first charge of the Swiss, so univer- 
sally victorious, was here not decidedly 
successful, and hanng no longer the ad- 
vantage of an impulse, their pikes became 
less formidable. Obliged to face enemies 
that almost surrounded them, their pha- 
lanx was split into numerous bodies which 
continued the combat, not only till sun- 
set, but even till the moonlight failed 
them. Some of these bodies succumbed, 
however : one yielded to a charge led by 
the king himself; the Swiss throwing 
down their halberds, and crying,"France!" 
in token of submission. Towards mid- 
night, utter darkness stopped the com- 
bat, and both parties, intermingled, slept 
or kept watch in little bands amongst their 
enemies. The king himself reposed on 
the stock of a cannon. 

When day broke, both armies rallied ; 
the Swiss to form their original phalanx ; 
the French round their cannon, which 
were again plied with true aim and fear- 
ful alacrity. The Swiss renewed the 
attack. The lansquenets still held the 
intrenchment ; the rest of the army as- 
sailed the enemy in flank. After some 
hours' fighting, the Swiss began to des- 
pair. They now condescended to ma- 
ncEuvre, and despatched a considerable 



I body to turn and attack the French camp 
in rear ; but it was too late ; the division 
was beaten back, and naught was left for 
the Swiss but to retreat. This they did 
in good order and undaunted ; though 
pursued not only by the victorious French, 
but by the Venitians, who arrived at the 
close of the action. The count de Petig- 
liana, the Venitian general, desirous to 
share in the combat, charged the retreat- 
ing Swiss, and perished. 

Thus did the young monarch signalize 
the very commencement of his reign by 
a splendid victory gained over the most 
renowned soldiers in Europe, and those 
whom the French had most to fear. The 
veteran Trivulzio, who had seen seven- 
teen pitched battles, called all of them 
" child's play," in comparison with that of 
Marignano, which he designated as the 
"battle of giants." Yet it is more remark- 
able for the glory won, than for the blood 
spilled in it. Trivulzio, the king, the 
constable of Bourbon, the duke of Lor- 
raine, and Bayard, Avere all wounded or 
unhorsed, or in imminent peril. He who 
most distinguished himself was Claude 
count de Guise, brother of the duke of 
Lorraine : he commanded the black 
bands, and had fallen, pierced by innu- 
merable wounds ; from which he never- 
theless recovered, and lived to found an 
illustrious name. The principal of the 
slain were, a prince of the house of Lor- 
raine, one of the house of Bourbon, and 
the prince of Talmont, elder son of La 
Tremouille. One of the first acts of the 
king, after the action, was to receive 
knighthood from the hand of Bayard, 
"the chevalier without fear and without 
reproach." Sensible of the honor done 
to him by the choice. Bayard vowed that 
the sword which had knighted so valiant 
a monarch should never be wielded ex- 
cept against the infidels. "When he had 
uttered tliis vow," quoth his secretar)'-, 
who was his historian, "he took two 
leaps, and returned the sword to its 
scabbard." 

The duchy of Milan was conquered 
by the victory of Marignano. The Swiss, 
who held the fortress of the capital, sur- 
rendered it, being hard pressed by the 
armies of Peter of Navarre, which were 
now in the service of the French king. 



FRANCE. 



255 



Maximilian Sforza abandoned his rights 
in return for a pension of 30,000 crowns, 
which he was to enjoy in France, "no- 
wise discontented," he said, "to be de- 
hvered from the tyranny of the Swiss, 
the caprices of the emperor, and the bad 
faith of the Spaniards." 

On the death of the emperor Maximil- 
ian in 1581, Francis used every endeav- 
or to be appointed his successor ; but the 
emperor had exerted himself so much in 
favor of Charles V, of Spain, that he 
found it quite impossible to succeed; and 
from that time an irreconcilable enmity 
existed between the two monarchs. In 
1521, this ill-will produced a war ; which 
was continued with various degrees of 
success till 1524, when P>ancis having 
invaded Italy, and laid siege to Pavia, 
he was utterly defeated before that city, 
and taken prisoner 24th of February. 

Francis by making many concessions 
and promises, which he afterwards viola- 
lated, was released from captivity. The 
war was renewed with Charles, who in- 
vaded France, but without success ; nor 
was peace fully established till the death 
of Francis, which happened on the 3rd 
of March, 1547. He was succeeded by 
his son Henry II, then twenty-nine years 
of age.* In the beginning of his reign, 

* It was the care of the new king to celebrate 
the obsequies of his predecessor in the most mag- 
nificent style. The bishop, who pronounced the 
funeral oration, used a bold metaphor, which 
gave occasion to the bigots of the Sorbonne to 
show their zeal. King Francis, according to 
the worthy prelate, had been of so holy a life, 
that his soul had gone straight into paradise without 
passing through the flames of purgatory. The 
denial of purgatory was a favorite tenet of the re- 
formers. The Sorbonne forthwith accused the 
preacher of heresy ; they sent a deputation to 
St. Germain to make known their complaint to 
the king. Mendosa, a chief officer of the court, 
first received it ; and by a facetious speech, saved 
Henry from an act of injustice. " Calm your- 
selves, gentlemen," said he to the deputies of the 
Sorbonne ; " if you had known the good king 
Francis as well as I did, you would have better 
understood the words of the preacher. Francis 
was not a man to tarrj' long any where ; and if 
he did take a turn in purgatory, believe me, the 
devil himself could not persuade him to take any 
thing like a sojourn there." 

The famous duel between Jamac and Chataig- 
neraie, was the first striking event of Henry's 
reign. They had both been pages in the court 
of Francis I. Chataigneraie was a stout youth, 
given to quarrel, skilled at his weapon, and re- 



an insurrection occiured in Guienne, ow- 
ing to the oppressive conduct of the offi- 
cers who levied the salt tax. The king 
despatched against the insurgents two 
j bodies of troops ; one commanded by 
the duke of Aumale, son of the duke of 
Guise, the other by the constable. The 



nowned for his hardihood ; he excelled in those 
rude and martial e.vercises which the dauphin 
Henry loved, and was consequently a favorite 
! with him. Jarnac, on the contrary, was a beau, 
' given to gallantry-, and fond of dress and ele- 
' gance ; a taste which he indulged to an extent 
I beyond his apparent means. It happened that 
' once in the society of Henry, Chataigneraie con- 
temning such taste and such a mode of life, asked 
Jarnac, where he found resources for such ei- 
j pense ! Jarnac replied, " that although his fatlier 
I was liberal in his allowances, yet that he obtained 
j an increase of funds through his stepmother, with 
I whom he had made himself a favorite." This 
passed. But Chataigneraie construed the words 
of Jarnac into an insinuation that he enjoyed the 
favor of his stepmother in a criminal sense. He 
mentioned this to Henry, who repeated it to Diana 
of Poitiers. The calumny circulated in whis- 
pers, and at length reached the ears of Jamac's 
j father. The son was summoned. In horror he 
disavowed the crime, and succeeded in exculpat- 
ing himself. He followed this up by appearing 
before Francis in the presence of the court, and 
I declaring, that whoever had given birth to such 
I a report " lied in his throat." The dauphiin 
took this deadly insult to himself; he, howe- 
\ ver, could not come forward. The rude Cha- 
taigneraie did, and asserted that he had heard 
1 Jamac boast of having been too intimate with his 
stepmother. A challenge, of course, was the 
consequence, and Francis was besought by the 
antagonists to appoint the field for a combat, the 
j issue of which was to decide the guilt or inno- 
cence of Jarnac. Francis, however, forbade the 
duel, either averse to the absurd principal of ju- 
dicial combat, or aware how much the imprudence 
of his son had been the occasion of the quarrel. 
I On Henry's accession, Jarnac renewed his chal- 
; lenge and demand. The king consented. The 
lists were prepared at St. Germain ; Henry and 
his court were witnesses. When the antagonists 
met in the inclosed field, the slender Jarnac seem- 
ed unable to resist the powerful Chataigneraie ; he 
! retired before his blows, covering himself with 
his buckler, until seizing an opportunity, he 
wounded his adversary in the back of the leg, 
and completely disabled him. The victor, how- 
j ever, spared his adversary. Having in vain asked 
; Chataigneraie to recall the calumnies that he had 
' uttered, Jarnac advanced towards the monarch, 
and, by the usual courtesy of placing it at the 
: sovereign's disposal, waived his right to his ene- 
my's life. The fierce Chataigneraie scorned to 
be thus spared ; he refused chirurgical aid ; even 
■ tore his wounds open when they had been dressed, 
and died. Such was the judicial combat, in which 
I may be said to have originated the modern duel. 



256 



FRANCE, 



first acted with the greatest moderation, 
and easily brought back the people to 
their duly ; the other behaved with the 
greatest haughtiness and cruelty ; and 
though the king afterwards remitted ma- 
ny of his punishments, yet from that 
time the constable became an object of 
dislike to the people. 

In 1548, the king began to execute 
the edicts, which had been made against 
the protestants ; and, thinking the clergy 
too mild in the prosecution of heresy, 
erected for that purpose a chamber com- 
posed of members of the parliament of 
Paris. At the queen's coronation, which 
happened this year, he caused a number 
of protestants to be burned, and was 
himself present at the spectacle. 

The reign of his successor, Francis 
II, was remarkable only for the persecu- 
tion carried on against the protestants, 
which obliged them to take up arms in 
their own defence. This occasioned 
several civil wars ; the first of which 
commenced in the reign of Charles IX, 
who succeeded to the throne in 1560. 
This first war continued till the year 
1562. 

In order to understand the events which 
occurred during the reign of the latter 
monarch, it appears necessary to take a 
retrospective view of the origin and pro- 
gress of the reformed religion in France, 
under Francis II. The new doctrine 
had spread greatly at court, as well as 
in the capital and provinces. The Chris- 
tian Institutes of Calvin were dedicated 
to that king. His sister, the queen of 
Navarre, protected his disciples, while 
they were persecuted by the clergy and 
the parliament. The spirit of the new 
religion was increased and invigorated, 
and the numbers who professed it were 
greatly augmented, by the massacre of 
Cabrieres and Merindol, and by the ex- 
ecutions which were imprudently multi- 
plied by Henry II. Thus, at the acces- 
sion of Francis II, Calvanism had gained 
a firm and wide fooling, and could count 
among its professors several men of great 
talents and influence. Admiral Coligny, 
and his brother d'Andelot, and cardinal 
Chatillon, were firm friends to a reforma- 
tion ; and the prince of Conde inclined 
to the same side. The court, oa the 



contrary, seemed resolved to crush the 
Calvinists, by the most open and violent 
measures. Instead of correcting the er- 
rors, which had given offence, even to 
conscientious catholics, new observan- 
ces, still more superstitious, were en- 
joined. Images of the Virgin, and of 
the saints, were placed at the corners of 
the streets, with tapers lighted up before 
them ; round these, the populace assem- 
bled, singing hymns, and compelling the 
passengers to put money into little box- 
es, for the expense of the illumination. 
If a man did not bow to these images, 
and stop with marks of reverence, while 
the people were paying this worship, he 
was either knocked down, dragged to 
prison, or insulted. These, however, 
were trifling evils, to which the protes- 
tants were exposed. Courts of ecclesi- 
astical judicature, invested with inquisi- 
torial powers, were erected, denominated 
Chamhrcs Ardentcs, from the severity of 
their punishments. To these the cog- 
nizance of heresy was entrusted. The 
strictest search was made to discover 
offenders ; and as the protestants, in or- 
der to conceal themselves, were obliged 
to meet by night, they were charged 
with committing in these assemblies the 
most dreadful crimes. Thus goaded on 
to resistance, they only waited for a fit 
opportunity and season to protect them- 
selves by force of arms ; and this was 
soon supplied them, by the mixtiure of 
folly and wickedness which the court 
displayed. The civil wars between the 
catholics and protestants commenced in 
1650. The duke of Guise and his fami- 
ly were the most bitter opponents of the 
protestants, whose cause was sustained 
by the prince of Conde, admiral Coligny, 
and the king of Navarre. Catherine of 
Medicis, the mother of Francis II, and 
Charles IX, was a woman of great ta- 
lents and address ; she was, however, 
cruel, rapacious, and deceitful, and for a 
long period was the sovereign of France. 
Both Catherine and her son, being con- 
vinced that the destruction of the pro- 
testants could be effected only by intrigue, 
resolved to exert all the powers of their 
minds to carry it on in such manner as 
might most effectually deceive the pro- 
posed victims of it. With this view they 



FRANCE. 



257 



pretended to be averse to the measures 
of the Guises as unfriendly to the pro- 
testants ; and even treated them with 
coolness and indifference. The king 
proposed to give his sister Margaret in 
marriage to Henry of Navarre, as a fur- 
ther proof of his change of sentiments, 
and further security to the protestants. 
This proposal was readily accepted ; and 
so deeply laid were the plans of Cathe- 
rine and her son, that even the Admiral 
Coligny, notwithstanding a letter which 
he received, putting him in mind of the 
faithless characters of them both, was 
deceived by their specious conduct and 
professions. 

Catherine, having so often been foiled 
in her attempts to crush the protestants, 
both by open and secret measures, was 
resolved that her present plan should not 
be frustrated by precipitation : for two 
years she permitted France to enjoy the 
blessings of tranquillity : and during the 
whole of this period, the conduct both of 
herself and of the king, continued such, 
as effectually lulled the suspicions of the 
most timid and apprehensive protestants. 
At last having succeeded in persuading 
the admiral to come to Paris, along with 
the most considerable men of the protes- 
tant party, in order to assist at the cele- 
bration of the marriage of Margaret and 
Henry, Catherine and the king resolved 
to hasten the catastrophe. 

The marriage was celebrated on the 
17th of August, 1572 ; and, on the 22d 
of that month, Coligny was wounded by 
a shot from a window, as he was going 
to his house. Upon learning this, the 
king paid him a visit, promised to find 
out and punish the assassin, and to all 
appearance was filled with indignation 
and sorrow for the accident. Two days 
after this, on the 24th of August, the mas- 
sacre of St. Bartholomew, took place. 
When the king gave his directions re- 
specting it, he added, with his customary 
oaths, " Since it is to be done, take care 
that no one escapes to reproach me." 
The direction of the massacre was en- 
trusted more especially to the Duke of 
Guise ; and the signal for its commence- 
ment was to be given by striking the 
great bell of the palace. Coligny, regu- 
lar in his habits, and still weak with his 
33 



wounds, had retired to rest on the eve of 
St. Bartholomew very early ; but he was 
roused by the noise of the assassins, who 
had surrounded his house. A German, 
of the name of Beznie, entered his cham- 
ber ; and the admiral, suspicious of his 
designs, prepared to meet his fate with 
calm and firm resignation. Scarcely had 
he uttered the words " Young man, you 
ought to have respected my age, and my 
infirmity ; but you will only shorten my 
life by a few days or hours," when the 
German plunged his sword into his bo- 
som, and afterwards threw the corpse 
into the court. The Duke of Guise be- 
held it in silence ; but Henry, Count of 
Angouleme, natural brother to the king, 
gave it a kick with his foot, exclaiming, 
" Courage, my friends ; we have begun 
well, let us also finish well."* 



* As soon as the events we have related, 
which did not occupy much time, had taken 
place at the residence of the Admiral and at the 
Louvre, the alarm-bell sounded from the Palace 
of Justice. This was the signal for all the sub- 
ordinate agents of the consjiiracy in the different 
parts of the town to commence their operations. 
Tavannes and several of his associates immedi- 
ately appeared on horseback in the streets ; and, 
riding about in all directions, called out to the 
people to kill the Hugonots, telling them that 
such was the command of the king, who desired 
that not a single heretic should be suffered to 
escape. From this moment the slaughter was 
universal and indiscriminate. Inflamed with the 
wildest fury of religious hatred, to which, in 
many cases, fear, revenge, and other malignant 
passions added double force, (for many doubtless 
believed that in thus imbruing their hands in the 
blood of their fellow-citizens, they were only de- 
stroying those who would otherwise have massa- 
cred them,) the multitude set no bounds to their 
ferocity and cruelty. Persons of both sexes and 
of all ages equally fell victims to their unpitying 
rage. Every house supposed to be tenanted by 
persons of the obnoxious religion was broken into. 
The inmates sometimes attempted to fly or to 
hide themselves, but rarely offered any resistance. 
It was all headlong fury on the one side, and as- 
tonishment and consternation on the other. Nor 
were all those who perished, protestants. Many 
took advantage of the confusion of this popular 
tempest to satiate their private and personal en- 
mities, and to wreak on a brother of the same 
faith the hoarded hatred of years. All the worst 
passions of the human heart were let loose ; but 
their one wild cry was Blood ! Blood ! On that 
terrible sabbath blood reeked from the principal 
streets of Paris as from a field of battle. The 
bodies of the slaughtered, we are told by a co- 
temporary chronicler, of men, of women, of chil- 
dren, and of infants, were heaped together into 



258 



FRANCE. 



For five days did the massacre continue. I tion of the soldiery, and imbued their 
The catholic citizens, who had been se- hands, without remorse, in the blood of 
cretly prepared, by their leaders, for such their neighbors, their companions, and 
a scene, zealously seconded the execu- even their nearest relations. Among the 



carts, and so carried down and shot into the river, 
in which they might be seen every where floating 
and tumWing, while its waters were turned red 
by the blood that flowed from them. The gen- 1 
eral description which De Thou gives us of the 
horrors of the scene is, especially in his own elo- I 
quent Latin, exceedingly striking. " The people," 
he says, " incited against their fellow-countrymen 
by the captains and lieutenants of the city guard, 
who were flying about in all directions, rioted in 
the frenzy of a tjoundless license ; and all things 
wore an aspect of wo and affright. The streets 
resounded with the uproar of the crowds rushing 
on to slaughter and plunder, while ever and anon 
the lamenting cries of persons dying or in peril 
met the ear, or the carcasses of those who had 
been murdered were seen tossed forth from the 
windows of theirdwellings. The courts, and even 
the inner apartments, of many houses were filled 
with the slain ; dead bodies were rolled or dragged 
along the mire of the highways ; the bloody pud- 
dle overflowed the kennels, and ran down at dif- 
ferent places in streams to the river ; an innumer- 
able multitude perished, not only of men, but 
likewise of pregnant women and children." 

But a few individual pictures, which we shall 
now proceed to select, will convey a clearer idea 
of the atrocities of this infamous massacre. 

We have already stated that the attendants of 
Coligny, and the protestant gentlemen who resi- 
ded m his house, fled by a window in the roof, 
and that a few of them succeeded by this means 
for a time in eluding their pursuers. x\mong 
these was the young Teligny, recently married 
to the daughter of the Admiral, a gentleman of 
distinguished qualiflcations, and universally re- 
garded by his party with the warmest attachment. 
He had been observed making his way along the 
roof of a house by several persons belonging to 
the court ; but, although he was one of those 
whom they had been particularly charged not to 
allow to escape, they could not find it in their 
heart to kill him, " of so sweet a nature was he," 
says the old chronicler, " and so much beloved by 
all to whom he was known." He was afterwards 
discovered by some soldiers in a garret, and even 
they, upon learning his name, went away and left 
him unharmed. But some other soldiers, belong- 
ing to the guard of the Duke of Anjou, coming 
shortly after to the place where he was hid, de- 
spatched him along with several individuals of the 
Admiral's suite, (who were with him.) This they 
did, it is related by command of their captain, 
L'Archan ; althoug-h that person had heretofore 
been Teligny 's familiar friend. But all such con- 
nections between those not professing the same 
faith were now broken and forgotten. 

Among others who perished was the celebrated 
Peter Ramus, one of the most intrepid spirits of 
modern times, and whose whole life nearly had 
been as stormy as its termination was now misera- 



ble. He was at this time Professor of Philosophy 
and Eloquence in the College of Prcsles (which 
stood in the south-eastern quarter of the city, at 
the corner of the Rue des Carmes) ; a dignity 
which he had held for above twenty years, although 
the civil commotions by which the kingdom had so 
long been agitated had frequently compelled him 
to retire for a season from the performance of its 
duties. He had, however, returned to Paris and 
to his academic sanctuary on the general pacifica- 
tion of 1570. Being a zealous opponent not only 
of the ancient religion, but likewise of the philo- 
sophy which had long reigned in the schools, he 
was regarded with particular enmity by the ad- 
herents of the prevailing faith. It is asserted by 
the authority we last quoted, that the murderers 
were sent to his college, within which he had 
concealed himself, by one Jaques Carpentier, his 
personal enemy. " Being found by them," con- 
tinues the writer, " he gave them a considerable 
sum of money to save his life. Nevertheless, he 
was massacred, and throvim from the window of a 
high chamber to the ground ; so that his entrails 
were scattered over the pavement, after which 
they wer.e dragged along the streets, the body 
being all the while scourged by some scholars, 
spurred on by their masters, to the great disgrace 
of good letters, of which Ramus made profession." 

Another notice supplies us with an instance of 
the manner in which individuals took advantage 
of the opportunity aff"orded them, by the unbridled 
license of the moment to destroy those who were 
on any account obnoxious to them, or of whom 
they desired to rid themselves. After relating 
the heroic conduct of the wife of Anthony Mer- 
lanchon (who, while both herself and her husband 
were in the hands of the murderers, maintained 
the profession of her religion with unshrinking 
resolution, and exhorted her husband to follow 
her example), the chronicler proceeds ; — " This 
example of female constancy is marvellous and 
greatly to be praised. On the contrary, the mal- 
ice and cruelty of the wife of a joiner living in 
the Rue des Prouvelles, a man advanced in life, 
was strange and monstrous. For being during 
the night thrown into the river he saved himself 
by swimming to the bank, and thence having 
climbed up by the great beams of the bridge, he 
came entirely naked near to the Culture of St. 
Catherine, where his wife had taken refuge with a 
relation of her own, and where he thought also he 
might remain in some security. But, in place of 
taking him in, his wife made them send him back, 
and chase him away all naked as he was, so that 
the poor man knew not where to go ; and, being 
found next morning in the street in such a condi- 
tion, was speedily retaken and drowned." 

Although, as has been already mentioned, the 
victims of the St. Bartholomew in general made 
scarcely even an attempt to defend themselves, 
^ still several instances occurred in which the per- 



FRANCE. 



25< 



most illustrious victims, beside Coligny, 
were the Count de Rochefoucalt and Te- 
ligni, who had married the daughter of 



son attacked did not fall before he had maintained 
a severe struggle with his assailants. Among 
others may be mentioned the Sicur de Guerchy, 
who, wrapping his mantle around his arm, fought 
with his sword, the only weapon he had, till he 
sunk under the blows that fell upon him from all 
sides. Tavervy also, the lieutenant of the Pa- 
trole, when the bloodthirsty mob attacked his 
house, defended himself by the assistance of one 
of his soldiers, with great bravery, so long as his 
ammunition lasted. He was at last, however, 
overpowered. " Being then killed," it is said. 
" and his furniture and most precious jewels car- 
ried off, the soldiers laid hold of a lady, his sister, 
who was in bed, sick and at the point of death, 
and dragged her naked through the streets, till 
she breathed her last in their hands." 

The next relation which we shall quote is cu- 
rious in several other respects, as well as for the 
evidence which it affords of the baser motives 
which mingled with the religious zeal of many of 
the most active among the murderers to urge 
them on through their bloody work. The reader 
will remark the illustrations of interesting points 
of antiquarian research which our extract presents 
in its references to " the bell of the window," {la 
sonnette de la fencstrc), and the time-piece worth 
seven or eight hundred crowns. The gold-wire- 
drawer {le tiretir d'or), who figures in this narra- 
tive, was a person of the name of Cruce, who 
made himself conspicuous above all his fellows 
by his enormous butcheries. " Often," says De 
Thou, " have I with horror seen and heard that 
man, truly worthy of crucifixion {vere criiz dig- 
num), boasting with tremendous ferocity as he 
extended his bare arm, that with that he had him- 
self slaughtered more than four hundred persons 
during the massacre." 

" Maturin Lussaut, goldsmith to the Queen- 
mother, dwelling in the Rue St. Germain, near 
the Miroir, hearing the bell of his window ring, 
came down stairs, and as he opened his door was 
pierced through with a sword by the gold-wire- 
drawcr. His son, hearing the noise, came down 
in all haste, and received a great blow from a 
sword on the back. Nevertheless, he fled to- 
wards the house of a tailor, who would not, how- 
ever, 0])en the door to him ; and by that means 
he was despatched by a ruffian, who on rifling 
him found in the pocket of his breeches a very 
handsome watch, of the price of from seven to 
eight hundred crowns, which the wire-drawer 
having perceived, began to throw himself into a 
passion, and to vent his rage on this ruffian, and 
was going to kill him, alleging that he had come 
to poach upon another's manor. But the other 
having resisted his violence, this wire-drawer 
went off to make report of the matter to the 
Duke of Anjou, who kept the watch, paying ten 
crowns for it, which he made be given to the 
murderer. The servant, a young girl of sixteen, 
took refuge in the house of a velvet manufactur- 
er, who wished to make her promise to go to | 



the admiral. The Count de Montgomery, 
and the Vidame of Chartres, with near a 
hundred others, who lodged on the south 



mass, and while she was disputing with him, the 
murderers came upon her and killed her. After 
having in this manner slain Lussaut, they shut 
the door and went away. Frances Baillet, his 
wife, an honorable lady, having learned from a 
young man named Rene, what had happened to 
her husband and her son, went up to the garret, 
and, opening a window to make her escape to the 
court of her neighbor, as many others had done, 
the fall she received was so violent that she broke 
both her legs. The murderers having re-entered 
the house, and perceiving this window open and 
the house empty, so threatened and terrified the 
person next door, (who had concealed the womaa 
in his cellar), that he told them where she was. 
Then they took her, and dragged her by the hair 
for a great way along the streets ; and, perceiv- 
ing bracelets of gold on her arms, that they 
might not have the trouble of unfastening them, 
they hacked off her two hands ; and as she be- 
moaned to herself their extreme cruelty, a cook 
who was in the crowd thrust a spit through her 
body, which remained fixed in it. Some hours 
afterwards the body thus mutilated was dragged 
into the river. The two hands lay for several 
days on the pavement, where they were gnawed 
by the dogs." 

But we cannot afford space for any more of 
these horrid relations. Of the persons massacred 
" the great number," says the writer of the Me- 
moirs, " were killed by powerful stabs with dag- 
gers and poniards. Those were treated with the 
least cruelty. For the others were tortured in 
all the parts of their bodies, mutilated of their 
limbs, mocked and outraged by taunts still sharper 
than the points of the swords by which they were 
pierced." Several old men, he goes on to state, 
being seized and brought down to the river, were 
first knocked on the head against the stones of 
the quay, and then thrown half dead into the 
water. In one of the streets a number 6f boys 
of nine or ten years of age, were seen dragging 
about an infant yet in swaddling-cloths by a rope 
tied round its neck. Another little child, on being 
laid hold of, began to laugh and to play with the 
beard of the stranger in whose arms it found it- 
self; but the man, untouched by its simple inno- 
cence, thrust his dagger into its bosom, and then 
tossed it into the river. " The paper would weep," 
concludes our author, " if I were to recite the 
horrible blasphemies which were uttered by these 
monsters and incarnate devils during the fury of 
so many slaughters. The uproar, the continual 
sound of arquebuses and pistols, the lamerttable 
and affrighting cries of those in agony, the vocif- 
erations of the murderers, tlie dead bodies thrown 
from the windows, or dragged through the mire 
with strange hootings and hissings, the smashing 
of doors and windows, the stones which were 
thrown against them, and the pillaging of more 
than six hundred houses — all this, long continu- 
ed, could only present to the eyes of the reader a 
perpetual image of e.xtreme misery in all its forms," 



260 



FRANCE. 




Massacre of St. Bartholomews. 



of the Seine, escaped on horseback, half 
naked ; but they were pursued and over- 
taken by the Duke of Guise, who cut in 
pieces nearly the whole of them. 

The young King of Navarre and the 
Prince of Conde, exempted from the 
general destruction, were brought before 
Charles, and commanded to abjure their 
rehgion. The King of Navarre consent- 
ed ; but the Prince hesitating, Charles, 
in a transport of rage, exclaimed, " Death, 
mass, or the bastile !" The violence of 
this threat intimidated the Prince ; and 
recanting his heresy, he received absolu- 
tion from the Cardinal of Bourbon. 

During the greater part of the massa- 
cre, Charles posted himself at one of the 
windows of his palace, from which he not 
only saw and encouraged the assassins, 
by frequently calling ^ut, " Kill, Kill !" 
but even repeatedly fired upon the mise- 
rable fugitives. 

The same barbarous orders were sent 
to all the provinces of the kingdom ; and 
they were faithfully obeyed in Lyons, 
Orleans, Rouen, Bourges, Angers, and 
Toulouse. In Provence, Dauphiue, and 
some other parts, the Protestants were 
protected. The Viscount Orthes, who 
commanded in Bayonne, in reply to the 



order which he received, wrote back to 
the king, that Bayonne contained loyal 
citizens and brave soldiers, but that 
among them he was not able to find one 
executioner. The Bishop of Liseux, on 
this occasion, conducted himself in a 
manner becoming the religion of which 
he was the minister ; for when the com- 
mandant of that place communicated to 
him the orders of the court, he answered, 
" You must not execute them ; those 
whom you are commanded to destroy 
are my flock ; it is true they have gone 
astray, but I shall use my endeaA'ors to 
bring them back to the right fold. The 
gospel does not say, that the shepherd 
should spill the blood of his flock ; on the 
contrary, I read in it, that I ought, if ne- 
cessary, to spill my blood for them." 
These instances of humanity were, how- 
ever, few ; and it is supposed that, 
throughout France, 25,000 Protestants 
perished, and in Paris alone 10,000. 

As a justification of this dreadful and 
unparalleled massacre, Charles pretend- 
ed, that the Protestants had formed a con- 
spiracy to seize his person ; and that, in 
his own defence, he had been imder the 
necessity of giving orders for its execu- 
tion. But the real motive and object 



FRANCE. 



261 



M'ere by no means thus concealed ; nay, 
they were even displayed to public no- 
tice, by the proceedings of the parliament 
and the court. The former ordered an 
annual procession to celebrate the deliv- 
erance of the kingdom ; and the latter 
had a medal struck, with a legend, inti- 
mating, in express terms, that piety had 
armed justice on this occasion. Still 
more unequivocally were the real causes 
of the massacre of St. Bartholomew dis- 
played, by the feelings with which the 
intelligence of it was received at Rome 
and in Spain. In both, public rejoicings 
were held, and solemn thanks were re- 
turned to God for its success, under the 
name of the " triumph of the church 
militant." Among the protestants, it 
excited the most deep and penetrating 
horror, and no where to a greater degree 
than in England. Fenelon, the French 
ambassador at the court of St. James, 
gives the following striking picture of his 
first audience after the massacre was 
known : " A gloomy sorrow sate on 
every face ; silence, as in the dead of 
night, reigned through all the chambers 
of the royal apartments ; the ladies and 
the courtiers, clad in deep mourning, 
were ranged on every side ; and as I 
passed by them, in my approach to the 
queen, not one bestowed on me a favora- 
ble look, or made the least return to my 
salutations." 

The effect of the massacre on the pro- 
testants was directly the reverse of what 
the king expected ; but exactly such as a 
knowledge of human nature, and of reli- 
gious zeal and enthusiasm, would have 
anticipated. Galvanism, instead of being 
destroyed, became more formidable by 
despair ; and a thirst for revenge, united 
to an ardent spirit of civil and religious 
liberty. A fourth civil war was kindled. 
The protestants assembled in large bo- 
dies, and took refuge in the strong places 
which belonged to their party. In these, 
now fatally convinced that their only al- 
ternative was open rebellion — if rebellion 
it might be called — or persecution, they 
resolved to defend themselves to the last 
extremity. At their head appeared the 
King of Navarre and the Prince of Conde, 
both of whom abjured a religion which 
they had been compelled to profess. Ro- 



chelle made a desperate defence against 
the duke of Anjou, who lost almost all 
his army before it. The siege continued 
eight months, during which time the citi- 
zens repelled nine general, and twenty 
particular attacks, and at.length obliged 
the duke to grant them an advantageous 
peace. The town of Sancerre was de- 
fended with equal bravery for upwards 
of seven months ; nor did the inhabitants 
surrender till they had obtained the pro- 
mise of liberty of conscience. About 
this time, the duke of Anjou was elected 
king of Poland ; and the miseries of 
France daily increasing, Gharles em- 
braced the pretence afforded by the ele- 
vation of his brother to conclude a treaty 
with the protestants which he did not 
intend to keep, and to which they never 
trusted. 

During the first years of the reign of 
Henry III, who succeeded his brother 
Gharles, the war with the protestants was 
carried on with indifferent success on 
the part of the catholics. In 1575, a 
peace was concluded, known by the 
name of the Edict of Pacification, the 
substance of which was, that liberty of 
conscience, and the public exercise of re- 
ligion, were granted to the reformed, 
without any other restriction than that 
they should not preach within two leagues 
of Paris, or any other part where the 
court was ; party chambers were erected 
in every parliament, to consist of equal 
numbers of catholics and protestants, be- 
fore whom all causes were to be tried ; 
the judgments against the admiral, and, 
in general, all who had fallen in the war, 
were reversed ; and eiglit towns were 
given up to the protestants. 

This edict caused the Guises to form an 
association called the Gatholic League. 
In this league, though the king was men- 
tioned with respect, he could not but 
see that it struck at the very root of his 
authority ; for, as the protestants had al- 
ready their chiefs, so the catholics were, 
for the future, to depend entirely upon 
the chief of the league ; and were, by 
the very words of it, to execute what- 
ever he commanded, for the good of the 
cause, against any, without exception 
of persons. 

As Heary IV was a protestant, or at 



262 



FRANCE. 



least one who greatly favored their cause, | 
he was at first acknowledged by very few 
except those of the protestant party. As 
the king of Spain had laid claim to the ; 
crown of France, Henry no sooner found 
himself firmly eeated on the throne, than 
he formally declared war against Spain ; 
and in 1 597 entered upon the quiet pos- 
session of his kingdom. 

The king's first care was to put an end 
to the religious disputes which had so 
long distracted the kingdom. For this | 
pui'pose he promulgated the celebrated | 
edict, dated at Nautes, April 13, 1598. 
It re-established, in a most solid and ef- 
fectual manner, all the favors that had 
ever been granted to the protestants, by 
other princes ; adding some which had 
not been thought of before, particularly j 
the allowing them the free admission to 
all employments of trust, profit, and hon- 1 
or ; the establishing chambers in which 
the members of the two religions were 
equal ; and the permitting their children | 
to be educated without constraint in any ■ 
of the universities. Soon after he con- 
cluded peace with Spain upon very ad- 
vantageous terms. 

On the death of Henry IV, the queen- 
mother assumed the regency, which, 
during the minority of Louis XIII, was 
only remarkable for the intrigues of the 
courtiers. In 1617, the king assumed 
the government himself, banished the 
queen-mother to Blois, caused her favor- 
ite marshal d'Ancre to be killed, and 
chose for his minister the celabrated car- 
dinal Richelieu. In 1620, a new war 
broke out between the catholics and 
protestants, Avhich was carried on with 
great fury on both sides ; and we may 
judge of the spirit which actuated both 
parties, by what happened at Negreplisse, 
a town in Quercy. This place was be- 
sieged by the king's troops, and it was 
resolved to make an example of the in- 
habitants. The latter, however, abso- 
lutely refused to surrender upon any 
terras. They defended themselves brave- 
ly ; but the city being at last taken by 
storm, they were all massacred, without 
respect of rank, sex, or age. Both par- 
ties, however, became weary of such a 
destructive war ; and a peace was con- 
cluded in 1621, by which the edict of 



Nantes was confirmed. This treaty, 
however, was of short duration. A new 
war broke out, which lasted till the year 
1628, when the edict of Nantes was 
again confirmed. This put an end to 
the civil wars on account of religion in 
France. Historians say, that in these 
wars above a million of men lost their 
lives ; that 150,000,000 hvres were 
spent in carrying them on ; and that 9 
cities, 400 villages, 2,000 churches, 
2,000 monasteries, and 10,000 houses, 
were burnt or destroyed during iheir 
continuance. 

The following year the king was at- 
tacked with a slow fever, which nothing 
could allay. The year after, however, 
he recovered, to the great disappointment 
of his mother, who had been in hopes of 
regaining her power. She was arrested ; 
but found means to escape into Flanders, 
where she remained till the conclusion 
of his reign. Richelieu, by a masterly 
train of politics, though himself a violent 
catholic, supported the protestants of 
Germany and Gustavus Adolphus against 
the house of Austria ; and, after quelling 
all the rebellions and conspiracies which 
had been formed against the government 
of France, he died some months before 
Louis XIII, in 1643. 

Louis XIV, surnamed Le Grand, suc- 
ceeded to the throne when he was only 
five years of age. During his minority, 
the kingdom was placed under the ad- 
ministration of his mother, Anne of Aus- 
tria. The prince of Conde filled a pro- 
minent situation in the early part of this 
reign : sometimes a patriot, sometimes 
a courtier, and sometimes a rebel. He 
was opposed by the celebrated Turenne. 
The nation of France was involved at 
once in civil and domestic wars ; but the 
queen-mother having made choice of car- 
dinal Mazarine, for her first minister, he 
found means to divide the domestic ene- 
mies of the court so effectually among 
themselves, that when Louis assumed 
the reins of government into his own 
hands, he found himself the most abso- 
lute monarch that had ever sat upon the 
throne of France. He had the good for- 
tune, on the death of Mazarine, to put 
the domestic administration of his affairs 
into the hands of Colbert, who formed, 



FRANCE. 



263 



new systems for the glory, commerce, 
and manufactures of France, all which 
he carried into effect. The Grand Mo- 
7iarque, as he was called, was blind to 
every patriotic duty of a king, promoting 
the interests of his subjects only that 
they might better answer the purposes 
of his greatness. By his impolitic and 
imjust revocation of the edict of Nantes, 
in the year 1685, the protestants were 
obliged to take shelter in England, Hol- 
land, and different parts of Germany, 
where they established the silk manufac- 
tories, to the great injury of the commerce 
of their own country ; and in the end, he 
raised against himself a confederacy of 
almost all the other princes of Europe. 
He was, however, so fortunate in the se- 
lection of his officers, that he was enabled 
successfully to oppose this alliance for 
many years ; and France seemed to have 
attained the highest pitch of military glory, 
under the conduct of those renowned gen- 
erals Conde and Turenne. At length, the 
English, under the duke of Marlborough, 
and Austria, under prince Eugene, ren- 
dered the latter part of Louis' life as 
miserable as the beginning of it was 
splendid. His reign, from the year 1702 
to 1711, was one continued series of de- 
feats and calamities ; a^id he had the 
mortification of seeing those places taken 
from him which, in the former part of his 
reign, were acquired at the expense of 
many thousand lives. Just as he was 
reduced to the desperate resolution of 
collecting his people and dying at their 
head, he was saved by the English tory 
ministry deserting the cause of liberty, 
withdrawing from their allies, and con- 
cluding the peace of Utrecht in 1712. 

The year before the peace, his only 
son, the duke of Burgundy, died, together 
with the duchess and their eldest son ; 
and his only remaining child was left at 
the point of death. The king himself 
survived till the month of September, 
1715 ; but on the 14th of that month ex- 
pired, leaving the kingdom to his great- 
grandson Louis, then a minor. 

By the last will of Louis, he had de- 
volved the regency during the minority 
of the young king upon a council, at the 
head of which was the duke of Orleans. 
That nobleman, however, appealed to 



I the parliament of Paris, who set aside 
! the will of the late king, and declared 
him sole regent. His first acts were 
extremely popular, and gave the most 
favorable ideas of his government and 
character. He restored to the parlia- 
ment the rights which had been taken 
from them of remonstrating against the 
edicts of the crown, and compelled those 
who had enriched themselves during the 
calamities of the former reign to restore 
their wealth to the rightful owners. He 
also took every method to efface the ca- 
lamities occasioned by the unsuccessful 
wars in which his predecessor had en- 
gaged ; promoted commerce and agricul- 
ture ; and, by a close alliance with Great 
Britian and the United provinces, seem- 
ed to lay the foundation of a lasting 
tranquillity. 

The spirit of conquest having now in 
a great measure subsided, and that of 
commerce taken its place, France be- 
came the scene of a remarkable commer- 
cial project. This was the famous Mis- 
sissippi scheme, began in 1716. John 
Law, a Scotchman, was the author of it ; 
and the greatness of the idea recom- 
mended it to the duke of Orleans. His 
project was to pay off the national debt, 
by the introduction of paper money. A 
bank was accordingly established, which 
was soon declared royal, and united with 
the Mississippi, or West India company, 
from whose commerce the greatest riches 
were expected. The opinion that had 
long been prevalent, that the neighbor- 
hood of the river INIississippi contained 
inexhaustible treasiures, was the origin 
of this expectation. It would appear, 
that Law himself, who at first regarded 
the Mississippi scheme as merely subor- 
dinate and auxiliary' to his plan of paper 
credit, was in a short time beguiled by it 
The bubble was soon blown to bursting. 
In 1719, the notes which he fabricated, 
exceeded in nominal amount fourscore 
times the real value of the current coin 
of the kingdom. At first, only the debts 
of the state had been paid off in this pa- 



per 



; but afterwards, so extreme was the 



I eagerness to obtain a share in the scheme, 
that they were circulated very widely 
through the kingdom. At length, the 
late financiers, in conjunction with the 



264 



FRANCE. 



great bankers, exhausted the royal bank, 
by continually drawing upon it for large 
sums. The consequence of this was, 
that every one wanted to convert his 
notes into cash ; and public credit sunk 
all at once. Law himself was obliged to 
flee. Upwards of 500,000 sufferers pre- 
sented their whole fortunes to govern- 
ment, in paper, which after liquidating 
these debts, charged itself with the enor- 
mous sum of 1,631,000,000 of livres, to 
be paid in specie. 

Scarcely had the kingdom recovered 
from this event, when the didve became 
minister, but did not long enjoy this post. 
His irregularities had brought on a num- 
ber of maladies, under which he in a 
short time sunk, and was succeeded in 
his administration by the duke of Bour- 
bon Conde. The king had been married 
when very young, to the infanta of Spain, 
though the marriage had never been com- 
pleted. The princess, however, was 
now brought to Paris, and for some time 
treated as queen of France ; but as Louis 
grew up, it was easy to see that he had 
contracted an inveterate hatred against 
the intended partner of his bed. The 
minister, therefore, at last consented that 
the princess should be sent back ; an 
affront so much resented by the queen, 
her mother, that it had almost produced 
a war between the two nations. 

The dissolution of the marriage of 
Louis was the last act of Conde's ad- 
ministration ; and the procuring of a new 
match, was the first act of his successor, 
cardinal Fleury. The princess selected 
was the daughter of Stanislaus Lesczin- 
ski, king of Poland, who had been de- 
posed by Charles Xll, of Sweden. The 
princess was destitute of personal charms, 
but of an amiable disposition ; and though 
it is probable that she never possessed 
the love of her husband, her excellent 
qualities commanded his esteem ; and 
the birth of a prince soon after their mar- 
riage removed all the fears of the people 
concerning the succession. 

Cardinal Fleury continued the pacific 
schemes pursued by his predecessors, 
though they were somewhat interrupted 
by the war which took place between 
Poland and Russia, in which the former 
was defeated. The disputes between 



Spain and England, in 1737, very little 
affected the peace of France ; and it must 
be remembered to the credit of the min- 
ister Fleury, that, instead of fomenting 
the quarrels between the neighboring po- 
tentates, he labored incessantly to keep 
them at peace. He reconciled the Ge- 
noese and Corcisans, who were at war ; 
and his mediation was accepted by the 
Ottoman Porte, v/ho at that time carried 
on a successful war with the emperor of 
Germany, but made peace with him at 
the intercession of the cardinal. 

All his endeavors, however, proved at 
last ineffectual. On the death of the 
emperor Charles VI, in 1740, the last 
prince of the house of Austria, his eldest 
daughter, Maria Theresa, claimed the 
Austrian succession, which comprehend- 
ed the kingdoms of Hungary and Bohe- 
mia, the duchy of Silesia, Austrian Sua- 
bia, Upper and Lovs^er Austria, StjTia, 
Carinthia, Carniola, the four forest towns, 
Burgaw, Brisgaw, the Low Countries, 
Friuli, Tyrol, the duchy of Milan, and 
the duchies of Parma and Placeutia. 
Among the many competitors who pre- 
tended a right to share, or wholly to in- 
herit, these extensive dominions, the king 
of France was one. But as he wished 
not to awaken the jealousy of the Eu- 
ropean princes by preferring directly his 
own pretensions, he chose rather to sup- 
port those of Frederic III, who laid 
claim to the duchy of Silesia. This 
brought on the war of 1740. It was ter- 
minated in 1748 by the treaty of Aix-la 
Chapelle ; but to this Louis, who se- 
cretly meditated a severe vengeance 
against Britain, only consented that he 
might have time to recruit his fleet, and 
put himself somewhat more upon an 
equality with that country. But while 
he meditated great exploits of this kind, 
the internal tranquillity of the kingdom 
was disturbed by violent disputes be- 
tween the clergy and parliaments of 
France. In the preceding reign there 
had been violent contests between the 
Jansenists and Jesuits concerning free-will 
and other obscure points of theology ; 
and the opinions of the Jansenists had 
been declared heretical by the celebrated 
papal bull named Unigenitus ; the recep- 
tion of which was enforced by the king, 



FRANCE, 



265 



in opposition to the parliaments, the arch- 
bishop of Paris, and the body of the 
people. The archbishop, with fifteen 
other prelates, protested against it as "an 
infringement of the rights of the Galli- 
can church, of the laws of the realm, 
and an insult on the rights of the people 
themselves. The duke of Orleans fa- 
vored the bull by inducing the bishops to 
submit to it ; but at the same time stop- 
ped a persecution which was going on 
against its opponents. Thus matters 
passed over till the conclusion of the 
peace ; a short time after which the 
jealousy of the clergy was awakened by 
an attempt of the minister of state to in- 
quire into the wealth of individuals of 
their order. To prevent this, they re- 
vived the contest about the bull Unigeni- 
tus ; and it was resolved, that confes- 
sional notes should be obtained of dying 
persons ; that these notes should be 
signed by priests who maintained the au- 
thority of the bull ; and that, without 
such notes, no person could obtain a vi- 
aticum, or extreme unction. On this oc- 
casion the new archbishop of Paris and 
the parliament of that city took opposite 
sides ; the latter imprisoning such of the 
clergy as refused to administer the sacra- 
ments excepting in the circumstances 
abovementioned. Other parliaments fol- 
lowed the example of that of Paris ; and 
a war was instantly kindled between the 
civil and ecclesiastical departments of 
the state. In this dispute the king inter- 
fered, forbade the parliaments to take 
cognizance of ecclesiastical proceedings, 
and commanded them to suspend all pros- 
ecutions relative to the refusal of the sa- 
craments ; but, instead of acquiescing, 
the parliament presented new remon- 
strances, refused to attend to any other 
business, and resolved that they coiUd 
not obey this injunction without violating 
their duty as well as their oath. They 
cited the bishop of Orleans before their 
tribunal, and ordered all writings, in 
which its jurisdiction was disputed, to be 
burnt by the executioner. By the assist- 
ance of the military, they enforced the 
administration of the sacraments to the 
sick, and ceased to distribute that justice 
to the subject for which they had been 
originally instituted. The king, enraged 
34 



at their contumacy, arrested and impris- 
oned four of the members who had been 
most obstinate, and banished the remain- 
der to Bourges, Poictiers, and Auvergne ; 
while, to prevent any impediment from 
taking place in the administration of 
justice by their absence, he issued letters- 
patent, by which a royal chamber for the 
prosecution of civil and criminal suits 
was instituted. The counsellors refused 
to plead before these new courts ; and the 
king, finding at last that the whole nation 
was about to fall into a state of anarchy, 
thought proper to recall the parliament. 
The banished members entered Paris 
amidst the acclamations of the inhabit- 
ants ; and the archbishop, who still con- 
tinued to encourage the priests in refus- 
ing the sacraments, was banished to his 
seat at Conflans ; the bishops of Orleans 
and Troyes were in like manner banished, 
and a calm for the present restored to 
the kingdom. 

The tranquillity thus established was of 
no long duration. In the year 1756, the 
parliament again fell under the displeas- 
ure of the king by their imprudent per- 
secution of those who adhered to the 
bull Unigenitus. They proceeded so 
far in this opposition, as to refuse to re- 
gister certain taxes absolutely necessary 
for the carrying on of the war. By this, 
Louis was so provoked, that he suppressed 
the fourth and fifth chambers of inquests, 
the members of which had distinguish- 
ed themselves by their opposition to his 
will. He commanded the bull Unigenitus 
to be respected, and prohibited the sec- 
ular judges from ordering the administra- 
tion of the sacraments. On this, fifteen 
counsellors of the great chamber re- 
signed their offices, and one hundred and 
twenty-four members of the diflferent par- 
liaments followed their example. An 
attempt was made by a fanatic, named 
Damien, to assassinate him ; and the king 
was actually wounded though slightly be- 
tween the ribs, in the presence of his 
son, and in the midst of his guards. The 
assassin was put to the most painful tor- 
tures ; in the midst of which he persist- 
ed, in the most obstinate manner, to de- 
clare that he had no intention to kill the 
king, but that his design was only to 
wound him, that God might touch his 



266 



FRANCE. 



heart, and incline him to restore peace to ' 
his dominions. I 

The unfortunate resuUs of the war of 
1755 had brought the nation to the brink 
of ruin, when Louis implored the assist- , 
ance of Spain ; and on this occasion the | 
celebrated Family Compact was signed, j 
by which, with the single exception of the 
American trade, the subjects of France I 
and Spain were naturalized in both king- 1 
doms, and the enemy of the one sover- 
eign was invariably to be looked upon as 
the enemy of the other. At that time, 
however, the assistance of Spain availed 
very little ; both powers were reduced to 
the lowest ebb, and the arms of Britain 
were triumphant in every quarter of the 
globe. 

The peace concluded at Paris in the 
year 1763, though it freed the nation 
from a most destructive and bloody war, 
did not restore its internal tranquillity. 
The parliament, eager to pursue the vic- 
tory they had formerly gained over their 
religious enemies, now directed their ef- 
forts against the Jesuits, who had obtained 
and enforced the bull Unigenitus. That 
once-powerful order, however, was now 
on the brink of destruction. A conspi- 
racy formed by them against the king of 
Portugal, and from Avhich he narrowly 
escaped, had roused the indignation of 
Europe ; and this was still further in- 
flamed by some fraudulent practices of 
which they had been guilty in France. 
Le Velette, the chief of their mission- 
aries at Martinico, had, ever since the 
peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, carried on a 
very extensive commerce, insomuch that 
he even aspired at monopolising the 
whole AVest India trade, when the war 
with Britain commenced in 1755. Le- 
onay and GoullVc, merchants at Mar- 
seilles, in expectation of receiving mer- 
chandise to the value of two millions 
from him, had accepted of bills drawn 
by the Jesuits to the amount of a mil- 
lion and a half. They were, however, 
disappointed by the vast number of cap- 
tures made by the British ; in conse- 
quence of which they were obliged to 
apply to the society of Jesuits at large ; 
but they, either ignorant of their true in- 
terest, or too slow in giving assistance, 
suffered the merchants to stop payment ; 



and thus not only to bring ruin upon 
themselves, but to involve others in the 
same calamity. Their creditors de- 
manded indemnification from the society 
at large ; and, on their refusal to satisfy 
them, brought their cause before the par- 
liament of Paris. In the course of the 
I investigations, the volume containing the 
I constitution and government of the order 
: itself was appealed to, and produced in 
open court. It then appeared that the 
order of Jesuits formed a distinct body 
I in the state, submitting implicitly to 
their chief, who alone was absolute over 
their lives and fortunes. It was likewise 
discovered that they had, after a former 
expulsion, been admitted into the king- 
dom upon conditions which they had 
never fulfilled, and'to which their chief 
I had refused to subscribe ; consequently 
j that their existence at that time in the 
I nation was merely the effect of tolera- 
I tion. In this critical moment, however, 
' the king interfered, and by his royal man- 
date suspended all proceedings against 
them for a year; a plan of accommodation 
was drawn up, and submitted to the pope, 
and general of the order ; but tire latter, by 
his ill-timed haughtiness, entirely over- 
threw the hope of reconciliation. The 
king withdrew his protection, and the 
parUament redoubled their efforts against 
them. The society itself was dissolved, 
and its members declared incapable of 
holding any clerical or municipal offices ; 
their colleges were seized ; their effects 
confiscated, and their order destroyed. 

The parliament, having gained this 
victory, next made an attempt to set 
bounds to the power of the king himself. 
But every appearance of opposition was 
at last silenced by the absolute authority 



of the king. In the midst of this pleni- 
I tude of poAver, however, which he had 
so ardently desired, his health daily de- 
clined, and the period of his days was 
CAadently at no great distance. He died 
on the 10th of May, 1774, of the small 
pox, which he received in a most viru- 
j lent form from one of his mistresses. 

Louis XVI, grandson to the former, 
ascended the throne, in 1774, in the 
j twentieth year of his age. When the 
I death of the king was announced to him, 
he was sitting with Marie Antoinette, his 



FRANCE. 



267 



queen. Both at once knelt and exclaim- 
ed, " My God ! guide us, protect us, we 
are too young to reign." 

His father, the devout dauphin, had 
intrusted the prince's education to the 
due de la Vauguyon, a noble of rigid 
and ascetic piety. This man bred up 
the future heir to the throne of France 
as if he were destined to be a monk ; 
and took care not to render him not only 
scrupulously ignorant of all polite learn- 
ing, but even of history and the science 
of government. The very external ap- 
pearance of Louis betrayed this tutelage ; 
he was slovenly, melancholy, ungraceful, 
bashful, and so diffident, that his eyes 
often shrunk from the regaj^d of his 
meanest subject ; with all this, he had 
been inspired with such a religious hor- 
ror of carnal affections, that he remained 
for many years on no closer terms than 
those of mere politeness with his young 
and lovely queen. Such was the char- 
acter of the new sovereign, called to 
administer the realm at the most critical 
period of its history. In order to secure 
himself against the disease which had 
proved fatal to his predecessor, submit- 
ted to inoculation, with several others of 
the royal family. Their quick and easy 
recovery contributed much to extend that 
practice throughout the kingdom, and to 
remove the prejudices which had been 
entertained against it. 

The king had no sooner regained his 
health than he applied himself diligently 
to extinguish the differences which had 
taJien place between his predecessor and 
the people. He removed those from 
their employments who had given cause 
of complaint by their arbitrary and op- 
pressive conduct ; and he conciliated 
the affection of his subjects by removing 
the new parliaments and recalling the 
old ones. 

Although the French monarch was of 
a mild disposition, and not destitute of 
generosity of sentiment, yet his own and 
the public exultation had been openly 
and constantly proportioned to the suc- 
cess of the Americans in their contest 
with Britain ; the princes of the blood 
and chief nobility Avere eager to embark 
in support of the cause of freedom ; and 
the prudence of the king and his most 



confidential ministers alone restrained 
their ardor. The fatal events of the former 
war were still impressed on the mind of 
Louis ; and he would not consent to ex- 
pose his infant marine in a contest with a 
nation who had so lately broken the uni- 
ted strength of the house of Bourbon. 
Two agents from the United States, Si- 
las Deane and Dr. Benjamin Franklin, 
had successively arrived at Paris ; and 
though all audience was denied them in 
a public capacity, still they were private- 
ly encouraged to hope that France only 
waited the proper opportunity to vindi- 
cate in arms the independence of Ameri- 
ca. In the mean time the American 
cruisers were hospitably received in the 
French ports ; artillery and all kinds of 
warlike stores were freely sold or liber- 
ally granted to the requisitions of the col- 
onists ; and French officers and engi- 
neers with the connivance of government, 
entered into their service. 

Some changes were about this time 
introduced into the different departments 
of state. The conduct of M. Necker in 
the finances had been attended with uni- 
versal approbation ; and M. Taboureau 
de Reux, his colleague, had resigned his 
situation, but still retained the dignity 
of counsellor of state. To aftbrd full 
scope to the genius of M. Necker, 
Louis determined no longer to clog him 
with an associate ; but, with the title of 
director-general of the finances, submit- 
ted to him the entire managc^ient of the 
funds and revenue of France. In the 
ensuing year, the count de St. Germains, 
secretary at war, died ; and the prince 
de Montbarey, who had already filled 
an inferior situation in that department, 
was now appointed to succeed him. 

In the mean time, Louis' negotiations 
with foreign courts were not neglected. 
He concluded a new treaty of alliance 
with Switzerland; vigilantly observed 
the motions of the different princes of 
Germany, on the death of the elector of 
Bavaria ; and when closely questioned 
by the English ambassador, lord Stor- 
mont, respecting the various Avarlike pre- 
parations which were continued through 
the kingdom, he replied, that at a time 
when the seas were covered Avith Eng- 
lish fleets and American cruisers, and 



268 



FRANCE 



when such powerful armies were sent! 
to the New World, it became prudent 
for liim also to arm for the security of 
the colonies and the protection of the 
commerce of France. The king well 
knew that the remonstrances of Great 
Britain, and the importunities of the 
agents of the United States, would soon 
compel him to adopt some decisive line 
of conduct. This was hastened by an 
event highly unfavorable to England, in 
the failure of General Burgoyne's expe- 
dition, and the capture of his army. The 
news of that event was received at Pa- 
ris with unbounded exultation. M. Sar- 
tine, the superintendant of marine, was 
eager to measure the naval strength of 
France with that of Great Britain ; the 
queen, who had long seconded the ap- 
plications of the American agents, now 
espoused their cause with fresh ardor ; 
and the pacific inclinations of Louis being 
overborne by the suggestions of his min- 
isters and the influence of his queen, it 
was at length determined openly to ac- 
knowledge the independence of the Uni- 
ted States of America. 

Dr. Franklin and Silas Deane, who 
had hitherto acted as private agents, 
were now acknowledged as public am- 
bassadors from those states to the court 
of Versailles ; and a treaty of amity and 
commerce was signed between the two 
powers in the month of February, 1778. 
The duke of Noailles, ambassador to the 
court of London, was in the month of 
March, instructed to acquaint that court 
with the above treaty. At the same 
time he declared, that the contracting 
parties had paid great attention not to 
stipulate any exclusive advantages in 
favor of France, and that the United 
States had reserved the liberty of treating 
with every nation whatever on the same 
footing of equality and reciprocity. But 
this stipulation was treated by the Bri- 
tish with contempt ; and the recall of 
lord Stormont, our ambassador at Ver- 
sailles, was the signal for the commence- 
ment of hostilities. 

In the year 1780, new changes in the 
French ministry took place. M. Bertin 
had resigned the office of secretary of 
state ; the prince de Montbareyhad retired 
from the post of secretary at war, and 



was succeeded by the marquis de Segur. 
But the most important removal was that 
of M. Sartine, who had for several years 
presided over the marine department, and . 

whose unwearied application and ability 
had raised the naval power of France to 
a height that astonished Europe. 

This year the king fixed on the anni- 
versary of his birth-day to render it mem- 
orable by a new instance of humanity ; 
and he abolished for ever the inhuman 
custom of putting the question, as it was 
called, by torture ; a custom which had 
been so established by the practice of 
ages, that it seemed to be an inseparable 
part of the constitution of the courts of 
justice in France. ,At the same time, 
to defray the charges of war, he con- 
tinued to diminish his own expenditure ; 
and sacrificing the appearance of regal 
magnificence to the ease of his subjects, 
dismissed at once above 400 officers 
belonging to his court. 

Unhappily, however, the popular dis- 
contents were excited next year by the 
dismissal of their favorite minister M. 
Necker. He had conceived the arduous 
but popular project of supporting a war 
by loans without taxes ; and the rigid 
economy which he had introduced into 
all the departments of the royal house- 
hold, and the various resources that pre- 
sented themselves to his fertile genius, 
had supported him amidst the difficulties 
that attended this system. But his aus- 
terity of temper had not rendered him 
equally acceptable to the sovereign and 
his subjects ; and the repeated reforms 
he had recommended were represented 
as inconsistent with the dignity of the 
crown ; he was, therefore, in 1781, dis- 
missed from his office of comptroller- 
general ; and M. Joli de Fleuri, coun- 
sellor of state, was appointed to that im- 
portant department. The year of Neck- 
er's dismissal was nevertheless a glo- 
I rious one for France and America. The 
minister of marine, De Castries, chosen 
by him, proved his talents by the suc- 
j cesses which his combination and activi- 
; ty procured. A French army, wafted 
over the Atlantic, united with that of 
1 Washington, whilst the French naval 
; force, concentrated in the Chesapeake, 
, materially aided the operations of the 



FRANCE. 



269 



the land army. Sir Henry Clinton com- j treaty ; and France throughout her ex- 
manded in New York, Cornwallis in tensive dominions, beheld peace once 
Virginia. Threatening both points, and , more established. 

thus preventing them from mutual aid, i But, however exalted her present situ- 
Washington and the French suddenly ation might appear, the seeds of future 
turned their combined force against the , commotion were already apparent to an 
Virginian army. Cornwallis fortified | attentive observer. The applause that 
himself in York-Town ; and he was soon j had attended the parliament of Paris in 
attacked by the French on one side, and } their struggles with the late king might 
by the Americans on the other. The | be considered as the first dawn of free- 
two gallant nations, rivalling each other dom ; the language of that assembly had 
in zeal, could not fail to be victorious ; boldly inculcated to their countrymen 
the English were beaten from their their natural rights, and taught them to 
works, and lord Cornwallis was reduced look with a less enraptured eye on the 



to the disgrace of capitulation. Many 
noble names, soon to be famed in French 
annals, here first distinguished them- 
selves. In addition to La Fayette and 
Rochambeau, were the due de Lauzun, 
afterwards de Biron, who perished in 
the revolution, Alexander Berthier, Ma- 
thieu Dumas, and the vicomte deNoailles. 
The defeat of the count de Grasse hap- 
pened next year, and impressed the 
kingdom with general grief and conster- 
nation. Immense preparations were, 
however, made for the operations of 
1783 ; and, in conjunction with the courts 
of Madrid and the Hague, Louis was 
determined this year to make the most 
powerful efforts to bring the war to a 
conclusion. But in the midst of these 
preparations, the A^oice of peace was 



lustre that surrounded the throne. The 
war in America had contributed to en- 
large the political ideas of the French ; 
they had on that occasion stood forth as 
the champions of liberty, in opposition to 
regal power ; and the officers on their re- 
turn imparted to the provinces of France 
the flame of freedom which had been 
kindled in the wilds of America. From 
that moment the French, instead of si- 
lently acquiescing imder the edicts of 
their sovereign, canvassed each action 
with bold and rigid impartiality ; while 
the attachment of the army, which has 
ever been considered as the sole founda- 
tion of despotism, gave way to the en- 
thusiasm of liberty. 

We have already noticed the public 
dissatisfaction that had attended the dis- 



again heard; and Louis Avas induced to mission of M. Necker ; his transient suc- 
listen to the proffered mediation of the ' cessor, M. de Fleury, had retired from 
two potentates in Europe, the emperor i the management of the finances in 1783, 
of Germany and the empress of Russia, i and the more transient administration of 
The count de Vergennes, who still oc- M. d'Ormesson had expired in the same 
cupied the post of secretary of foreign ! year that gave it birth. On his retreat, 
affairs, was appointed to treat with Mr. M. de Calonne, who had successively 
Fitzherbert, the British minister at Brus- i filled with acknowledged reputation the 
sels, but who had lately proceeded to office of intendant of Mentz, and after- 
Paris to conduct this important negotia- wards of the provinces of Flanders and 
tion. The way was already smoothed Artois, was nominated to the post of 
for the restoration of the public tran- comptroller-general. This gentleman, 
quillity, by provisional articles signed at eloquent in conversation and polished in 
the conclusion of the previous year be- his manners, fertile in resources, and lib- 
tween the United States of America and eral in the disposal of the public money, 
Great Britain, and which were to coihsti- soon rendered himself acceptable to the 
tute a treaty of peace finally to be con- sovereign. But he did not enter upon his 
eluded when that between France and new and arduous station favored by the 
Great Britain took place. Preliminary breath of popidarity : he was reported to 
articles were accordingly agreed upon ! be more able than consistent, and not to 
and signed at Versailles : these were have tempered the ardor of his spirit by 
soon after succeeded by a definitive ; the severity of deep research ; and the 



270 



FRANCE. 



people, amidst repeated loans, regretted 
that severe simplicity which had charac- 
terised the administration of M. Necker. 

The treaty of commerce concluded in 
the year 1786 with Great Britain was a 
new source of discontent. Though re- 
garded by the English manufacturers as 
far from advantageous, it excited in 
France still louder murmurs. It was 
represented as likely to extinguish those 
infant establishments which were yet 
unable to vie with the manufactures of 
England that had attained maturity ; but 
the market that it held out for the wines 
and oils of France was passed over in si- 
lence, while the distress of the artisan 
M^as painted in the most striking colors. 
And when the edict for registering the 
loan at the conclusion of the last year, 
and which amounted to the sum of three 
millions three hundred and thirty thou- 
sand pounds, was presented to the par- 
liament of Paris, the murmurs of the 
people, through the remonstrances of 
that assembly, assumed a more legal and 
formidable aspect. The king, however, 
signified to the select deputation that 
were commissioned to convey to him 
their remonstrances, that he expected 
to be obeyed without farther delay. The 
ceremony of the registering accordingly 
took place on the next day ; but it was 
accompanied with a resolution, import- 
ing " that public economy was the only 
genuine source of abundant revenue, the 
only means of providing for the necessi- 
ties of the state, and restoring that credit 
which borrowing had reduced to the brink 
of ruin." 

The king was no sooner informed of 
this step, than he commanded the attend- 
ance of the grand deputation of parlia- 
ment ; when he erased from their records 
with his own hand the resolution that had 
been adopted ; and observed, that though 
it was his pleasure that the parliament 
should communicate, by its respectful 
representations, whatever might concern 
the good of the public, yet he never 
would allow them so far to abuse his 
clemency as to erect themselves into the 
censors of his government. At the same 
time, more strongly to mark his displeas- 
ure at their expostulations, he superse- 
ded one of their officers, who had appear- 



ed most active in forwarding the obnox- 
ious resolution. 

M. de Calonne, however, though grati- 
fied by the approbation of his sovereign, 
could not but feel himself deeply morti- 
fied by the opposition of the parliament. 
His attempts to conciliate that assembly 
had proved ineffectual ; and he experi- 
enced their inflexible aversion at the criti- 
cal juncture when their acquiescence 
might have proved of the most essential 
service. An anxious inquiry into the 
state of the public finances had convinced 
him that the expenditure by far exceeded 
the revenue. In this situation, to impose 
new taxes was impracticable ; to con- 
tinue the method of borrowing was ruin- 
ous ; to have recourse only to economical 
reform, Avould be found wholly inade- 
quate ; and he hesitated not to declare, 
that it would be impossible to place the 
finances on a solid basis, but by the re- 
formation of whatever was vicious in the 
constitution of the state. 

To give weight to this reform, M. de 
Calonne was sensible that something 
more was necessary than the royal au- 
thority ; he perceived that the parliament 
was neither a fit instrument for introdu- 
cing a new order into public affairs, nor 
would submit to be a passive machine for 
sanctioning the plans of a minister, even 
if those plans were the emanations of 
perfect wisdom. Though originally a 
body of lawyers, indebted for their ap- 
pointments to the king, there was not an 
attribute of genuine legislative assembly 
but what they seemed desirous to engross 
to themselves ; and they had been sup- 
ported in their pretensions by the plau- 
dits of the people, who were sensible 
that there was no other body in the na- 
tion that could plead their cause against 
royal or ministerial oppression. To sup- 
press, therefore, the only power of cou- 
tj'ol that remained, and to render the gov- 
ernment more arbitrary, was deemed too 
perilous a measure ; yet to leave the par- 
liament in the full possession of their in- 
fluence, an influence that the minister 
was convinced would be exerted against 
him, was at once to render his whole 
system abortive. 

In this dilemma, the only expedient 
that suggested itself was to have recourse 



FRANCE. 



271 



to some other assembly, more dignified that fixed for the opening of the meeting, 
in its character, and which should in a j He was succeeded in the department of 
greater degree consist of members from • foreign affairs by the count de Montmo- 
the various orders of the state and the 
different provinces of the kingdom. This 
promised to be a popular measure ; it im- 
plied a deference to the people at large, 
and was expected to prove highly accept- 
able. But the true and legitimate as- 
sembly of the nation, the states-general, 
had not met since the year 1614 ; nor 
could the minister flatter himself with 
the hope of obtaining the royal assent 
to a meeting which a despotic sovereign 
could not but regard with secret jealousy. 



rm, a nobleman of unblemished charac- 
ter. But his loss at this critical juncture 
was severely felt by M. de Calonne ; he 
alone, of all the ministers, having entered 
with warmth and sincerity into the plans 
of the comptroller-general. The cheva- 
lier de Miromesnil, keeper of the seals, 
was avowedly the rival and enemy of 
that statesman. The mareschal de Cas- 
tries, secretary for the marine depart- 
ment, was personally attached to M. 
Necker ; and the baron de Bretuil, sec- 



Another assembly had occasionally been ' retary for the household, was deeply en- 
substituted in the room of the states-gen- 1 gaged in what was called the Austrian 
eral : this was distinguished by the title system. 



of the Notables ; and consisted of a num- 
ber of persons from all parts of the king- 
dom, chiefly selected from the higher 
orders of the state, and nominated by the 



It was under these difllculties that M. 
de Calonne, on the 22d of February, first 
met the assembly of the Notables, and 
opened his long-expected plan. He be- 



king himself This assembly had been ' gan by stating, that the public expendi- 

convened by Henry IV ; again by Louis ture had for centuries past exceeded the 

now once more sum- revenue, and that a very considerable de 



XIII ; and was 

moned by the authority of the present 

monarch. 

The writs for calling them together 
were dated on the 29th of December, 
1786 ; and they were addressed to seven 
princes of the blood, nine dukes and peers 
of France, eight field mareschals, twenty- 
two nobles, eight counsellors of state, four 
masters of requests, eleven archbishops 
and bishops, thirty-seven of the heads 
of the law, twelve deputies of the 
pays d'ctats, tlie lieutenant civil, and 
twenty-five magistrates of the different 
towns of the kingdom. The number of 
members was 144 ; and the 29th of Janu- 
ary, 1787, was the period appointed for 
their meeting. 

Upon the arrival of the Notables at 
Paris, however, the minister found him- 



ficiency had of course existed ; that the 
Mississippi scheme of 1720 had by no 
means, as might have been expected, re- 
stored the balance ; and that under the 
economical administration of cardinal 
Fleury the deficit still existed ; that the 
progress of this derangement under the 
last reign had been extreme ; the defi- 
ciency amounting to three millions ster- 
ling at the appointment of the abbe 
Terray ; who, however, reduced it to 
1,675,000?. ; it decreased a little under 
the short administration that followed, 
but rose again, in consequence of the 
Avar, under the administration of M. Nec- 
ker ; and at his own accession to office, 
it was 300,330,000 livres. 

In order to remedy this growing evil, 
M. Calonne recommended a territorial 



self yet unprepared to submit his system ■ impost, from which no rank or order of 
to their inspection, and postponed the ; men were to be exempted ; and an in- 
opening of the council to the 7th of Feb- quiry into the possessions of the clergy, 
ruary. A second delay to the 14th of , which hitherto had been deemed sacred 
the same month was occasioned by the from their proportion of the public bur- 
indisposition of M. de Calonne himself, dens ; the various branches of internal 
and that of the count de Vergennes, pre- taxation were also to undergo a strict ex- 
sident of the council of finance and first amination : and a considerable resource 
secretary of state ; and a third procrasti- , was presented in mortgaging the demesne 
nation was the necessary result of the lands of the crown, 
death of the count on the day previous to | The very necessity for these reforms 



272 



FRANCE, 



was combated with a degree of boldness 
and force of reasoning that could not fail 
of deeply impressing the assembly ; and 
instead of meeting with a ready acquies- 
cence, the comptroller-general was now 
launched into the boundless ocean of po- 
litical controversy. M. Necker, previ- 
ous to his retirement, had published his 
Compte rendu au Roi, in which France 
was represented as possessing a clear 
surplus of 425,000^. sterling ; this per- 
formance had been read with avidity, and 
probably contributed to estrange from the 
author the royal countenance ; but the 
credit of it was ably vindicated by M. de 
Briennc, archbishop of Toulouse. 

M. de Calonne met with a still more 
formidable adversary in the count de Mi- 
rabeau. This extraordinary man, rest- 
less in his disposition, licentious in his 
morals, but bold, penetrating, and enter- 
prising, had visited every court in Europe. 
He had been admitted at one time to the 
confidence of the minister ; and had been 
directed, though in no ostensible charac- 
ter, to observe at Berlin the disposition 
of the successor of the great Frederick : 
in this capacity he was frequently expo- 
sed to neglect and disappointment ; his 
letters were often left unanswered ; dis- 
gust succeeded to admiration ; and he 
who entered the Prussian court the inti- 
mate friend, returned to Paris the avowed 
enemy, of M. de Calonne : while the 
archbishop arraigned the understanding, 
the count impeached the integrity, of the 
comptroller-general. 

The eloquence of M. de Calonne, how- 
ever, might have successfully vindicated 
his system and reputation against the cal- 
culations of Brienne, and the invectives 
of Mirabeau ; but he could not support 
himself against the influence of the three 
great bodies of the nation. The ancient 
nobility and the clergy had ever been 
free from all public assessments ; and 
had the evil gone no farther, it might 
have been still perhaps borne with pa- 
tience ; but through the shameful custom 
of selling patents of nobility, such crowds 
of new noblesse started up, that every 
province in the kingdom was filled with 
them. The first object with those who 
had acquired fortunes rapidly, was to pur- 
chase a patent ; which, besides gratify- 



ing their vanity, afibrded an exemption to 
them and their posterity from contribu- 
ting proportionably to the exigencies of 
the state ; the magistracies, likewise, 
throughout the kingdom enjoyed their 
share of these exemptions ; so that the 
whole weight of the taxes lell on those 
who were least able to bear them. 

The minister's design, then, of equal- 
ising the public burdens, and by rendering 
the taxes general diminishing the load 
borne by the lower and most useiul class- 
es of people, though undoubtedly great 
and patriotic, at once united against him 
the nobility, the clergy, and the magis- 
tracy : and the event was such as might 
be expected ; the intrigues of those three 
bodies raised against him so loud a clam- 
or, that finding it impossible to stem the 
torrent, he not only resigned his place on 
the 12th of April, but soon after retired to 
England from the storm of persecution. 

The dismission of M. de Calonne had 
left France without a minister, and al- 
most without a system ; and though the 
king bore the opposition of the Notables 
with admirable temper, yet the disappoint- 
ment that he had experienced sunk deep 
into his mind. Without obtaining any re- 
lief for his most urgent necessities, he per- 
ceived too late that he had opened a path 
to the restoration of the ancient consti- 
tution of France, which had been under- 
mined by the crafty Louis XI, and had 
been nearly extinguished by the daring 
sangiunary councils of Richelieu under 
Louis XIII. The Notables had indeed 
demeaned themselves with respect and 
moderation, but at the same time they 
had not been deficient in firmness. The 
appointment of the archbishop of Tou- 
louse, the vigorous adversary of M. de Ca- 
lonne, to the office of comptroller-general, 
probably contributed to preserve the ap- 
pearance of good humor in that assembly ; 
yet the proposed territorial impost, or gen- 
eral land tax, which was an object so ar- 
dently coveted by the court, was rejected. 
Louis, therefore, deprived of any further 
hope of rendering the convention subser- 
vient to his embarrassments, determined 
to dissolve the assembly ; which he ac- 
cordingly did, with a very moderate and 
conciliatory speech to the members on 
their disiTiissioa. 



FRANCE. 



273 



Thus disappointed of the advantage 
which he had flattered himself he would 
have draw^n from the acquiescence of the 
Notables, the king was obliged now to 
recur to the usual mode of raising money 
by the royal edicts ; among the meas- 
ures proposed for which purpose were 
the doubling of the poll-tax, the re-estab- 
lishment of the third-twentieth, and stamp 
duty. But the whole was strongly dis- 
approved by the parliament of Paris ; and 
that assembly, in the most positive terms, 
refused to register the edict. Louis was 
obliged to apply, as the last resort, to his 
absolute authority ; and by holding what 
is called a bed of justice, compelled them 
to enrol the impost. 

The parliament, though defeated, were 
far from subdued ; and on the day after 
the king had held his bed of justice, they 
entered a formal protest against the edict ; 
declaring, "that it had been registered 
against their approbation and consent, by 
the king's express command ; that it nei- 
ther ought nor should have any force ; 
and that the first person who should pre- 
sume to attempt to carry it into execution, 
should be adjudged a traitor, and con- 
demned to the gallies." This spirited 
declaration left the king no other alter- 
native than either proceeding to extremi- 
ties in support of his authority, or relin- 
quishing for ever after the power of rais- 
ing money upon any occasion without the 
consent of the parliament. Painful as 
every appearance of violence must have 
proved to the mild disposition of Louis, 
he could not consent to surrender, with- 
out a struggle, that authority which had 
been so long exercised by his predeces- 
sors. Since the commencement of the 
present discontents, the capital had been 
gradually filled with considerable bodies 
of troops ; and about a week after the 
parliament had entered the protest, an i 
officer of the French guards, with a party 
of soldiers, went at break of day to the 
house of each individual member, to sig- j 
nify to him the king's command, that he 
should immediately get into his carriage, 
and proceed to Troves, a city of Cham- 
pagne, about seventy miles from Paris, 
without writing or speaking to any per- 
son out of his own house before his de- 
parture. These orders were served at 
35 



the same instant ; and before the citizens 
of Paris were acquainted with the trans- 
action, their magistrates were already on 
the road to their place of banishment. 

Pevious to their removal, however, 
they had presented a remonstrance on 
the late measures of government, and 
the alarming state of public affairs. In 
stating their opinions on taxes, they de- 
clared, that neither the parliaments, nor 
any other authority, excepting that of the 
three estates of the kingdom, collectively 
assembled, could warrant the laying of 
any permanent tax upon the people ; and 
they strongly enforced the renewal of 
those national assemblies, which had 
rendered the reign of Charlemagne so 
great and illustrious. 

The king had endeavored to soothe 
the Parisians by new regulations of 
economy, and by continual retrenchments 
in his household ; but these instances of 
attention, which once would have been 
received with the loudest acclamations, 
were now disregarded under their afflic- 
tion for the absence of their parliament. 
His majesty, therefore, in order to regain 
the affections of his subjects, consented 
to restore that assembly ; abandoning at 
the same time the stamp duty and the 
territorial impost, which had been the 
sources of dispute. These measures 
were, however, insufficient to establish 
harmony between the court and the par- 
liament. The necessities of the state 
still continued ; nor could the deficiency 
of the revenue be supplied but by extra- 
ordinary resources, or a long course of 
rigid frugality. About the middle of No- 
vember, 1787, in a fidl meeting of the 
parliament, attended by all the princes of 
the blood and the peers of France, the 
king entered the assembly, and proposed 
two edicts for their approbation ; one was 
for a new loan of 450,000,000 livres, near 
1 9,000,000/, sterling ; the other Avas for 
the re-establishment of the protestants in 
all their ancient civil rights ; a measure 
which had long been warmly recommend- 
ed by the parliament, and which was prob- 
ably now introduced to procure a better 
reception to the loan. 

On this occasion the king delivered 
himself in a speech of uncommon length, 
filled with professions of regard for the 



274 



FRANCE. 



people, but at the same time strongly ex- 
pressive of the obedience he expected to 
his edicts. Louis probably imagined that 
the dread of that banishment from which 
the members had been so lately recalled 
would have ensured the acquiescence of 
the assembly ; but no sooner Avas per- 
mission announced for every member to 
deliver his sentiments, than he was con- 
vinced that their spirits remained totally 
unsubdued. An animated debate took 
place, and was continued for nine hours ; 
when the king, wearied by perpetual op- 
position, and chagrined at some freedoms 
used in their debates, suddenly rose and 
commanded the edict to be registered 
without further delay. This measure was 
most unexpectedly opposed by the duke 
of Orleans, first prince of the blood; who, 
considering it as an infringement of the 
rights of parliament, protested against 
the whole proceedings of the day as 
being thereby null and void. Though 
Louis coiild not conceal his astonish- 
ment and displeasure at this decisive 
step, he contented himself with repeat- 
ing his orders ; and immediately after, 
quitting the assembly, retired to Ver- 
sailles. On the king's departure the par- 
liament confirmed the protest of the duke 
of Orleans ; and declared, that as their 
deliberations had been interrupted, they 
considered the whole business of that 
day as of no efiect. 

It was not to be supposed that Louis 
would suffer so bold an attack on his 
power with impunity. Accordingly, a 
letter was next day delivered to the duke 
of Orleans, commanding him to retire to 
Villars Cotterel, one of his seats about 
fifteen leagues from Paris, and to receive 
no company there except his own family ; 
at the same time, the abbe Sabatiere, 
and M. Frcteau, both members of the 
parliament, and who had distinguished 
themselves in the debate, were seized 
under the authority of letlres de cachet, 
and conveyed, the first to the castle of 
Mont St. Michel, in Normandy, the last, 
to a prison in Picardy. This act of des- 
potism did not fail immediately to rouse 
the feelings of the parliament. On the 
following day they waited on the king, 
and expressed their astonishment and 
concern that a prince of the blood-royal 



had been exiled, and two of their mem- 
bers imprisoned, for having declared in 
his presence what their duty and con- 
sciences dictated, and at a time when 
his majesty had announced that he came 
to take the sense of the assembly by a 
plurality of voices. The answer of the 
king was reserved and imsatislactory, 
and tended to increase the resentment of 
the parliament. 

With a view to diminish the influence 
of parliament, it was determined again to 
convene the Notables. Accordingly, 
about the beginning of May, Louis ap- 
peared in that assembly ; and after com- 
plaining of the excesses in which the 
parliament of Paris had indulged them- 
selves, and which had drawn down his 
reluctant indignation on a few of the 
members, he declared his resolution, in- 
stead of annihilating them as a body, to 
recall them to their duty and obedience, 
by a salutary reform. M. de la Moignon, 
as keeper of the seals, then explained 
his majesty's pleasure to establish a com- 
pleniere or supreme assembly, to be com- 
posed of princes of the blood, peers of 
the realm, great officers of the crown, the 
clergy, mareschals of France, governors 
of provinces, knights of different-orders, 
a deputation of one member from every 
parliament, and two members from the 
chambers of council, and to be summon- 
ed as often as the public emergency, in the 
royal opinion, should render it requisite. 
If the assembly of the Notables listen- 
ed in silent deference to the project of 
their sovereign, the parliament of Paris 
received it with every symptom of aver- 
sion. That body strongly protested 
against the establishment of any other 
tribunal ; and declared their final resolu- 
tion not to assist at any deliberations in 
the supreme assembly which his majes- 
ty prepared to institute. A more unex- 
pected mortification occurred to the king 
in the oppo-sition of several peers of the 
realm ; these expressed their regret at 
beholding the fundamental principles of 
the constitution violated ; and while they 
were lavish in their professions of at- 
tachment to the person of their sovereign, 
concluded with apologizing for not enter- 
ing on those functions assigned them in 
the plenary court, as being inconsistent 



FRANCE. 



275 



witli the true interests of his majesty, 
which were inseparable from those of 
the nation. 

Rebellion now quickly spread through- 
out the more distant provinces ; at Ren- 
nes in Britany, and Grenoble in Dau- 
phine, the people broke out into acts of 
the most daring outrage. In the latter 
city several hundreds of the inhabitants 
perished in a conflict with the military ; 
they yet maintained their ground against 
the soldiery ; and the commanding ofB- 
cer ; at the entreaties of the first presi- 
dent, readily withdrew his troops from a 
contest into which he had entered with 
reluctance. The different parliaments 
of the kingdom at the same time express- 
ed their feelings in the most glowing lan- 
guage ; and strongly urged the necessity 
of calling together the states-general, the 
lawful council of the kingdom, as the only 
means of restoring the public tranquillity. 

Louis now plainly saw that a compli- 
ance with the public wishes for the re- 
establishment of the states-general was 
absolutely necessary, in order to avoid 
the calamities of a civil war which im- 
pended upon his refusal. 

It was not, however, till after many a 
painful struggle that Louis could resolve 
to restore an assembly, whose influence 
must naturally overshadow that of the 
crown, and whose jurisdiction would 
confine within narrow limits the bound- 
less power he had inherited from his 
fathers. An arret was issued in August, 
fixing the meeting of the states-general 
to the first of May, in the ensuing year ; 
and every step was taken to secure the 
favorable opinion of the public during the 
interval. New arrangements took place 
in the administration ; and M. Necker, 
whom the confidence of the people had 
long followed, was again introduced into 
the management of the finances ; the 
torture, which by a former edict had been 
restricted in part, was now entirely abol- 
ished; every person accused was allowed 
the assistance of counsel, and permitted 
to avail himself of any point of law ; and 
it was decreed, that in future sentence 
of death should not be passed on any 
person, unless the party accused should 
be pronounced guilty by a majority at 
least of three judges. 



The time appointed for the convention 
of the states-general was now approach- 
ing ; and the means of assembling them 
formed a matter of difficult deliberation 
in the cabinet. The last meeting, in 
1614, had been convened by appHcation 
to the bailiwicks. But this mode was 
liable to several strong objections ; the 
bailiwicks had been increased in number 
and jurisdiction, several provinces having 
since that period been united to France ; 
and the numbers and quality of the mem- 
bers were no less an object of serious 
attention : it was not till the the close of 
the year, therefore, that the proposal of 
M. Necker was adopted, which fixed the 
number of deputies at one thousand, and 
ordained that the representatives oi' the 
third estate or commons, should equal 
in number those of the nobility and 
clergy united. 

The eyes of all Europe was now turn- 
ed on the states-general ; but the moment 
of that assembly's meeting was far from 
auspicious. The minds of the French 
had long been agitated by various rumors ; 
the unanimity that had been expected 
from the different orders of the states, 
was extinguished by the jarring preten- 
sions of each ; and their mutual jealous- 
ies were attributed by the suspicions of 
the people, to the intrigues of the court, 
who were supposed already to repent of 
the hasty assent which had been extorted. 
A dearth that prevaded the kingdom in- 
creased the general discontent ; and the 
people, pressed by hunger, and inflamed 
by resentment, were ripe for revolt. The 
sovereign also, equally impatient of the 
obstacles he continually encountered, 
could not conceal his chagrin ; while the 
influence of the queen in the cabinet was 
again established, and was attended by 
the immediate removal of M. Necker. 
The dismission of that minister, so long 
the favorite of the public, was the signal 
for open insurrection ; the Parisians as- 
sembled in vast numbers ; the guards 
refused to oppose and stain their arms 
with the blood of their fellow citizens ; 
the count d'Artois and the most obnox- 
ious of the nobility thought themselves 
happy, in eluding by flight, the fury of 
the insurgents ; and in a moment a revo- 
lution was accomplished, the most re- 



276 



FRANCE. 



markable, perhaps, of any recorded in [ 
history, and one which may be said to 
form an important epoch in the history 
of society* 



* There is no scene, no portion of history, that 
can be regarded under so many different views, 
as the REVOLUTION upon which we now enter. 
To some, it is all crime, — to others, all glory. 
With many, the prevailing sentiment has been to 
regard the French nation as if it were an indivi- 
dual actuated by one perverse will, and flinging 
itself from pure' love of mischief, into the agonies 
of suffering and the depths of crime. Such per- 
sons have had hitherto but a wide anathema to 
bestow upon that hapless people. In this, they 
have treated them with similar humanity to that 
with which men used to treat the leprous, — ex- 
cluded them at once from society, sympathy, 
charity and good-will ; regarding their malady as 
a crime and a sin, and looking with eyes of hate 
on what had better merited our pity. 

Revolution is one of the maladies of kingdoms, 
or rather the crisis of a malady. It may proceed 
from some latent vice in the constitution, from 
dissipation, from mismanagement. To avert 
such, is often no more in the power of the nation 
or of the individual, than it is to be all-sound and 
all-wise. From early times there was something 
wrong in the framework of French society. 
These defects have been noted ; above all, that 
marked division of classes, which refused amalga- 
mation. Their mutual and oft-renewed struggles 
have been seen. The people, the great mass, 
not of the poor and ignorant, but often of the 
wealthy and enlightened, were conquered and 
borne down in the combat. Their defeat, they 
could have forgiven ; but the extravagant use 
which the upper classes had made of their vic- 
tory, revolted the fallen. The clergy grasped 
one third of the lands of the kingdom, the no- 
blesse another ; yet the remaining third was bur- 
dened with all the expense of government. This 
was reversing the social pyramid, and placed it 
upon its ape.x. 

To reform this state of things was necessary. 
Flesh and blood could not bear it. Intellect, 
more powerful still, rebelled against it. Owing to 
the great exertions of the latter, in print and orally, 
all men were agreed as to the necessity of this 
change. Louis XVI, however uneducated, felt and 
owned the need ; but he was at first young, weak 
because ignorant, and dared not to break through 
the trammels of a court. The monarch, never- 
theless, made every effort to bring about the de- 
sired reform peaceably. He intrusted the task 
first to Turgot, whose schemes were repulsed by 
the magistracy, Necker made no political attempt. 
Calonne next tried. He was defeated and over- 
thrown by the clergy and noblesse. Brienne 
then was driven to repeat the attempt, and the 
magistracy tri])ped up him. What resource was 
left ! To recur to the people. But this was re- 
volution. True! but who rendered it indispen- 
sable 1 Not the people, who were all the time 
tranquil; not the monarch, who did his utmost; 
not the queen — no. It was the resistance, the 



At this period the secidar peerage 
consisted of forty-four members, of whom 
the duke de Uzes was the oldest, and the 
dukes of Choiseul and of Coigny were 
the most recently created. The six ec- 
clesiastical peers, however, had held the 
peerage from the earliest times. They 
were, the archbishop of Rheims, and the 
five bishops of the family duchy of Hugh 
Capet. The secular peers (among whom 
the archbishop of Paris had a place, from 
1690, as duke of St. Cloud) merely form- 
ed the highest class of the lower nobility ; 
but there were six families (branches of 
the houses of Lorraine and Savoy, Gri- 
maldi, Rohan, Tremouille, and Latour 
d'Auvergne, residing in France) who 
preserved the rank of sovereign princes. 
The first estate of the realm was the 
clergy, which, if it did not enjoy the 
rank, enjoyed all the exemptions of the 
nobility from taxes and most of the pub- 
lic burdens, and had the first voice in the 
states-general. 

But the privileges attached to every 
class of nobility, even to the new and 
ofiicial nobility, were important. They 
consisted in an exemption from the prin- 
cipal burdens of the state, particularly 
the common land-tax^ military service, 
the corvees, the quartering of soldiers, &c. 
The nobles were indeed subject to a tax 
on personal property, but this was alto- 
gether disproportionate to that on real 
estate, and was very unequally assessed. 
The nobility, with the clergy and some 
orders (the Maltese knights, the order of 
St. Lazarus, &c,) held by far, the great- 
er portion of the soil, and exercised over 
the peasants, attached to their estates, 
the usual seigneurial rights of jurisdiction, 
and enjoyed exclusively the right of hunt- 
ing, &c. These exclusive rights, extend- 
ing even to very small things, as the 
keeping of pigeons, owning of rabbit-war- 
rens, &c, had become intolerably oppres- 
sive to the peasants. In some parts of 
the country, villenage, which was abol- 
ished on all the crown lands in 1779, 
still existed. 

It is very difficult to determine the re- 
false, the blind resistance, of the privileged or- 
ders, — noblesse, clergy, magistracy, against the 
lower, — that precipitated the revolution, and flimg 
all power at last into the bands of the commons. 



FRANCE. 



277 



venue of the nobility before the revolution. 
Necker estimated the whole income from 
the landed property (with the exception 
of the crown lands, and the possessions 
of the knights of Malta, and the clergy) 
at about 400,000,000, to which is to be 
added the tithe of the clergy. The pro- 
portion of the nobility to the rest of the 
population, if we may believe the old es- 
timate of Moheau, was as 1 to 250 ; this 
proportion, however, varied in different 
provinces. But although the nobility, as 
owners of the soil, and as members of 
the clergy, or officers of the government, 
absorbed the greatest part of the national 
income, and hardly left the peasant and 
the artisan, the common necessaries of 
life, still they refused to bear their pro- 
portion of the expenses of the state, and 
opposed all the plans of reform, not only 
those of Necker, whom they hated, but 
also those of Calonne, a minister entirely 
devoted to the court and the aristocracy. 
Besides this, the embarrassments of gov- 
ernment were chiefly occasioned by the 
never-ending claims of the nobility, to- 
gether with the prodigality of the court 
of Louis XV, and the disorders in the 
administration, which were themselves, 
effects of the aristocratic spirit that had 
infected every department of the state. 
The third estate, consisted of the rest of 
the natioTi, after deducting the clergy and 
the nobility, and comprised more than 
twenty-nine thirtieths of the nation. To 
this class also belonged, as far as their 
social connections were concerned, the 
new nohlcsse, who had acquired titles 
from the possession of office, but were 
despised by the old nobility as upstarts 
and intruders. This circumstance was 
a double source of complaint to the na- 
tion. The whole weight of the taxes 
fell upon the lower classes with such an 
inconceivable severity, increased by the 
insolence, and frequently by the cruelty 
of the lords of the soil and their officers, 
by the abuses of a corrupt and arbitrary 
administration of justice, and, on the part 
of the government, by a system of taxa- 
tion equally corrupt, arbitrary, and pre- 
posterous, — that general impoverishment , 
and suffering were the necessary conse- | 
quences ; thence came the bitterness and 
fury, with which the peasants in manyj 



places, and the lower classes in the 
cities, fell upon their nobles and those in 
power, when the signal of opposition was 
raised. 

The court assembled the states at 
Versailles, thinking more easily to influ- 
ence their proceedings. 

Neither the clergy nor the nobility at- 
tended at the hall of the sittings for the ve- 
rifying of the powers. The urgent repre- 
sentations of the states to avoid a schism 
having been rejected, they constituted 
themselves a National Assembly, and de- 
clared every other kind of representation 
illegal. This vigorous measure overaw- 
ed the court, which prepared several im- 
portant concessions, and brought troops 
into the hall, in order to support them. 
When the king, at his sitting, ordered 
the states to separate into three cham- 
bers, the states remained, declaring the 
inviolability of the representatives ; and 
Mirabeau intimated that they would yield 
only to the force of bayonets. From 
this period the people assumed a real 
sovereignty, and though a part only of 
the nobility and the majority of the cler- 
g}^ united themselves to the great body 
at first, the rest severally joined it, in 
deference to the king, and to the neces- 
sity of the case. Still were the privi- 
leged orders strong enough to disturb, if 
not to resist, the stream of events ; they 
conspired, and 20,000 soldiers surround- 
ed Paris. At this juncture, M. Necker 
was once more dismissed. This took 
place on Saturday, the 11th of July, 1789. 
On Sunday the 12th, the idle crowd of 
the Palais Royal learned the tidings of 
his dismissal. It was the spark upon 
the train, the desired pretext found. 
Camille Desmoulins, a low demagogue, 
took the lead ; harangued the mob ; 
showed himself armed ; and, plucking a 
branch, put a leaf in his hat by way of 
cockade. His example was applauded 
and imitated. Waxen busts of Necker 
and Orleans were then seized in a neigh- 
boring shop, crowned with laurel, and 
carried in procession through the streets. 
Near the Place Vendome the procession 
came in contact with a German regiment. 
Blows and shots were exchanged. A 
soldier of the royal guards was said to 
have been killed in the ranks of the poo- 



278 



FRANCE. 



pie. For this cause, and from previous 
jealousy, some hundreds of the guards 
issued from their barracks near the spot, 
drew up, and fired upon the Germans. 
'J'he prince de Lambesch, commandhig 
them, ordered a retreat, to avoid blood- 
shed ; whilst effecting this through the 
gate of the garden of the Tuilleries, an 
aged person was slain. Cries of ven- 
geance followed. The populace has- 
tened in search of arms. The Hotel 
de Ville, where the electors, self-consti- 
tuted as a municipality, were in the ha- 
bit of daily assembling, delivered up all 
preserved in that establishment. They 
ordered the establishment of a civic 
guard ; a vain and late attempt to separate 
the armed citizen from the armed ruffian. 
Thus passed the 12th; the 13th saw 
the fermentation increase, though un- 
marked by events. On the morning of 
the 14th of July, an army of 40,000 men, 
armed with offensive weapons of every 
description, aided by a few hundred sol- 
diers, commenced their march through 
Paris with the full determination of de- 
stroying the Bastile. They first attack- 
ed the Hopital des Invalides, where a 
large magazine of arms was kept. Scarce- 
ly any resistance was made by the 
guards, which consisted merely of a few 
disabled pensioners ; the magazine was 
taken, and 20,000 muskets placed at 
their disposal. They then went quickly 
towards the Bastile, and demanded of 
the governor, that the prisoners should 
be set at liberty, and the fortress surren- 
dered to the people. The governor seem- 
ed disposed to comply, and ordered the 
outer gate to be opened. But no sooner 
had they entered than the gate was shut 
upon them, and the soldiers of the garri- 
son fired on the people through the loop 
holes and turrets. The multitude with- 
out, hearing the firing and learning the 
treachery of the governor, instantly as- 
saulted the place on all sides ; they 
brought the cannon from the king's garde 
meuhle, in the Place I^ouis XV, one of 
which was inlaid with silver, and planted 
them against the Bastile until a breach 
was made, when it was taken by storm. 
The enraged multitude then seized the 
governor and other officers ; took pos- 
session of the guard room, armory and 



magazine ; broke the windows, set fire 
to the furniture, and threw open the 
doors of the prisons ; their inhabitants 
were brought out and carried in triumph 
through the streets, of Paris. 

The people now, with the concurrence 
of the committee, set about the entire 
destruction of the Bastile. The city ar- 
chitects were employed to conduct the 
ork, and that immense pile of buildings 
hich had stood for 489 years, was in 

few days destroyed so that not one 
stone was left upon another. 

The court was overcome with aston- 
ishment, and, willing to gratify the people, 
now ordered the dismissal of the troops, 
and the recall of Necker. Paris nom- 
inated Bailly, who presided at the Ten- 
nis Court, its mayor ; and La Fayette be- 
came commander of the national guards. 
The king came to Paris from Versailles, 
and received from Bailly the tri-colored 
cockade, the mark of his union with the 
people, who saluted him with every mark 
of pleasure. But these feelings were 
but of short duration ; the nobility emi- 
grated, and the public agitation con- 
tinued daily to increase. Robbery suc- 
ceeded to confusion. The clergy and 
nobility consented to give up their privi- 
leges for the public peace ; and in one 
memorable night, (August 4,) every ves- 
tige of feudalism was annihilated by the 
voice of the deputed nobles and prelates. 
Their constituents were far from sub- 
scribing to this act of disinterestedness, 
wrested from them in a moment of fear 
and enthusiasm, and the discontent of 
these orders united with the menaces of 
foreig-n troops, tended to increase the 
exasperation of the people ; every where 
they were ready to take up arms. The 
king and queen vacillated towards each 
party by turns. Now they seemed by their 
presence to approve of the counter-revo- 
lutionary vows ; again they would hold 
interviews (especially the queen) with 
known aristocrats, and evidently acted 
on the mere intimidation of the moment. 

On the 2nd of October, a banquet was 
given by the body-guards to the officers 
of the newly arrived regiment ; those of 
the national guard of Versailles were also 
invited. It took place in the palace-the- 
atre. Wine circulated ; entliusiasm was 



FRANCE. 



279 



excited. The soldiers of the regiments 
were admitted into the building; cups 
being handed to them, they drank to the 
health of the queen, and of the king. 
With drawn swords the banqueters pledg- 
ed them. The queen, hearing of the 
fete, presented herself with the dauphin. 
A fresh effusion of loyalty ensued. 
Swords again flashed with vows to sup- 
port the royal cause, whilst the military 
band played the air of CcEur de Lion, 
" Richard, Omon Roi, Vunivers t'uban- 
donne .'" 

Accounts of the fete soon came to 
exasperate the Parisians, and to offer the 
agitators a pretext to excite tumult. Or- 
leans, who might pretend to the regency, 
if the king was frightened away to Metz, 
had his interest in producing insurrec- 
tion at this moment. A crowed of women 
was adroitly employed to besiege the 
guard, and the Hotel de Ville. They 
could only be diverted from setting fire 
to the edifice by an invitation to proceed 
to Versailles. The tocsin, in the mean 
time, was sounded. The rabble, armed 
with pikes, forks, and sticks, crowded to 
the square, and soon marched off to Ver- 
sailles, to ask bread of the assembly. 
La Fayette soon after arrived at the Ho- 
tel de Ville. The assembled companies 
of the national guard awaited him. 
Though bearing this title, these troops 
were not citizens, but mere mercenary 
troops. They, too, demanded to march 
upon Versailles, La Fayette in vain dis- 
suaded them ; he was constrained to lead 
them. All Paris followed in their wake. 

This movement took place on the 5th 
of October. On the very same day, in 
the assembly, the popular party first 
showed itself fully: Petion, Robespierre, 
Gregorie, started up with denunciations, 
giving vent to the extreme of revolution- 
ary langTiage. Already they began to 
accuse and threaten Mirabeau, the repre- 
sentative of the bourgeoise. The only 
hope for the monarch, at this time, was 
to have rallied to the latter party ; and 
his adhesion would have completed its 
separation from the ultra-revolutionists, 
who at this time were but in the feeble- 
ness of birth. It was this day, however, 
that the monarch was advised to set him- 
self at variance with the vote of the as- 



sembly, and to disapprove of their con- 
stitution. 

The horde of women and rabble 
reached Versailles in the afternoon ; 
they penetrated into the assembly, de- 
manding bread, and saying that the aris- 
tocrats and the archbishop of Paris had 
bribed the millers not to grind corn. 
Mounier was despatched to the palace ; 
the women accompanied him thither, but 
the crowd was stopped at the iron railing 
in front of the chateau ; twelve were, 
however, admitted, to lay their complaints 
before the king. At his aspect and that 
of the queen, their fury was dumb ; they 
returned to their comrades, satisfied and 
charmed with their benign reception ; 
these, amazed and angered at such a 
change, threatened to hang their unfor- 
tunate envoys. 

The troops were drawn up in front of 
the chateau, consisting of the body guard, 
the regiment of Flanders, and the na- 
tional guard of Versailles. Although 
the two latter had joined in the famous 
banquet, the grenadiers of Flanders be- 
ing the first to propose the health of the 
queen, yet now both were ill-affected, 
and openly vowed their opinions. Three 
hundred of the body guard formed thus 
the entire force upon which the king had 
to depend. Yet causes of exasperation 
had been given both to the people and 
the assembly, and even now Louis refu- 
sed to fly. Some of the people in the 
mean time mingled with the soldiers ; 
M. de Savonniers, of the body guard, 
came to drive them away with his drawn 
sabre, though striking merely Avith the 
flat of the weapon ; he was wounded 
instantly by a shot. The national guard 
of Versailles took part with the popu- 
lace, and fired upon the body-guards, 
which, too weak to contend with such 
a force, were compelled to retire. 

Towards midnight La Fayette arrived, 
at the head of the Parisian guard and a 
fresh host of rabble ; having made them 
take, during their march, a vain oath to 
be well conducted and loyal. He made 
his appearance at the palace, promised 
tranquillity, and demanded that, as a mark 
of confidence, the external guard of the 
chateau should be committed to his 
I troops. No doubt the general made this 



280 



FRANCE. 



arrangement with the best intentions ; 
but he was not sufficiently suspicious of 
the sanguinary and anarchic party that 
was now raising its head, supported by 
tlie money and the confidence of Orleans. 
That prince was seen amongst the mid- 
night groups, and on the road ; his agen- 
cy must be allowed, though history can- 
not as yet assign the measure of his in- 
fluence. All remained quiet through the 
night ; the soldiers, the rabble, the wo- 
men, round their fires. La Fayette had 
retired to rest, but in a lodging far from 
the chateau. A friend, an ofllcer in 
whom he had confidence, should have 
watched. The person and guards of his 
sovereign were intrusted to his care, and 
their safety was neglected. No upright- 
ness of character can here shelter him 
from censure. About half an hour after 
five, some of the boldest of the mob, 
bribed, there can be little doubt, to an act 
that no popular object could prompt, roam- 
ed along the vast extent of the palace, 
trying the possibility of entrance at one 
of its many gates. They found an ave- 
nue unguarded, summoned their chosen 
comrades, and rushed up the staircase. 
A garde du corps, perceiving the move- 
ment, had already fired from the win- 
dow ; and now this faithful troop, though 
not numbering more than a dozen, de- 
fended each door and apartment against 
the mo.b, under whose blows they fell 
one by one. The shouts and horrid im- 
precatiojis of the ruflians indicated plain- 
ly that the queen was the object of their 
fury. " We will cut off her head ! Tear 
out her heart !" Mismandre, the survi- 
vor of the gardes du corps, had time to 
gain the apartments occupied by the 
queen, opening and crying to her attend- 
ants, "I am alone against 2,000 tigers: 
we are conquered ; save the queen !" 
As the unfortunate princess fled, he who 
had just spoke the generous word of 
warning fell under the blows of his pur- 
suers. They mangled Ids remains with 
disappointment and rage, on perceiving 
that their prey was flown. A more numer- 
ous troop of the body-guard occupied the 
doors through which Marie Antoinette 
had retreated ; the assassins had but the 
satisfaction of making villanous jibes 
upon her yet warm couch. La Fayette 



at this moment arrived, and by his exer- 
tions prevented a renewal of their at- 
tempt, or of the slaughter. The rest of 
the gardes du corps were spared ; the 
ruffians contenting themselves with de- 
capitating the dead, and fixing their gory 
heads on pikes to adorn their triumph. 

The mob and Parisian army outside 
now exulted in the achievement of this 
barbarous feat. " The king to Paris !" 
was the universal cry ; denial was vain. 
The monarch assented, and showed him- 
self in the balcony in token of obse- 
quiousness. The queen was then called 
for, with the same shout that the Romans 
were wont to hail a gladiator into their 
circus ; Marie Antoinette appeared, the 
dauphin in her arms. " No child ! no 
child !" cried the barbarians. The 
meaning Avas evident ; they wanted a 
victim. With unshaken courage, the 
queen appeared alone : a musket was 
pointed at her ; but the heart of the as- 
sassin failed through awe, not through 
mercy. La Fayette knelt, and kissed 
her hand ; he, indeed, did his utmost to 
repair the fatal negligence of the morn- 
ing. At midday took place the removal 
of the royal family to the Tuilleries. 
The journey was dreadful, not only in 
its actual circumstances, but as a dread- 
ful foreboding of what was to come. 
Before, around and behind the royal fam- 
ily, were a mob of frantic women, de- 
bauched and drunken, attended and 
cheered by men, if possible, more diabol- 
ical than themselves. The procession 
was headed by two men, who with their 
arms naked and bloody, displayed aloft 
on their pikes, the heads of two of the 
garde du corps, whom they had massa- 
cred. Thus the authority of the king was 
first destroyed, then his power, now all 
respect for him. The imprudence of the 
courtiers had served both as cause and 
pretext to this disaster, which the popu- 
lar force effected, stirred in part by the 
gold of Orleans and the intrigues of agi- 
tators. La Fayette and the national as- 
sembly were mere spectators : the tide 
was too strong for this middle party ; its 
leaders kept themselves indeed afloat, 
but the wind and tide of circumstances 
wafted them on a headlong course. 

There was but one man at that epoch 



PRANCE. 



281 



who truly understood the crisis, and saw 
whither things tended ; this was Mira- 
beau, a profligate, but not altogether a 
politically dishonest man. He received 
afterwards pecuniary aid from the court, 
but not until his conviction led him to unite 
with it. As for the constitutionalists, 
their ideas were excellent, and their rea- 
soning plausible ; but struggling against 
the spirit of the nation, they neutralized 
efl^orts which more wisely directed, might 
still have supported the middle class and 
the friends of order against the conspir- 
ators and ultra-revolutionists. Aristocra- 
cy, not such as conquest or feudality 
might found, but such as great and illus- 
trious qualities give birth to, and time 
fosters into dignity — is indeed a natural 
element of every society. It is wise to 
uphold its existence ; but if a feudal aris- 
tocracy, like that of France, abuse its 
superiority, and grind, by its oppression, 
deep hate of its name into the feelings 
and prejudices of the people, it is vain 
to hope for the continuance or re-estab- 
lishment of that noblesse. The dire 
necessity of circumstances must be sub- 
mitted to. This Mirabeau saw ; this 
Mounier, Necker, Lally, did not see. 
They were theorists, — doctrinaires, to use 
a modern expression, — pursuing their one 
idea athwart the opposed and bristling 
prejudices of the nation. This is neces- 
sary to explain their ill success, as well 
as the irritation and hostility excited by 
efforts which, to Englishmen, appear at 
first sight honest, bold, and wise. They 
were all, except the last. 

Twenty months now elapsed of com- 
parative tranquillity. There is no strik- 
ing event ; much intrigue, indeed, fiery 
debating, the training, dividing, and 
forming of parties. The revolutionary 
monster slumbered, stirring at times, and 
showing life by starts, but not awaken- 
ing fully. La Fayette possessed most 
power out of the assembly ; and he ex- 
ercised it with a firmness, a disinterest- 
edness and courage, that did him immor- 
tal honor. His first act was to drive the 
duke of Orleans to exile. It is not well 
known whether his departure was procur- 
ed by menace or inducement. His ab- 
sence had certainly the effect of allowing 
agitation to subside. 
36 



The assembly pursued its legislative 
labors. They appropriated to the state 
all ecclesiastical property. As it was 
impossible to bring such a prodigious 
portion at once to sale, the church-lands 
were made over to each commune or par- 
ish, which was allowed time to sell and 
pay into the treasury the price. The 
Avant of a supply of specie soon after 
obliged the assembly to represent this 
debt due to the government by the dif- 
ferent municipalities in bonds, called 
assignats. These they passed to a pro- 
digious amount, forming a paper money 
not without advantage, had not the facili- 
ties of its supply been grossly abused. 
The constituent assembly divided France 
into departments, breaking up the old 
distinction and frontiers betwixt provin- 
ces. It abolished parliaments, and re- 
modelled the judicature. Tithes and 
feudal services had been previously done 
away with. Titles of honor were now 
abolished, Matthieu de Montmorency 
being foremost to make the sacrifice. 

This career of legislation was, one 
would think, sufficiently democratic. It 
fully satisfied the middle classes. La 
Fayette, and those who rallied round 
him, as well as the majority of the as- 
sembly. Within its precincts, the dem- 
agogues, who designed to form and head 
a popular party, with diflicidty found an 
opportunity to develope their sentiments 
or forward their plans. They succeed- 
ed, however, in becoming masters of a 
club, first established by the moderate 
friends of liberty. This, on the removal 
of the king and assembly to Paris, had 
installed itself in the Convent of the 
Jacobins. Here, as violence gained 
ground, the moderates, such as La Fay- 
ette, seceded and formed a separate club. 
Barnave, a young protestant barrister, 
and the Lameths, assumed the lead in 
the Jacobins at their departure. This 
trio envied and detested equally Mira- 
beau and La Fayette, and seemed actua- 
ted more by the ambition of pre-emi- 
nence than by any profound conviction or 
principle, to separate and form a schism. 
They coquetted with the genuine party 
of the lower orders rather than embraced 
it. Talents alone gave them support. 

Mirabeau was actuated by more inde- 



282 FRANCE. 



pendent opinions. Towards the end of 
1789 he began to rein in the zeal which 
hitherto had borne him headlong in the 
path of revolution. His ardor cooled, and 
he could not but disapprove of that con- 
stitution which he had contributed to form. 
" He thought it too democratic for a mon- 
archy ; for a democracy there was a king 
too much." His sagacity saw the im- 
practicability of the existing system. He, 
consequently, leagued secretly with the 
court to support the crown, and recover 
for it a portion of strength requisite for its 
existence. La Fayette, on the contrary, 
held firm to the constitution now estab- 
lished. It was not in the power of the 
king to unite in his behalf two such pow- 
erfid men, who in fact represented the 
same cause, — that of the middle orders. 

Ijouis XVI is accused of irresolution 
by some writers, of insincerity by others. 
Never was a man more deserving of com- 
miseration and excuse. In February, 
1790, we find him embarked frankly with 
the nation, coming down spontaneously 
to the assembly, and giving an uncalled- 
for adhesion to its acts, that excited uni- 
versal enthusiasm. In July of the same 
year he presided over the famous Federa- 
tion, or union of the Parisians with depu- 
tations from the provinces, to swear to 
the constitution on the altar of the coun- 
try. Talleyrand was the ofticiating bishop 
in this ceremony, so minutely detailed and 
honored by French historians, though in 
itself a pomp of little importance, a fete 
at once to celebrate the anniversary of 
the destruction of the Bastile, and to 
honor the birth of a constitution destined 
to be ephemeral. Many weeks of the 
same summer were passed by the royal 
family at St. Cloud ; escape from thence 
would have been most practicable, but 
was not once contemplated. 

Hence we may infer, that Louis had 
resigned himself to his humbled position, 
and resolved to look for no other than le- 
gislative support. The emigrant noblesse, 
collecting first at Turin, and afterwards at 
Coblentz, endeavored with their wonted 
imbecility and ill success to stir up re- 
bellion in the provinces, for which the 
discontent of the clerg}'-, and consequently 
of the devout, gave them ample facilities. 
They solicited Louis to sanction their 



plans and join their meditated armaments. 
He had already suffered too much by their 
counsels, to listen to thern again. The 
marquis de Bouille at that time fixed the 
attention and hopes of the royalists within 
the kingdom. He still commanded at 
Metz, restraining the froward spirit of the 
soldiers, and even mastering a sedition 
amongst them, by his firmness. A simi- 
lar mutiny broke out at Nancy. Bouille 
marched against it at the head of troops, 
of which he had so little reason to be con- 
fident. Nevertheless, when remonstrance 
failed to bring the mutineers to a sense of 
duty, Bouille charged them, beat them, 
and sent the ringleaders captive to Paris. 

This was alone sufficient to raise the 
monarch's hopes. But how could he re- 
sist the opinions and counsel of Mirabeau, 
when this leader of the redoubtable as- 
sembly owned as his opinion, that roy- 
alty, in order to exist, must b« raised 
from its present prostrate condition ; that 
this must be effected by a force foreign 
to the assembly ; and that the only means 
to bring about this end was, that the king 
should retire to Metz, beyond the power 
of the Parisians, and there, at the head of 
an independent force, treat with the na- 
tion, if he could not with its present rep- 
resentatives, and conclude some more 
equitable adjustment between the rights 
of the crown and those of the people. 

Such was the plan of Mirabeau, and it 
gained at once the monarch's approbation. 
But a fatal event came to retard it, and 
deprived Louis of what he most wanted, — 
a man of capacity to conduct him. Mira- 
beau kept his ascendency in the assem- 
bly to the last. Barnave and the Lameths 
in vain endeavored to shake his supre- 
macy. On the great question, whether 
the power of deciding on war or peace 
should rest with the monarch or the na- 
tion, Mirabeau took the monarchic side. 
His enemies saw the opportunity, and 
attacked him with a virulence and truth 
that would have overborne any other 
man. The Jacobins made use of their 
arm, and the " great treason of count 
Mirabeau" was cried through the streets. 
" I had no need of this example," cried 
the orator, " to learn, that there is but 
one step from the capitol to the Tarpeian 
rock." Mirabeau's eloquence conquered 



FRANCE. 



283 



in the assembly, and even partially ex- 
culpated him with the multitude. The 
28th of February, 1791, was the day of 
his most memorable triumph. The emi- 
grants, collected at Coblentz, were me- 
nacing France with their own force, and 
with that of the sovereigns of Europe. 
It was proposed to stop the tide of emi- 
gration, by intrusting the power of grant- 
ing passports to a committee of three 
persons. Mirabeau exclaimed against 
such an inquisition. " As for me," cried 
he, " I should feel myself absolved from 
my oath of allegiance to any govern- 
ment, that had the infamy to propose this 
dictatorial commission. I swear it — " 
(loud cries interrupted him). "The pop- 
ularity that I have so ambitioned, and 
that I have enjoyed like many others, is 
not a feeble reed. I will fix it deep in 
the earth. I will make it vegetate and 
live in the soil of justice and reason." 
This bold allusion, more to his purposes 
than to the question, was received with a 
blind applause, that maddened the popu- 
lar leaders. They cried out against Mi- 
rabeau as a dictator. " Silence, ye 
thirty voices !" was his rejoinder. His 
last triumph was his greatest. The ora- 
tor died, like a general, in his crowning 
victory. He returned thence to a bed of 
sickness, from which he never arose. 
That organic disease of the heart, sup- 
posed principally to affect men of strong 
passions and eloquence, carried him off. 
" After my death," said he, " the factions 
will soon tear the last shreds of the 
monarchy." 

Though deranged in his plans by this 
loss, Louis still persevered in them, and 
meditated escape. The severity of the 
assembly towards the priesthood who 
refused to take the oaths wounded the 
king's conscience ; and even the most 
meek, when touched in that point, be- 
come stubborn and determined. In the 
month of April the royal carriages were 
ordered to the palace ; Louis and his 
queen descended for the purpose of vis- 
iting St. Cloud. At the sight the popu- 
lace collected, surrounded the carriage, 
and forbade it to advance. La Fayette 
came in time to preserve his sovereigns 
from insult, but not to procure their lib- 
erty. They were obliged to return to 



their apartments. A more secret mode 
of escape was then planned. The em- 
peror Joseph at this time promised to 
march an army to the relief of his unfor- 
tunate brother. The emigrants, on their 
side, proffered their aid and counsels. 
But Louis preferred depending upon 
Bouille, who, under his direction, form- 
ed a camp of some faithful regiments on 
the frontier near Montmedy. The king 
hoped, by reaching it in safety, to avoid 
the reproach, at least, of emigration ; and 
without foreign aid, as he afterwards as- 
serted, to raise up Liberty upon a firmer 
basis. 

The time of flight was fixed for the 
night of the 19th of June. Bouille gave 
orders, in consequence, for troops and 
detatchments to meet the king at the 
bridge of Sommeville and at St. Mene- 
hould, to escort and protect his progress, 
should he succeed in reaching those 
towns. Unfortunately, owing to some 
difficulty excited by the female attend- 
ants on the royal family, the departure 
was put off" to the following night, by 
which means, although word was sent to 
Bouille, the detatchments were no long- 
er in waiting for the king when he arri- 
ved. A private door in her apartment 
had been prepared by the queen ; issuing 
by this in three parties, the royal family 
gained the courts, and crossed them, the 
king with his children reaching the rue 
de I'Echelle without impediment. Here 
a fiacre awaited them. But the queen 
had in the mean time lost her way, the 
garde du corps who conducted her, being 
ignorant of Paris. She chanced to meet 
La Fayette, but passed unrecognized by 
him, and joined the rest at length after 
much wandering and trouble. The hack- 
ney-coach, driven by M. de Fersen in 
disguise, then bore them to a distant part 
of the city. At the gate St. Martin they 
quitted it for a berlin drawn by post- 
horses, and were soon on the road to 
Chalons. The king's brother, afterwards 
Louis XVII I, took, on the same night, 
the road to Flanders, and succeeded in 
reaching the frontier. 

The carriage bearing the royal family 
reached Chalons in safety, and subse- 
quently St. Menehould. The detachments 
of Bouille, weary of waiting, had al- 



284 



FRANCE. 



ready taken their departure. At St. 
Mcnehould Louis was recognized by 
Drouet, son of the postmaster ; but the 
carriage was tlien setting off. Drouet 
set off also by a cross road, and reached 
Varennes, the next place of haU, and 
within but two stages of Bouille's camp, 
before the fugitives. There were no 
post-horses in Varennes, but an officer 
of Bouille was appointed to have a relay 
in waiting. There were no symptoms 
of horses or guards about the hour of 
eleven at night when the royal family 
entered the town. They were obliged 
to alight, to question, to parley with the 
postillions ; whilst Drouet had aroused 
the munici])al officer, and called together 
the national guards of the Canton. 
Whilst the carriage was slowly proceed- 
ing under an arch that crossed the road, 
Drouet, with the well-known Billaud, 
and one or two others, stopped it, de- 
manding their passports. The gardes 
du corps on the box wished to resist. 
The king forbade them. Here the pres- 
ence of a man of resolution was wanted, 
Bouille had designed the marquis d'Ag- 
oult to accompany the monarch, but his 
place had been usurped by an obstinate 
old woman, governess of the prince and 
princess. They were now conducted 
before the procureur of the town; and, 
the national guards crowding in, Louis 
Av-as arrested. The troops of Bouille's 
army arrived also, but refused to rescue 
him. An aid-de-camp of general La 
Fayette soon after made his appearance, 
bearing a decree of the national assem- 
bly for the re-conveyance of the fugi- 
tives to Paris. 

Thus within an hour, a league, of 
safety, the unfortunate Louis and his 
family found themselves captive, and on 
their return to a capital, which, if it had 
before loaded them with contumely, 
Avould now, most likely, observe no mod- 
eration in cruelty. The assembly al- 
ready showed that its opinions had taken 
a deeper dye of republicanism since the 
flight. Petion, a rude and rigid demo- 
crat, with Barnave, the rival of Mirabeau, 
were the commissaries who re-conducted 
the king. Seated in the royal carriage, 
Barnave, with the sensibility ever at- 
tendant upon talent, felt his sympathy 



awakened for the sufferings of the fallen 
family. 

During the eight days of their painful 
journey, he continually conversed with 
the monarch, and felt each moment 
deeper respect for a character so amiable 
and so just. Petion, on the contrary, a 
man of few ideas, held rigid in those 
which he professed, and piqued by being 
obliged to play an inferior part, merely 
murmured that he cared for naught save 
a republic. Previous to the return of 
the king to Paris, it was placarded, that 
whoever insulted him should be beaten ; 
whoever applauded him should be hang- 
ed. He was received, then, with that 
silence which Mirabeau called " the les- 
son of kings."* 

The national assembly suspended the 
king from Iris functions, less as a pun- 
ishment than to satisfy the popular out- 
cry. The leaders of the mere rabble, 
the anarchists, now showed their heads 
openly under the guise of republicans. 
The Jacobins, whom Barnave and the 
Lameths deserted, started into full activ- 
ity under the guidance of the most furi- 
ous demagogues. In the assembly ihey 
argued, that the king's flight was abdica- 



* A group in the Palais Royal were discussing 
in great alarm the consequences of the King's 
flight, when a man dressed in a thread-bare great- 
coat leaped upon a chair and addressed them 
thus : — " Citizens, listen to a tale, which shall 
not be a long one. A certain well-meaning Nea- 
politan was once on a time startled in his even- 
ing walk, by the astounding intelligence that the 
Pope was dead. He had not recovered his aston- 
ishment, when behold, he is informed of a new 
disaster, — the King of Naples was also no more. 
' Surely,' said the worthy Neapolitan, ' the sun 
must vanish from heaven at such a combination 
of fatalities.' But they did not cease here. The 
Archbishop of Palermo, he is informed, has also 
died suddenly. Overcome by this last shock, he 
retired to bed, but not to sleep. In the morning 
he was disturbed in his melancholy reverie by a 
rumbling noise, which he recognized at once to 
be the motion of the wooden instrument which 
makes macaroni. 'Aha!' says the good man, 
starting up, 'Can I trust my ears 1— The Pope is 
dead — the King of Naples is dead — the Bishop 
of Palermo is dead — yet my neighbor the baker 
makes macaroni !' Come ! The lives of these 
great folks are not then so indispensable to the 
world after all." The man in the great-coat 
jumped dowm and disappeared. "I have ca\ight 
his meaning," said a woman amongst the listen- 
ers. " He has told us a tale, and it begins like 
all tales — There was once a King anda Qiieen.'^ 



FRANCE. 



285 



tion, and that nothing remained but to 
proclaim the republic. The majority- 
were, however, still attached to their 
constitution, and pleaded that the mon- 
arch was irresponsible. Enraged at their 
want of predominance in the assembly, 
the Jacobins endeavored to agitate the 
people, and caused a petition to be pre- 
pared for dethi-oning Louis. This was 
to be laid on the altar of the country in 
the Champ de Mars for universal signa- 
ture, an apt organization of sedition. Im- 
mediately La Fayette and Bailly, by the 
orders of the municipality, marched at 
the head of troops to the scene of tu- 
mult, carrying a red flag, as a token that 
martial law was in force. They in vain 
endeavored to disperse the mob. Two 
invalids were torn in pieces by them, out 
of hatred to military uniform ; and the 
troops were threatened with attack. La 
Fayette first ordered them to fire in the 
air to intimidate the rioters. It had no 
eftect. And at last, beneath a serious 
and well-directed discharge, several hun- 
dreds fell, slain or wounded, and the rest 
dispersed. The leading Jacobins slunk 
in terror to their hiding-places. Robes- 
pierre did not show himself for many 
days. This triumph, however, or the 
necessity of having recourse to it, served 
but to render the assembly unpopular. 
The public was weary of them, and long- 
ed for its successor, as it was wont to 
hail a new reign. The assembly deter- 
mined to show itself disinterested. It 
proceeded to complete and give the last 
touches to the constitution, the immor- 
tality of which it fondly argued. Bar- 
nave, in the excess of his late loyalty, 
had hoped to have modified its democrat- 
ic principles : and the right side, or par- 
tisans of the English constitution, are 
accused of having marred his efforts by 
their hostility or neglect. 

According to the terms of this consti- 
tution, the constituent assembly gave 
place to a new meeting of representa- 
tives, and committed the fault of exclud- 
ing from it its own most valuable members. 
The legislative assembly was elected ac- 
cording to the opinions of the moment, 
and republicanism prevailed. A consul- 
tation was shortly after held concerning 
the abolition of the monarchical power. 



In the mean time, the allies were sta- 
tioned at Coblentz, waiting for an oppor- 
tunity of introducing, by force of arms, 
the original state of affairs into France. 

Whatever opinion may be entertained 
of the constituent assembly, the mere 
enumeration of its labors will astonish 
posterity. It organized the national 
guard, and constituted the army of the 
line according to the strictest principles 
of liberty ; it practically applied the 
principle of the separation of the author- 
ities ; instituted a real jury and justices 
of the peace ; made rural, municipal, 
and penal laws ; freed industry from 
monopoly ; restored the property of the 
church to the circulation, to agriculture, 
and to the exchequer ; suppressed taxes, 
entries, and exemptions ; and, above all, 
regulated public instruction, and placed 
it on a basis which subsequent changes 
have not been able to destroy. 

In the constituent assembly the aristo- 
cratic party visibly declined. The roy- 
alists, Mounier, Clermont, Tonnere, and 
Lally Tolendal, could scarcely find any 
support ; neither could the republicans, 
Petion, Buzot, and Robespierre. That 
imposing majority, in which were Ra- 
baut St. Etienne, Chapelier, Montmor- 
ency, Noailles, Volney, Sieyes, the ori- 
ginator of projects, the profound Duport, 
the Jansenist Camus, the judicious Bar- 
nave, the lawyer Thouret, the skilful 
Lameth, and so many other celebrated 
men, among whom was the great Mira- 
beau, stood steadfast. The legislative 
assembly was divided into three parts : 
the moderate republicans, of whom may 
be mentioned the eloquent Verginaud, 
the virtuous Condorcet, Brissot, and 
Guadet, the logician Gensonne ; and 
those who were called the Girondists, 
(because the deputation from the Gironde 
were the most distinguished of them,) 
the Cordeliers, who suffered Danton to 
direct their club, Camille Desmoulines, 
Fabre d'Eglantine ; and the constitutional 
loyalists, who offered but a feeble resist- 
ance to enemies supported by popular 
opinion. At first the majority assumed 
the attitude of hostility to the royal pow- 
er, both by restraining it, and by failing 
in the respect due to its functions. The 
king made some resistance, by opposing 



286 



FRANCE. 



to some decrees that were offered to him 
for his sanction, his veto, the right of 
wliich the constitution gave him. But 
this right was ilhisory, and without suffi- 
cient strength to secure respect 

The Girondist Petion was now elected 
mayor of Paris, and procured a decree 
for the closing of the club of royalists 
called Fueillans. The property of the 
emigrants was sequestrated, and a new 
oath was required of the priests. Un- 
fortunateIy,-some unpopular ministers in- 
creased the peoples' distrust of the royal 
power, and at the moment when the as- 
signats were depreciated at home, infor- 
mation was received from St. Domingo 
that the disturbances which had taken 
place between the whites and the men 
of color, in the time of the constituent 
assembly, had become much more se- 
rious, since the blacks had taken part 
in them. News also arrived of massa- 
cres in different cities of the kingdom, 
especially at Avignon, where one party 
desired union with France, according to 
the decree of the constituent assembly ; 
while the other wished to remain under 
the government of the pope. Terrible 
reprisals were made upon this party in 
the "massacre of the Glacier," (1792,) 
but the assassins were pardoned. The 
emigrant princes were now denounced 
at the bar of the assembly, and war was 
evidently coming on. In the midst of 
this universal agitation, the king was 
without any adequate support. He ap- 
peared to turn to the side of the Giron- 
dists, and took a ministry of their choice ; 
among whom were Roland, whose wife 
is so celebrated for her republican vir- 
tues, her writings and her death, and 
Dumouriez, afterwards so successful as 
a general. It was the latter who per- 
suaded the king to enter the assembly 
and declare war against Austria. 

But the assembly was disposed to un- 
dertake a still more important contest at 
home ; it continued to contend with the 
king, who at once thwarted the measures 
of his new ministers, and corresponded 
with the princes. They began by de- 
priving him of the means of defence and 
attack, by disbanding his constitutional 
guard, and decreed the formation of a 
camp of 20,000 men near Paris. It was 



evident they wished either to dethrone 
the king, or to induce him, by dint of 
mortifications, to abdicate. The unfortu- 
nate Louis adopted several hasty and un- 
seasonable measures, amongst which was 
the act of dismissing his ministry. Im- 
mediately after this was known, the in- 
habitants of Paris rose, and, passing the 
assembly with symbols grotesquely hide- 
ous, went to the Tuilleries to insist upon 
placing the red bonnet upon the head of 
the king. The Girondists and Petion 
were accused of aiding this seditious 
conduct ; they, at least, had suffered it ; 
but, when the latter was suspended from 
his authority by the king, he was restored 
by the assembly. 

Suddenly, La Fayette appeared at the 
bar of the assembly, at the head of an 
armed force, to demand the punishment 
of the guilty and the closing of the Jaco- 
bin club, a step which, though it aston- 
ished the demagogues of the day by its 
boldness, effected nothing ; it was sup- 
ported by no authority present, and*ven 
the terrified court yielded it no sanction. 
The king had an insurmountable dislike 
to receiving any constitutional assistance. 
He was now evidently and naturally 
looking for protection from without. 
Three places that had been taken by gen- 
eral Luckner, had been just retaken by 
the enemy ; on this, the animosity against 
the king seemed redoubled, and the Jaco- 
bins demanded his deposition, when a 
scene of a singular description occurred 
in the assembly ; a woman had made an 
appeal to concord from the gallery, and 
painted, in a very lively manner, the evils 
of anarchy ; on which a deputy seized 
the opportunity of proposing to his col- 
leagues to rally round the constitution ; 
that the one party should renounce every 
after-thought of a republic, and the other 
should give up the project of an aristo- 
cratic chamber ; at once all present ap- 
peared inspired with the spirit of recon- 
ciliation ; they mingled with each other ; 
they ran to embrace those on the oppo- 
site benches. But in a moment these 
feelings died away, and they resumed 
their resentment and their opposition. 

The winding up of this catastrophe was 
now fast approaching ; it was decided by a 
declaration that the country was in danger ; 



FRANCE. 



287 



and, when the annual confederation of 
the 14th of July was held, the cry was 
"Petion or death !" for the parties always 
attached themselves to some man in vogue. 
The leaders of the Jacobin club * resolved 



* Three men of terror, whose names will long 
remain, we trust, unmatched in history by those 
of any similar miscreants, had now the unrivalled 
leading of the Jacobins, and were called the Tri- 
umvirate. 

Danton deservesto be named first, as unrival- 
led by his colleagues in talent and audacity. He 
was a man of gigantic size, and possessed a voice 
of thunder. His countenance was that of an 
Ogre on the shoulders of a Hercules. He was 
as fond of the pleasures of vice as of the practice 
of cruelty ; and it was said there were times 
when he became humanized amidst his debauch- 
ery, laughed at the terror which his furious de- 
clamations excited, and might be approached 
with safety, like the Maelstrom at the turn of 
tide. His profusion was indulged to an extent 
hazardous to his popularity, for the populace are 
jealous of a lavish expenditure, as raising their 
favorites too much above their own degree ; and 
the charge of speculation finds always ready cred- 
it with them, when brought against public men. 

Robespierre possessed this advantage over 
Danton, that he did not seem to seek for wealth, 
either for hoarding or expending, but lived in 
strict and economical retirement, to justify the 
name of the Incorruptible, with which he was 
honored by his partisans. He appears to have 
possessed little talent, saving a deep fund of hy- 
pocrisy, considerable powers of sophistry, and a 
cold exaggerated strain of oratory, as foreign to 
good taste, as the measures he recommended 
were to ordinary humanity. It seemed wonder- 
ful, that even the seething and boiling of the rev- 
olutionary cauldron should have sent up from the 
bottom, and long supported on the surface, a 
thing so miserably void of claims to public dis- 
tinction ; but Robes{)ierre had to impose on the 
minds of the vulgar, and he knew how to beguile 
them, by accommodating his flattery to their pas- 
sions and scale of understanding, and by acts of 
cunning and hypocrisy, which weigh more with 
the multitude than the words of eloquence, or 
the arguments of wisdom. The people listened 
as to their Cicero, when he twanged out his apos- 
trophes of Pauvre Peiiple, Pcuple vertueux ! and 
hastened to execute whatever came recommend- 
ed by such honied phrases, though devised by 
the worst of men for the worst and most inhu- 
man of purposes. 

Vanity was Robespierre's ruling passion, and 
though his countenance was the image of his 
mind, he was vain feven of his personal appear- 
ance, and never adopted the external habits of a 
sans culotte. Amongst his fellow Jacobins, he 
was distinguished by the nicety with which his 
hair was arranged and powdered ; and the neat- 
ness of his dress was carefully attended to, so as 
to counterbalance, if possible, the vulgarity of his 
person. His apartments, though small, were ele- 



on an open attack upon the authorities ; 
the refusal of the assembly to encourage 
their animosities against La Fayette, still 
further exasperated them. At length the 
enemy invaded the frontiers ; the mani- 



gant, and vanity had filled them with representa- 
tions of the occupant. Robespierre's picture at 
length hung in one place, his miniature in anoth- 
er, his bust occupied a niche, and on the table 
were disposed a few medallions exhibiting his 
head in profile. The vanity which all this indi- 
cated was of the coldest and most selfish charac- 
ter, being such as considers neglect an insult, 
and receives homage merely as a tribute ; so 
that, while praise is received without gratitude, it 
is withheld at the risk of mortal hate. Self-love 
of this dangerous character is closely allied with 
envy, and Robespierre was one of the most en- 
vious and vindictive men that ever lived. He 
never was known to pardon any opposition, af- 
front, or even rivalry ; and to be marked in his 
tablets on such an account was a sure, though 
perhaps not an immediate, sentence of death. 
Danton was a hero, compared with this cold, cal- 
culating, creeping miscreant ; for his passions, 
though exaggerated, had at least some touch of 
humanity, and his brutal ferocity was supported 
by brutal courage. Robespierre was a coward, 
who signed death-warrants with a hand that 
shook, though his heart was relentless. He pos- 
sessed no passions on which to charge his crimes ; 
they were perpetrated in cold blood, and upon 
mature deliberation. 

Marat, the third of this infernal triumvirate, 
had attracted the attention of the lower orders, 
by the violence of his sentiments in the journal 
which he conducted from the commencement of 
the Revolution, upon such principles that it took 
the lead in forwarding its successive changes. 
His political exhortations began and ended like 
the howl of a blood-hound for murder ; or, if a 
wolf could have written a journal, the gaunt and 
famished wretch could not have ravined more 
eagerly for slaughter. It was blood which was 
Marat's constant demand, not in drops from the 
breast of an individual, not in puny streams from 
the slaughter of families, but blood in the profu- 
sion of an ocean. His usual calculation of the 
heads which he demanded amounted to two hun- 
dred and sixty thousand ; and though he some- 
times raised it as high as three hundred thousand, 
it never fell beneath the smaller number. It 
may be hoped, and, for the honor of human na- 
ture, we are inclined to believe, there was a 
touch of insanity in this unnatural strain of fero- 
city ; and the wild and squalid features of the 
wretch appear to have intimated a degree of 
alienation of mind. Marat was, like Robespierre, 
a coward. Repeatedly denounced in the Assem- 
bly, he skulked instead of defending himself, and 
lay concealed in some obscure garret or cellar 
among his cut-throats, until a storm appeared, 
when, like a bird of ill omen, his death-screech 
was again heard. Such was the strange and fa- 
tal triumvirate, in which the same degree of can- 



288 



FRANCE. 



festo of the duke of Brunswick irritated 
and distressed the people ; and Petion 
instituted in the sections a deliberation 
as to the expediency of deposing the king. 
On the 9th of August, the insurrection 
that was in preparation was denounced 
to the assembly, which was composed of 
constitutional nobles. A frightful tumult 
took place in the hall, where poniards 
were brandished ; as the night advanced, 
the tocsin sounded, when the Swiss 
guards, some ex-nobles, and volunteers 
of national or disbanded guard, repaired 
to the palace to defend the king. He 
now accepted the proposition made to 
him by Rcederer, the chief attorney of 
the department, to seek an asylum in the 
midst of the assembly, after enlarging Pe- 
tion, who had been detained a prisoner 
in the palace. The insurrection, how- 
ever, proceeded. The Jacobin club had 
installed in the commune a municipality 
devoted to Danton ; confusion reigned in 
the palace, until the Marseillais, who 
formed the advanced guard of tho mob, 
though at first repulsed by the brave 
Swiss, returned with fury to the charge ; 
and their cannon, aided by a multitude 
armed in haste, entirely overthrew the 
ancient throne of France. 

The assembly, in confusion, pronounced 
the deposition of the king, and removed 
him to the Temple with his family ; while 
the statues of all the kings, even that of 
Henry IV, and the insignia of royalty, 
were trampled under foot by the mob. 
An extraordinary tribunal, over which 
Danton, the minister of justice, presided, 
shed torrents of blood. The first days of 
September were signalized by the mas- 
sacre of several thousand citizens, with 
whom the prisons were crowded ; and 
those detained by the high court insti- 
tuted at Orleans for crimes against the 
state were assassinated. 

Soon after midday, on the 2nd of Sept. 
as the mob gathered in the Place before 
the Hotel de Ville, a number of priests 



nibal cruelty existed under different aspects. 
Danton murdered to glut his rage ; Robespierre, 
to avenge his injured vanity, or to remove a rival 
whom he envied ; Mavat, from the same instinc- 
tive love of blood, which induces a wolf to con- 
tinue his ravage of the flocks long after his hunger 



under accusation, amounting to twenty- 
four, were brought forth and placed in 
coaches to be transferred to the prison of 
the Abbaye. They set forth escorted by 
the Marseillais and by the mob, who pur- 
sued them with execrations and menaces. 
They reached at length the court of the 
prison, where Maillard and his band await- 
ed the first victims of the day. As each 
ecclesiastic descended from the carriage, 
he was stricken dowm by a hundred blows. 
Of the twenty-four, the abbe Sicard, the 
philanthropic instructor of the deaf and 
dumb, alone escaped, and that almost by 
miracle. Billaud-Varcennes, officer of 
the municipality, arrived just as the last 
victim fell, and exclaimed, " People, you 
do your duty! Immolate your enemies!" 
"There is nothing more to do here," 
cried Maillard ; " to the Carmes !" This 
was a convent, in which two hundred of 
the principal ecclesiastics of the kingdom 
were confined. One by one they were 
led forth and massacred. Some of the 
assassins had particular victims, to des- 
patch, and were obliged to wipe the 
faces of the dead in order to ascertain 
whether the task was surely fulfilled. 

Thence the assassins returned to the 
Abbaye, and proceeded in form. They 
prepared a table. Maillard constituted 
himself judge, with a dozen aids or as- 
sessors. He called for a hst of the pris- 
oners, which was delivered, the very 
jailer fainting with horror at the scene 
which must follow. Maillard then ad- 
dressed his comrades with the mockery 
of reason and calmness ; and passed a 
panegyric upon justice. " Do you," said 
he to the band of assassins, "place your- . 
selves outside the gate. When I pro- 
nounce that the culprit should be trans- 
ferred to La Force, strike him down and 
slay him as he goes out." The artifice 
was applauded, as preventing struggles 
and difiiculties ; and the prisoners sum- 
moned. The first were Swiss. They 
met with no favor ; were ordered out of 
the gate and massacred. Next Mont- 
morin was brought forth, he whose mock 
acquittal served as a pretext for these 
crimes ; and underwent his fate. This 
scene was continued till late in the 
night ; the assassins pausing at times to 
refresh themselves with wine. The wo- 



FRANCE. 



289 




Murder of Princess dc Lamballe. 



men, however, were spared. The daugh- 
ter of the singular Cazotte saved her 
aged parent. Mademoiselle de Sombreuil 
made the same eflbrts in behalf of her 
father, when a ruffian presented her with 
a goblet of blood, saying, " Drink, drink 
the blood of the aristocrats !" To have 
some claim to pity, she actually swallow- 
ed the horrid draught, and M. de Som- 
breuil was spared. Others were pre- 
served by the display of courage, and ex- 
torted pardon by exciting admiration ; 
such is the caprice of crime. One thou- 
sand livi-es are registered in the books of 
the municipality as payment for these 
deeds. Each prison presented a similar 
scene. The number massacred is calcu- 
lated at 13,000. 

Amongst those confined at La Force was 
the unfortunate and lovely princess de 
Lamballe, the friend of Marie Antoinette. 
She met no mercy. The pen refuses to 
trace the horrors committed on her re- 
mains. Her head, borne on a pike, was 
brought in procession to the Temple, 
where the commune had confined Louis 
and his queen. They were startled bj^ 
the unusual tumult, and demanded the 
cause. Rushing to look at a window, 
Marie Antoinette was prevented by her 
37 



guards. She pressed for explanation ; 
and it was given ; "they sought to pre- 
vent herbeholdingthe head of the princess 
Lamballe !" She fainted at the word in 
the arms of the no less wretched monarch. 

Whilst the municipality, under the or- 
ders of the minister of justice, thus perpe- 
trated the disgrace of the nation, the le- 
gislative assembly, ashamed, indignant, 
but powerless, sat witnessing the crimes 
which its conduct had hiduced, and 
which it could not prevent. Its legal 
authority was expiring; the elections 
had already commenced for returning tlie 
members of the future convention ; not, 
however, ere it had abdicated all real 
power and influence in favor of the san- 
guinary commune. Thus the first nation- 
al assembly expired in an act of folly, 
the last in blood and crime. 

While the French were thus destroying 
each other, they resisted invasion with 
astonishing devotion and firmness ; the 
king of Prussia, who had penetrated as far 
as the plains of Champagne, was checked 
in his march by Dumouriez, and beaten 
by Kellerman ; 300,000 men hastened, at 
the call of their country, to the frontiers, 
with an enthusiasm that only belonged to 
the period of the revolution. 



290 



FRANCE 



The legislative assembly had summon- 
ed a convention, vv'hich, on the 21st of 
September, began its operations by abol- 
ishing royalty, and proclaiming the re- 
public. It immediately assumed to itself 
the whole power, even the judiciary ; for 
it proceeded to judge Louis XVI, whom 
oidy part of its members had accused. 
The enemy was at the gates, and an- 
archy and treason existed in the interior ; 
to proceed, a species of dictatorship, the 
French say a despotism, was neces- 
sary. 

This monstrous despotism had a thou- 
sand heads, and three principal directing 
powers ; the convention, the Jacobin club, 
and the commune of Paris ; the two last 
were the most real, and certainly the 
most illegal. The assembly was shared 
between the Girondists and the Jacobins, 
when the struggle finally commenced. 
The former pos essed fine talents ; the 
latter derived their strength from the club 
and the commune. The execrable Ma- 
rat and the horrible Hebert assisted 
these, by rousing the passions of the 
people with the bait of an impossible 
equality, until they drew the Marseillais 
into their party ; and a man who, under 
the calm external show of moderation 
and patriotism, concealed a cruel fanati- 
cism, a man, whose wickedness can only 
be accounted for from his envy, Robes- 
pierre, conceived the design of elevating 
himself on the ruins of the state. In vain 
did the courageous Louvet attack him ; 
the hypocrite of citizenship meditated a 
terrible vengeance, in which all France 
was doomed to suffer. 

The Mountain, or the Jacobins, (so 
called from their sitting on the high seats 
of the amphitheatre of the hall of the 
convention,) formed the first thought of 
sacrificing Louis as a victim to the con- 
solidation of the republic. It is said that 
the Girondists wished to save him ; but 
several of them condemned him. Males- 
herbes in vain exerted the eloquence of 
friendship in favor of the king. Vergni- 
aud also made some ineffectual efforts ; 
but the hall of the convention was sur- 
rounded by a ferocious mob, who threat- 
ened the judges ; while the mountain 
dictated the sentence. The guilt of the 
unfortunate monarch was almost unani- 



mously voted ; one-third of the assembly, 
however, wished for an appeal to the 
sanction of the people ; 387 voted for his 
death ; 334 demanded either imprison- 
ment, banishment, or death, with a formal 
reprieve. 

The sentence of death was pronoun- 
ced early on the morning of the 17th of 
January, (1793,) after a sitting which 
had been continued throughout the night 
from the preceding day. M. Males- 
herbes, his counsel, was the first person 
who communicated this decision to the 
unfortunate monarch. Having been ad- 
mitted into the tower of the Temple 
about nine o'clock in the morning, M. 
Malesherbes found his majesty, he tells 
us, seated in the shade, his back being 
turned to a lamp which was placed on 
the mantel-piece, his legs supported on 
the table, and his face covered with his 
hands. He had been fully prepared for 
the tidings which M. Malesherbes came 
to announce to him, and was much less 
moved than the good old man who had 
to make the distressing communication, 
and who had not till the last ceased to 
hope for a different result. His faithful 
valet, Clery, has given us a minute and 
interesting detail of the conduct of his 
royal master during the few remaining 
days he was permitted to live. In con- 
versing with Clery after M. Malesherbes 
had retired, he expressed himself satis- 
fied that little was to be expected from 
the demand for a delay in the execution 
of the sentence, which it had been de- 
termined shoidd be addressed to the Con- 
vention. It afflicted him patricularly, 
he said, that the duke of Orleans, his 
relation, had voted for his death. What 
occasioned him most grief and anxiety 
in regard to his own fate was the deso- 
late state in which he must leave his wi- 
dow and family. He expected to have 
seen M. Malesherbes again that even- 
ing ; but he did not make his appear- 
ance, not having, it appears, been admit- 
ted when he applied at the gate of the 
prison. The continued absence during 
the next and the following days of this, 
the only friend whom he had been per- 
mitted to see, gave the king much unea- 
siness. During the 18th, he employed 
himself principally in reading ; the vol- 



FRANCE. 



291 



ume wluch he chose being that of 
Hume's History of England, which 
contained an account of the death of 
Charles I. 

On the 19th, at nine in the morning, 
Gobeau, an officer of the municipality, 
presented himself, accompanied by Ma- 
they, the jailor ; for the purpose, as he 
stated, of taking an inventory of the 
king's effects. While Gobeau, assisted 
by Clery, was employed at this work, 
Mathey stood before the fire, with his 
back to it and his coat tucked up ; nor 
did he show any inclination to shift his 
position when his majesty, who had 
been sitting for some time in a small ad- 
joining closet without a chimney, ap- 
proached to warm himself. This rude- 
ness and inhumanity provoked Louis to 
forget for a moment his usual meekness ; 
and, in a somewhat sharp tone, he de- 
sired the man to stand a little aside. 
Mathey said nothing, but retired. 

On the 20th, which was Sunday, he 
was occupied during the earlier part of 
the day in reading and writing, as was 
his custom. At two o'clock the min- 
isters of justice and of foreign affairs, 
and some ten or twelve other persons, 
composing what was called the Execu- 
tive Council, made their appearance, 
conducted by Santerre. As soon as they 
had entered the apartment, Garat, the 
minister of justice, without taking off his 
hat, addressed his majesty as follows : 
"Louis, the National Convention has 
charged the Provisionary Executive Coun- 
cil to communicate to you its decrees of 
the 15th, 16th, 17th, 19th, and 20th of 
January; the secretary of the Council 
will read them to you." Grouvelle, the 
secretary, then, unfolding a paper which 
he held in his hand, proceeded to read 
the decrees in a weak and tremulous 
voice. They consisted of four articles, 
and declared, in substance, that Louis 
Capet, the last king of the French, hav- 
ing been guilty of conspiring against the 
liberty of the nation, should undergo the 
punishment of death ; that the appeal to 
the nation, which he had claimed, should 
not be allowed; but that the Executive 
Council should see to the execution of 
the sentence within twenty-four hours. 
Louis listened to these intimations with- 



out emotion ; and receiving the paper 
from Grouvelle, deliberately folded it up 
and deposited it in his pocket-book. Then 
taking out another paper, he presented it 
to Garat, requesting him to lay it imme- 
diately before the Convention ; but when 
the minister appeared to hesitate about 
accepting it, Louis said that he wdVjld 
read it to him before putting it into his 
hands, which he did immediately in his 
usual tone of voice. It contained a de- 
mand, first, for a delay of three days to 
enable him to prepare himself for death, 
and permission to see, for that purpose, 
a priest whom he should name, and whose 
safety should be perfectly secured ; sec- 
ondly, for some relaxation of the constant 
surveillance to which he had recently 
been subjected, two guards having been 
stationed in his apartments, whose orders 
were never to allow him to be a moment 
out of their view, either during the day or 
the night ; and thirdly, for the privilege, 
during the time he was to live, of seeing his 
family when he chose, and without any 
one being present. He also requested 
that the Convention would, after his death, 
permit his family to retire without moles- 
tation to whatever country they might 
wish to go to ; and he recommended 
those who had adhered to liim in his ad- 
versity, and whose services he had not 
the means of recompensing, as well as 
many aged persons, females and children, 
to whom he had been in the habit of dis- 
pensing charity, to the benevolence of 
the nation. When he heard it read, Ga- 
rat took the paper, and promised that he 
would forward it immediately to the Con- 
vention. The Council then retired. 

On dinner being brought in immediately 
after this, it was found that the mimici- 
pality had given orders that the use of a 
laiife should no longer be allowed to 
their prisoner. "Do they believe me 
such a fool," said the king, " that I would 
attempt my life ? I am innocent of the 
crimes which they impute to me, and I 
shall die without fear." No one else 
spoke. The king ate little, cutting the 
meat with his spoon ; and the dinner was 
over in a few minutes. 

About six o'clock in the evening Garat 
and Santerre returned, when the former 
informed his majesty that his letter had 



>92 



FRANCE. 



been laid before the Convention, and that 
they had decreed that he should be per- 
mitted to call in what minister of religion 
he might think proper, and to see his fam- 
ily freely, and without any one being 
present. The nation, it was added, al- 
ways great, and always just, would see 
to ftie condition of his family, and pay 
his creditors whatever might be due to 
them ; but as to his demand for a delay 
of three days, upon that the Convention 
had passed to the order of the day. 

Nothing more, therefore, now remain- 
ed to the unfortunate king, except to avail 
himself, as the time permitted, of the 
scanty privileges which had been ac- 
corded to him. He prepared, in the first 
place, to see his wife and children ; but 
it was some time before every thing coidd 
be arranged for the interview. Although 
the decree of the Convention seemed to 
have given him permission to meet them 
alone, it was determined, in order to sat- 
isfy the letter of the previous instructions 
which had been issued by the municipali- 
ty, that his guard should observe what 
took place through some panes of glass 
which were in the door of the dining- 
room, the door itself being shut ; and that 
consequently the interview should take 
place in that apartment. At last, soon 
after eight o'clock, every thing being in 
readiness, his majesty sent to desire the 
presence of the objects of his affection. 
The messenger was absent on his er- 
rand about a quarter of an hour. " Du- 
ring this interval," says Clery, the king 
re-entered his closet, coming from time 
to time to the door, with symptoms of the 
liveliest emotion. At half-past eight the 
door opened ; the queen appeared first, 
holding her son by the hand ; then the 
princess royal and madame Elizabeth : 
all threw themselves into the arms of 
the king. A deep silence reigned for 
some minutes, interrupted only by sobs. 
The queen made a movement, with the 
object of leading his majesty towards his 
chamber. " No," said the king, " let us 
pass into this room — I can only see you 
there." They entered, and I shut the 
door, which was a glazed one. The 
king sat down, the queen placing herself 
on his left, madame Elizabeth on his 
right, the princess royal almost opposite 



to him, while the young prince remained 
standing between liis legs ; all were bent 
towards him, and often clasped him in 
in their arms. This scene of grief lasted 
for an hour and three quarters, during 
which it was impossible to hear any thing 
that was said ; we could only perceive 
that after every expression of the king, 
the sobs of the princesses redoubled, 
lasting for some minutes, and that then 
the king re-commenced speaking. At a 
quarter past ten the king rose first, and 
all followed him ; I opened the door ; 
the queen held the king by the right arm ; 
their majesties gave each one hand to 
the dauphin ; the princess royal, on the 
left, clung to the king with her arm around 
his waist ; madame Elizabeth on the 
same side, but not quite so far in advance, 
had seized the left arm of her august 
brother ; they moved some steps towards 
the door, uttering the most agonizing 
groans. "I assure you," said the king, 
"that I will see you to-morrow morning 
at eight." "You promise us," repeated 
they all together. " Yes I promise you." 
" Why not at seven ?" said the queen. 
" Well then," answered the king, " at 
seven — adieu !" He pronounced this 
adieu in so impressive a manner that their 
distress and sobbing were redoubled. 
The princess royal fell down in a swoon 
at the feet of the king, to whom she 
clung ; I lifted her up, and assisted mad- 
ame Elizabeth in supporting her ; the 
king, wishing to put an end to this lacer- 
ating scene, bestowed upon them once 
more the most tender embraces, and then 
had the strength to tear himself from their 
arms. " Adieu — adieu !" he said, and re- 
entered his chamber. 

Before this the abbe Edgeworth de 
Firmont, the priest whom the king had 
desired to be sent for, had been brought 
to the tower ; and during this distressing 
interview he was in an adjoining closet, 
where his majesty joined him immediate- 
ly after his family had retired. When 
supper was over, at wdiich the king eat 
sparingly, but with appetite, the necessa- 
ry articles for the celebration of mass the 
following morning were sent for to the 
neighboring church of the Capuchins in 
Marais. The remainder of the night, till j 
half past twelve, Louis passed with his ' I 



FRANCE. 



293 



confessor. He then retired to bed ; and 
having desired his valet to awaken him 
at five, fell immediately into a profound 
slumber. 

The noise made by Clery in lighting 
the fire awoke him at the hour at which 
he had desired to be called ; when he 
rose and proceeded to dress, remarking 
that he had slept well, a refreshment of 
which he had had ,much need from the 
fatigues of the preceding day. At six 
o'clock the performance of mass com- 
menced ; after which his majesty took 
the sacrament. He then took Clery 
aside, and putting into his hands a seal 
which he had taken from his watch, and 
a ring he used to wear, he ordered him 
to give the one to his son, and the other 
to the queen ; " Tell her ," said he, "that 
I quit it with pain." " This little packet," 
he continued, " contains the hair of all 
my family ; give it also to the queen. 
Say to her, to my dear children, to my 
sister, that I had promised to see them 
this morning, but that I wished to spare 
them the distress of so cruel a separation. 
Alas, how much it costs mc to leave them 
without receiving their last embraces ! 
I charge you to carry them my farewell." 
He uttered these last words in a voice of 
the deepest sorrow, and with the tears 
rolling down his cheeks. 

The following is the conclusion of Cla- 
ry's narrative : " Paris had been under 
arms since five o'clock ; we heard the 
beating of the generale, the clashing of 
arms, the trampling of horses, the wheel- 
ing about of cannons, which they were 
placing and displacing every instant ; all 
these noises resounded through the tow- 
er. At nine the noise augmented, the [ 
doors were thrown open with obstrepe- 1 
rous jar, and Santerre, accompanied by I 
seven or eight members of the municipali- ! 
ty, entered at the head of ten gendarmes, '. 
whom he ranged in two lines. At this 
commotion the king came forth from his \ 
closet. " You are come for me ?" said j 
he to Santerre. "Yes." "I beg one 
minute," he replied, and re-entered the 
closet. He returned immediately, his j 
confessor following him. The king held 
his testament in his hand, and, address- 
ing himself to one of the members of the 
mimicipality, a priest who had taken the 



oaths, named Jacques Roux, who hap- 
pened to stand foremost, "I request," he 
said, that you will give this paper to the 
queen — to my wife." " That is no busi- 
ness of mine," answered the priest, while 
he refused to receive the manuscript ; " I 
am here to conduct you to the scaffold." 
His majesty then addressing himself to 
Gobeau, another member of the munici- 
pality, requested him to take charge of 
the paper and deliver it ; adding, " You 
may read it ; it contains some dispositions 
with which I am desirous that the Com- 
mune should be acquainted." I stood 
behind the king, near the fire-place, when 
he turned round, and I presented to him 
his great coat {redingote.) "I do not re- 
quire it," said he, "give me only my hat." 
As I gave it to him, his hand met mine, 
which he clasped for the last time. " Gen- 
tlemen," said he, addressing himself to 
the members of the municipality, " I 
should wish Clery to remain with my 
son, who is accustomed to his attentions ; 
I hope that the Commune will entertain 
this request." Then looking to Santerre, 
he added, " Let us go." These were the 
last words which he pronouncd in his 
apartment. At the top of the stairs he 
met Mathey the jailor, and said to him, 
" I spoke a little sharply the day before 
yesterday to you — do not bear me a 
grudge for it." Mathey made no reply, 
and aflected even to retire when the 
king spoke to him. I remained alone in 
the chamber, struck down with grief, and 
almost deprived of feeling. The drums 
and trumpets announced that his majesty 
had quitted the tower. An hour after, 
voUies of artillery and cries of Vive la 
Nation ! Vive la Republique ! were 
heard. The best of kings was no more. 
The Abbe Edgeworth, who accompa- 
nied Louis to the scaffold, has given us 
an account of the progress of the king 
from his prison to the place of execution, 
as well as of his last moments. In 
crossing the court of the Temple he 
twice turned round and looked up to the 
apartments in which his family were con- 
fined, as if to bid them his last farewell. 
At the entry of the second court a car- 
riage stood waiting with two gendarmes 
standing at the door, one of whom en- 
tered, and took his place in front on the 



294 



FRANCE. 



approach of the King. The King him- 1 
self, his confessor, and the other gen- 
darme then successively followed ; the 
door was shut by the last, and they drove j 
off at a slow pace. From the first Louis 
avoided all conversation, but continued j 
to peruse a breviary which M. Edgeworth 
had given him, occasionally reciting along 
with that gentleman certain psalms ap- 
plicable to his situation. Their progress 
lasted nearly two hours. " All the 
streets," continues the Abbe, " were lined 
with several rows of citizens, armed 
some with pikes, and others with mus- 
kets. Besides this, the carriage itself 
was surrounded by an imposing body of 
troops ; and, to complete their precau- 
tions, they had placed before the horses 
a multitude of persons with drums, that 
the noise of these instruments might 
drown any cries which might be raised 
in favour of the King. But whence 
could such cries have proceeded ? No- 
body appeared either at the doors or 
windows, and in the streets were only to 
be seen the rows of armed citizens. In 
this manner the carriage arrived amidst 
the deepest silence at the Place Louis 
XV, and stopped in the middle of a large 
empty space which had been formed 
around the scaflbld. This space was 
surrounded by cannons ; and beyond it, 
as far as the eye could reach, was to be 
seen a multitude in arms. As soon as 
the King perceived that the carriage had 
stopped, he turned towards me and said, 
" We have reached the place, then, if I 
am not mistaken." 

The particulars that follow we collect 
from difTerent narratives. It appears that 
immediately on the carriage halting, one 
of the executioners advanced and opened 
the door, on which the two gendarmes 
rose to step out ; but before they went, 
the King, with a firm and dignified ac- 1 
cent, charged them with the protection of I 
his confessor from any insult to which 
he might be exposed after his death. He j 
then descended to the ground with a 
steady step. He was dressed in a brown | 
coat, a white vest, gray-coloured small 
clothes, and white stockings. " On de- 
scending from the carriage," says San- 
son (the person who executed the sen- 
tence,) in a narrative which M. Dulaure 



has printed, " he was told that it would 
be necessary to pull off his coat'; he 
made some difficulty as to this, saying 
that they could execute him as he was. 
When it was represented to him that the 
thing was impossible, he himself assisted 
in pulling off his coat. He made the 
same difficulty when his hands were 
going to be tied, but offered them of his 
own accord, when the person who was 
with him (M. Edgworth) observed that 
it was the last sacrifice. He then in- 
quired if the drums were not to cease 
beating. We replied that we did not 
know, which was the truth. He ascend- 
ed the scaffold, and wished to advance 
to the front, as if for the purpose of 
speaking ; but it was represented to him 
that the thing was impossible. He then 
suffered himself to be conducted to the 
spot where we placed him, and from 
which he called out with a very loud 
voice : People, I die innocent ; then, turn- 
ing to us, he said G entlemen, I am inno- 
cent of all they accuse me of ; may my 
blood cement the happiness of Frenchmen. 
These were his true and last words." 
" To render homage to the truth," con- 
cludes Sanson, "he sustained the whole 
with a sang-froid and a firmness which 
astonished us all. I remain very much 
convinced that he had derived this firm- 
ness from the principles of religion, Avith 
which no person ever appeared more 
penetrated than he was, or more persua- 
ded of their truth." 

According to the Abbe Edgeworth 
(and his account is confirmed by M. 
Goret) Louis was prevented from con- 
tinuing his address by a man on horse- 
back, dressed in the uniform of a national 
guard, who rushing suddenly sword in 
hand, and with ferocious cries, upon 
the persons with the drums, compelled 
them to beat their instruments with re- 
doubled vigor. This was Santerre, 
then commander-in-chief of the national 
guard. Several voices were raised at 
the same time," proceeds M. Edgeworth, 
" to encourage the executioners ; they 
themselves appeared to acquire more 
confidence, and, seizing forcibly the most 
virtuous of kings, they drew him under 
the axe, which, at a single stroke made 
his head fall from his body. All this 



FRANCE. 



295 



was the work of a few seconds : the 
youngest of the executioners (he did not 
appear to be more than eighteen years of 
age) immediately took up the head and 
showed it to the people, making the round 
of the scaffold; he accompanied this 
monstrous ceremony by the most atro- 
cious cries and the most indecent ges- 
tures. The deepest silence reigned at 
first ; after a short time some cries of 
Vive la Republique arose. By degrees the 
voices so exclaiming grew more numer- 
ous ; and in less than ten minutes the 
cry became that of the whole multitude, 
and all their hats were waving in the 
air." The influence of the Mountain or 
ultra democratic party, continued to in- 
crease rapidly in the convention after the 
death of the king. 

La Vendee now rose, and the continent 
as well as England armed in hostility to the 
convention, whom nothing seemed to in- 
timidate. Fourteen armies, without ex- 
perience, and merely with the aid of pa- 
per-money, were set in motion. Custine 
took Mentz ; Montesqieu invaded Savoy ; 
Lille repulsed the Austrians, who bom- 
barded the city ; and Dumouriez, making 
a descent upon Belgium, carried the re- 
doubts of Jcmappe with the bayonet, now 
substituted for the old French tactics. 
The generals had only to sound the Mar- 
seillais hymn, and the citizen soldiers 
saw in the republic a futurity of peace 
and prosperity; although the roots of 
what was called the tree of liberty had 
been saturated with blood. A descen- 
dant of Turenne was honored with the 
title of the first grenadier in France : a 
Biron marched against the royalists in 
La Vendee. The young Orleans fought 
for national independence, while his 
father, under the name of Egalite, passed 
from the Mountain, where he sat, to the 
scaffold where he perished. 

But the Mountain men still meditated 
vengeance on the Girondists for their 
superiority, their constant opposition to \ 
their atrocities, their denunciations of 
Marat, and their causing the arrest of 
Hebert. After a new attempt at assassin- 
ation, the Mountain ordered an insurrec- 
tion. A hired multitude went on the 
31st May, to dictate to the representation 
and on the 2nd of the next month de- 



manded twenty-two heads that had been 
pointed out to it among the Girondists ! 
The proscribed all perished, with the 
exception of one who survived the entire 
revolution, the virtuous Languinois. The 
first attack on the inviolability of the 
representation became a fatal example. 
Seventy-three deputies were decreed in 
a state of arrest ; and though a constitu- 
tion was drawn up, it was strangled in its 
birth, and the revolutionary government, 
or regime of terror, was organized, the ad- 
ministration of which was the guillotine, 
and its functionaries the executioners. 

On learning the proscription of the Gi- 
rondists, a young, enthusiastic Norman 
girl, named Charlotte Corday, resolved 
to avenge their fall. For this purpose 
she set out from Caen in Normandy and 
arrived in Paris on the 11th of July, and 
spent some days in seeing the abodes 
and learning the motions of the sanguin- 
ary triumvirate. She determined to im- 
molate one of them ; and Marat appear- 
ed to her to be the most guilty and most 
atrocious. But he no longer went abroad 
to the convention ; suffering under a con- 
tinual fever, which he allayed by frequent 
baths, and indulged by denunciations and 
proscriptions, sent forth either in his daily 
journal, or in letters to the convention. 
He was then clamorous, like a hound for 
his meal delayed, that Custines and Bi- 
ron, the two generals in command, were 
aristocrats worthy of condemnation and 
the guillotine. Charlotte Corday went 
to the abode of the monster; a female 
with whom he lived denied her entrance : 
she insisted, saying she had matters of 
importance to communicate, having just 
arrived from Caen. Marat, who was 
extended in his bath in an adjoining 
chamber, caught the word, cried out that 
the young girl should be admitted, and 
eagerly commenced inquiries relating to 
the Girondist deputies then at Caen. He 
carefully noted down her replies, mutter- 
ing, " they shall all go to the guillotine," 
when Charlotte Corday approached and 
plunged a knife into his breast. His 
cry for help brought his mistress ; and 
she, a crowd. The monster had expired, 
the words of blood still in his mouth. 
Charlotte Corday stood by unmoved, in 
the calm serenity of heroism, avowing 



296 



FRANCE. 



and glorifying in the deed. Such was 
lier countenance at her trial ; such did it 
continue at her execution, which took 
place in a few days after, amidst the ex- 
ecrations of the mob ; whilst Marat was 
borne to his tomb lamented by thousands. 

The convention is a political phenom- 
enon, which has existed but once ; and 
its terrible power was wielded by men of 
the lowest ambitions. The Mountain 
was a volcano, which vomited its fires 
over Europe, while it inundated France 
with its incendiary lava ; and the Jaco- 
bin club, the caves where the thunder- 
bolts of power were forged. Still these 
fanatics of liberty remained poor, while 
they were denouncing death on the rich ; 
as they depopulated the earth, while 
they were promising themselves to share 
its blessings and live like brethren. Ev- 
ery thing in fact was immolated to the 
fierce inflexibility of their passions. 

Some attempts, however, were made 
to shake off this frightful yoke. The 
Girondists and constitutionalists, who 
had been proscribed as moderate men 
and as wishing to break the unity of the 
republic, rose at Caen and Lyons ; when 
the convention decreed that Lyons should 
be destroyed. Marseilles was decima- 
ted, and its name suppressed. Toulon 
opened its gates to the English, but Nan- 
tes repulsed the Vendeans. The Moun- 
tain sent out its chiefs on all sides to es- 
tablish its power; a revolutionary army 
followed them ; they established in fact 
a mission of terror, and extended their 
works of death even to St. Domingo. 
The Noyades of Carrier and the atroci- 
ties of licbon are well known. Every 
where tribunals of blood were in horri- 
ble activity; even the camps were not 
an asylum ; Houchard, who had just con- 
quered the English at Ilondcoot, soon 
followed his predecessor Custine to the 
scaffold. To crown these evils, industry 
and commerce were prescribed. Requi- 
sitions and a maximum, which heavily 
taxed provisions, produced a famine ; the 
west of France was soon in a state of 
revolution, caused by the same men who 
pronounced as legislators the abolition of 
the punishment of death, and founded 
the conservatories and the polytechnic 
school. 



I The most remarkable event in the mil* 
itary history of 1793, is the siege of Tou- 
lon, not so much from its importance, as 
from its first bringing to light the talents 
of Napoleon Buonaparte. He was born 
in Corsica, of a good family, in 1769, and 
educated at the artillery school of Brienne. 
As all the students of this establishment, 
and, indeed, all intended to hold rank in 
the army under the ancient regime, were 
noble, the officers emigrated at the com- 
mencement of the revolution ; Buonaparte 
and three comrades being the only ones 
that remained of his regiment. The 
place of an ofhcer of artillery could not 
be supplied from the lower and uninform- 
ed ranks of life, as those of the line were 
in France ; and thus he found himself, 
at the age of twenty-four, with the rank 
of major, and the chief of his army be- 
fore Toulon. Two successive generals 
appointed to command the siege were 
totally ignorant of their profession. The 
members of the convention present with 
this army were self-sufficient, and still 
less capable of conducting a siege. The 
task fell upon young Buonaparte, who 
had not only to devise good counsel, but 
to make it prevail. The latter he effect- 
ed by reports and written plans, that pro- 
ved his talents to the war committee at 
home, as his acts proved ihem to the be- 
sieging army. Instead of making a reg- 
ular attack upon the main fortification, he 
proposed to get possession of the prom- 
inent points commanding the harbor, 
which would render it untenable to the 
English fleet. Were this once eflected, 
the motley garrison he knew would not 
hold the town. Although amounting to 
14,000, it numbered but 3000 English. 
Even their commander, O'Hara, was ta- 
ken in a sortie. The important posts 
designated by Buonaparte were captured ; 
and as the cannon from them reached 
the fleet the evacuation of the town was 
decided on. The English, in departing, 
set fire to the magazines, and to the 
French fleet, consisting of nine vessels 
of the line and four frigates ; a melan- 
choly spectacle to the men of Toulon, an 
exasperating one to their republican con- 
querors. The circumstances of the siege 
were, however, useful to the cause of 
the latter. It proved an example to awe 



FRANCE 



297 



all towns and parties from mounting the 
white flag of the Bourbons, or from re- 
ceiving under any pretext the enemies 
of their country within their walls. 

Great talents were certainly displayed 
in the committee of public safety, a se- 
lect part of the Mountain faction. But 
Carnot had only begun to secure victory 
to the French arms by his arrangements, 
when he had to contend with the treason 
of Dumouriez. This general had deliv- 
ered up to the enemy the commissaries 
of the convention, who were coming to 
bring him instructions, and take him back 
to the guillotine. So far he acted in 
self-defence ; but before he emigrated, 
he endeavored to unite the French and 
the Germans against the republic to which 
he owed allegiance, in order to march to 
Paris. The lines of Weissemburg had 
also been siurendered by traitors 

Robespierre was at this period (1794) 
at the zenith of his prosperity. He had 
sacrificed his old associate in crimes, 
Danton, who saw in the revolution the 
means of enriching himself, and who was 
afterwards disowned by the rigid Jaco- 
bins ; and science, reputation, and talents 
became but the watch-word for proscrip- 
tion and death. At last this prince of 
homicides closed his career, by making 
the Mountain itself tremble, demanding 
those purifications which threatened to 
attaint even the executioners themselves. 
Billaud Varennes first shook off the 
yoke ; the Jacobin speculators, the re- 
mains of Danton's party, who saw them- 
selves in danger, united with the remain- 
ing part of the Girondists, and, on the 
9th of Thermidor, Tallien braved and un- 
masked the villain, whom St. Just, his 
confidant, in vain attempted to defend. 
Cries of " down with the tyrant" issued 
from every mouth, Robespierre and his 
party were hurried away ; but the .mob, 
at the sound of the tocsin, rose in their 
favor. Barras now put himself at the 
' liead of the national guard, in the name 
I of the convention ; and they easily made 
I themselves masters of the Hotel de Ville. 
; Robespierre was at last overcome ; and 
1 after having attempted self-destruction, 
I he received his well merited death blow.* 



■ For some time there had been skimiishes in 



But a cruel re-action blemished this cri- 
sis ; the Thermidorians proscribed the 
Mountain in their turn ; and the royalists 

the convention betwixt Robespierre and some of 
the old Mountainists, who showed an inclination 
to form an opposition. Amongst thcni were 
Bourdon, Tallien, Fouche, Barras. With these 
now united the malcontents of the two commit- 
tees. The report of Vadier was publicly read, 
despite the efforts of Robespierre. He retired 
indignant from the convention, and the commit- 
tee ; thus imitating the false steps of Danton, and 
leaving his friends, Couthon and St. Just, to 
strive alone against CoUol, Billaud and Barrere. 
In the Jacobins, however, Robespierre continued 
still paramount. Possessed of them, the organ 
of popularity, and of the municipal force under 
Henriot, he thought he might defy the conven- 
tion. He retired from it, meaning thereby to 
convey a warning and a menace. But conven- 
tion and committee continued their labor, the 
party in opposition gathering numbers, consisten- 
cy, and force, for the struggle that was approach- 
ing. The Jacobin tyrant was reported to demand 
the heads of half the assembly, and much more 
than half were terrified in consequence, and 
alarmed into resistance. He took counsel with 
his immediate friends. The more furious press- 
ed him to seize his antagonists on his own indi- 
vidual authority. But this appeared to him too 
bold a step ; it would alienate the armies. An 
insurrection in form, another 31st of May, ap- 
peared the preferable mode. But he hoped to 
obviate even the necessity of this by intimidation. 
The Jacobins were accordingly worked up to a 
proper pitch of e.xcitement, and on the 25th of 
July, the 7th Thcnnidor, a menacing petition — a 
similar one had preceded the 31st of May — was 
presented to the convention. It was received in 
silence. The members feared alike to reprobate 
or applaud. On the following day, Robespierre 
appeared, ascended the Tribune, and developed 
in a speech of many hours the conduct of his 
whole political life, his aims, his wrongs, his for- 
bearance towards the convention, but at the same 
time his determination to uphold the revolution. 
In plain language, what he meant to utter was 
this : I am in a minority, both in the legislature 
and the government, and the convention, and the 
committees. Restore me to my influence, or 

There ensued a considerable tumult in the 

assembly. Billaud and Vadier each defended 
himself Panis accused Robespierre of prepar- 
ing lists of proscriptions in the Jacobin club, more 
especially against Fouche. Bourdon at length 
proposed instead of ordering the speech to be 
printed, to refer it to the committees. " That i« 
to my enemies," exclaimed the dictator. " Name 
them whom you accuse," was the reply ; in oth- 
er words, " Tell us how many heads you de- 
mand." Had Robespierre had the courage at 
this moment to designate a dozen of his enemies, 
and prove at the same time his cordiality with the 
rest, the twelve would most probably have been 
sacrificed, aivd the tyrant still upheld in his reign. 
He refused to name his victims ; and as each be- 



298 



FRANCE. 



rising in the south organized themselves 
into companies of assassins. 



lieved himself on the fatal list, the only safety 
was in resistance. 

The morrow, 9th Thcrmidor, 27th of July, 
proved decisive. The night was spent by both | 
parties in making preparations for the struggle. | 
When the silting opened, St. Just got posses- 
sion of the tribune, and, under pretence of read- 
ing a report, commenced a denunciation. He 
had already uttered the name of Tallien, when 
that deputy rose to order, asserting that St. Just, 
not having consulted with the committee, had no 
right to read the report. " Let us at once tear 
asunder the veil," said Tallien, commencing his 
attack. But Billaud-Varennes, as member of 
the committee, and more entitled than Tallien to 
denounce, interrupted Tallien, and assumed the 
lead against Robespierre. He told the assembly 
that the Jacobins had sworn yesterday to slaugh- 
ter the convention, and that their only hope con- 
sisted in firmness. He then launched out into a 
ferocious philippic against Robespierre, who 
rushed to the tribune to answer. But universal 
cries of "Down with the tyrant !" drowned his 
voice, and prevented him from being heard. Tal- 
lien succeeded Billaud, already triumphant. The 
refusal to hear Robespierre presaged his fall. 
"Yesterday," said Tallien, " I was present at the 
meeting of the Jacobins, and I shuddered for my 
country. There I saw forming the army of the 
new Cromwell, and I armed myself with a poniard 
to pierce his breast (Tallien showed the weapon) 
in case the convention had not courage to pass 
the decree of accusation." Tallien then propo- 
sed the arrest of Henriot, and that the assembly 
should sit in permanence until the menaced in- 
surrection was put down, and the guilty seized. 
This was passed with acclamation. Robespierre, 
at the foot of the tribune all this time, tried to 
gain possession of it, begged to be heard, and 
foamed at the mouth in frenzy of exertion and 
despair. But the assembly would not hear him. 
Barrere at length got up. It is said that he had 
in his pocket two speeches, one for, one against, 
Robespierre. Seeing the state of feeling, he 
produced and spoke the latter. It defended the 
committees, and accused the tyrant. Tallien 
again followed. It is remarkable, that in all this 
rage, this ample theme of denunciation against so 
manifest a tyrant, there was no eloquence, no 
overwhelming force of accusation. As guilty 
themselves as Robespierre, Billaud and Tallien 
dared not tax him with his crimes. The fears of 
the convention, however, gave it energy. They 
dreaded even to listen to Robespierre, lest they 
should be more awed by his voice than by his 
vengeance. In vain he asked to be heard. He 
turned to all sides of the assembly ; clamors 
only answered him. " President of assassins," 
cried he, " for the last time I ask the liberty to 
speak." His voice and his strength here failed 
him. " The blood of Danton stifles thee," ob- 
served a member. " Ha ! it is Danton you 
would avenge," replied he, snatching at the least 
advantage. His arrest was now unanimously de- 



The Jacobins in 1795 made some fur- 
ther struggles for power: the Thermido- 

creed. Robespierre the younger started up, and 
demanded to be included in the decree ; Couthon, 
St. Just, and Lebon were also added. They 
were ordered to the bar, and descended with im- 
precations ; but not a huissier, or officer of the 
house, could be found bold enough to take the 
dreaded men into arrest. At length some gen- 
darmerie were procured to take charge of them. 
The debate had lasted all day, and the arrest 
was not pronounced till evening. The mayor 
and commune remained in suspense, but Henriot 
collected his gendarmerie, and refused to obey 
the order of the convention depriving him of the 
command. The keepers of the several prisons were 
in the same interest ; they refused to receive the 
arrested members, who were rescued and con- 
veyed to the Hotel de Ville. Thus were the two 
rival powers each in its head-quarters ; the con- 
vention at the Tuilleries, Robespierre and his 
friends at the commune. Each was in posses- 
sion of a certain part of the armed force ; but so 
feeble, that it seemed impossible to strike a de- 
cisive blow on that night. Robespierre was 
grievously disappointed in finding that the rabble 
had not flocked to his standard. Henriot tried 
in vain to raise the fau.xbourgs ; but this could 
only be done by a certain low class of agitators, 
such as the Anarchists and the Cordelier club 
united and held in pay. In crushing these, Robes- 
pierre had destroyed the instruments, and the 
officers in fact, of insurrection, and no aid was 
hence to be obtained. Here then was his blun- 
der. In ruining the mob party, he had cut away 
his own support. The commune, however, had 
some reliance on the sections, and the national 
guard attached to them. But the convention, 
despatching two of its members to each section, 
proved more active than the commune, or than 
Robespierre, who was stupified rather than exci- 
ted to exertion by this his final peril. Henriot, too, 
was an nnfit, a drunken commander. He had 
been seized in the evening at the palace of the 
convention, and afterwards liberated by his 
friends. His approach had thrown the assembly 
in a panic, and they had voted to die at their 
posts. On recovering from their fears, they ap- 
pointed Barras general, and other deputies to act 
under his command. The sections answered the 
appeal of the convention. None but the can- 
noniers adhered to the commune ; and these 
were shaken in their firmness by emissaries who 
penetrated amongst them, and acquainted them 
with the decree outlawing the Robespierres and 
their party. The apathy of the populace, the 
want of spirit in the leaders, who scarcely show- 
ed themselves, but remained in secret and irres- 
olute council, contributed to the defection of the 
cannoniers, the greater part of whom drew off at 
length, and abandoned the Hotel de Ville. Thus, 
about midnight, when the force under the orders 
of the convention surrounded the Hotel and oc- 
cupied the place, there was scarcely a sign of 
resistance. Even within the doors, in the man- 
sion and stronghold of the commune, there was 



il 



FRANCE. 



299 



rians opposed to them tlie " golden youth 
of Frerou," an armed association of all 
those who had to avenge some victim of 
the system of terror, and who sung the 
" awakening of the people !" On the 
12th of Germinal an assemblage of the 
people, excited to violence by the fam- 
ine, was dispersed, and seA^enteen Moun- 
tain men were arrested ; Billaud and Col- 
lot were transported to Guinea. The 
remainder of the Mountain, however, ob- 
tained some advantage on the 1st- of 
Prairial, by getting possession of the 
hall of the convention, where the deputy 
Feraud was assassinated. Already had 
the terrible Faubourg advanced in a col- 
umn. The Thermidorian committees 
were conquerors at last without striking 
a blow; the 31st of May was cruelly 
avenged ; and six Mountain men doomed 
to death, put an end to their own lives. 

little opposition. A few gendarmes were able to 
make their way up the staircases, and to surprise 
the conspirators. 

There is considerable diversity in the narra- 
tives of their final capture. A gendarme, named 
Meda, was most instrumental. In the account 
which he has written, the whole credit is assigned 
to him. It was he who first seized Henriot, who 
commanded the attack, and who first rushed 
amongst the conspirators, shooting Robespierre 
through the jaw with a pistol, and slaying another 
who resisted. Meda's account is, however, set 
aside by both Tiiiers and Mignet, although the 
deputies of the convention attributed to him the 
chief honors of the attack, and although the as- 
sembly voted him thanks. According to the 
prevailing account, Henriot was thrown from a 
window, from which young Robespierre also flung 
himself. Robespierre the elder discharged a pis- 
tol at his own head, which, however, took effect 
but in the jaw. St. Just and Couthon were sent 
to the Conciergerie. Robespierre was conveyed 
to the committee-room of public safety, the hall 
of his reign, laid on the table on which he had 
signed so many death-warrants, and left there to 
await his fate. 

Their outlawry rendering trial unnecessary, 
they were executed on the following day. Robes- 
pierre never spoke after his capture, despite 
the host of questions put, and imprecations heap- 
ed upon him. He died, as well as St. Just, with 
the wonted courage of the time in facing death. 
His brother and Henriot were decapitated also, 
though already expiring from the effects of their 
fall. Simon, the cobbler, and barbarous tutor of 
the unfortunate son of Louis the Sixteenth, was 
executed also. At this time the acclamations 
and applause of the more respectable citizens 
were heard mingling with those of the rabble 
round the fatal scaffold. 



A peace was then concluded with the 
Vendeans, who still entertained the hope 
of an approaching restoration of the 
house of Bourbon. 

By the adoption of a new constitution, 
on the 23rd of October, 1795, France 
secured for itself greater stability in its 
external and internal affairs. According 
to this constitution, the legislative power 
was vested in two councils ; the council 
of five hundred with whom all laws ori- 
ginated, and the council of the ancients 
consisting of 250 members, which adopt- 
ed or rejected the laws sent up to them 
from the other council. The executive 
power was vested in the hands of five 
directors, one of whom was elected an- 
nually. After that Prussia, Spain, Tus- 
cany, and the Elector of Hesse-Cassel 
had concluded a treaty with France ; 
Austria, England, and Russia, united in 
a triple alliance, on the 28th of Septem- 
ber, 1795, with the design of vigorously 
prosecuting the war. The emigrants 
also who had assembled in the Breisgau 
under the prince of Conde, proclaimed 
the count of Provence (Louis XVIIl) 
king. But the French armies, on the 
renewal of the campaign, entered Ger- 
many and Italy as victors ; and the civil 
war in the Vendee was finally put down 
by Hochein 1796. 

The history of France has been be- 
fore likened to a river ; the deep majes- 
tic current of the monarchy burst its 
banks at the revolution, and spread over 
an immense extent, forming in its wide in- 
undation a lake with islands interspersed 
with various channels, inlets, too intricate 
and vast for the eye to grasp at one view. 
Now, however, as the revolution draws 
to its close the current narrows ; and, 
like water at the termination of a lake, 
we see the large events of a nation's 
history contract and deepen, in order to 
run in the bounded channel of an individ- 
ual's fortune. In other words, the history 
of France becomes for a long and glori- 
ous period identified with the life of Na- 
poleon Bonaparte. 

The affair of Toulon opened his ca- 
reer ; thence he joined the army of Italy ; 
where, employed as an engineer, he had 
full opportunity of studying a field of 
warfare destined soon to be that of his 



300 



FRANCE. 



reputation. Suspended and put into arrest 
after Thermidor, he was released on an 
energetic remonstrance, but left without 
employment. He betook himself to Pa- 
ris, where, after some time, he was order- 
ed to La Vendue. But it was not merely 
active service that could satisfy him, but 
an ample field ; he refused to serve 
against the Vendeans, but remained in 
the capital making his way in society, 
and meditating an ambitious marriage, 
since a campaign such as he sought was 
denied. The rebellion of the sections 
in Vendemiaire occurred ; Bonaparte, 
through Barras, took the command against 
them, and was successful ; in recom- 
pense he was appointed general of the 
army of the interior, — of that, in other 
words, destined to act as guards to the 
directory. From this command he was 
appointed, in March, 1796, to that of the 
army of Italy. His marriage with the 
widow of general Beauharnois happen- 
ing simultaneously with the appointment, 
gives some foundation to the rumor that 
tiie interests of her friends, combined 
with his own, procured for him the com- 
mand of an army of activity. Josephine, 
much older than Napoleon, was a native 
of St, Domingo, or Hayti, of engaging 
person, and seems to have inspired him 
with sincere passion. 

In the commencement of the war, the 
Netherlands had principally attracted the 
attention of the forces of the French. 
Here conquerors, and being secure from 
hostilities on the Lower Rhine by peace 
with Prussia, and on the side of the Py- 
renees by that with Spain, they bent their 
eflbrts first to the invasion of Germany 
by the Upper Rhine. The campaign of 
1795 had in this quarter not been attend- 
ed with success ; whilst on the Mediter- 
ranean a partial victory, in which the 
counsels of Bonaparte had no small 
share, had shown Austria to be far more 
vulnerable in that quarter. Whilst Mo- 
reau, a cautious rather than an active 
general, was sent to replace Pichegru on 
the Rhine, Bonaparte was despatched to 
Italy with an army totally destitute of 
warlike equipments. He marched from 
Genoa ; defeated the Austrians and Pied- 
montese in the battles of Montenotte 
fought on the 12lh of April, 1796, and of 



Milesimo on the 14th of the same month; 
compelled the king of Sardinia to con- 
clude a treaty of peace, in which Savoy 
and Nice were given up to France ; on 
the 8th of May crossed the Po ; on the 
succeeding day forced Parma to consent 
to an armstice ; on the 10th, defeated 
general Beaulieu at Lodi ; on the 20th, 
proclaimed the freedom of the Lombard- 
ese ; in the month of June compelled 
Modena, Naples, and the Pope to con- 
clude an armstice ; defeated General 
Wurmser — who had succeeded Beaulieu 
in command — on the 3rd of August at 
Lonado, and on the 5th of that month at 
Castiglione, forcing him to retire into the 
fortress of Mantua ; advanced against the 
Tyrol ; defeated Alvanzi at Arcole on 
the 15th of November, and at Rivoli on 
the 14th January, 1797 ; concluded the 
peace of Tolentino, in which the Pope 
yielded Avignon to France ; and Bolog- 
na, Ferrara, and Romagna to the Cisal- 
pine republic, on the 19th of February ; 
defeated the archduke Charles at Lison- 
zo ; and signed preliminaries of peace 
with Austria at Leoben on the 16th 
of April, 1797, which formed the basis 
of the peace of Campo Formio, conclu- 
ded on the 17th of October following. 

During these victories in Italy, Jour- 
dan penetrated from Dusseldorf into the 
Upper Palatinate, and Moreau from Kehl 
to Munich, after having concluded a peace 
with Baden and Wirtemberg, in August, 
1796. But the archduke Charles crossed 
over to the left bank of the Danube on 
the 17th of August, and defeated Jour- 
dan at Neumark on the 22d, at Amberg, 
on the 24th, at Wurtzburg on the 3d of 
September, at Grossen on the 16th, and 
at Altenkirchen on the 20th of Septem- 
ber ; by which victories he compelled 
Moreau likewise to retire from Bavaria, 
a retreat which he accomplished, with 
consummate prudence and skill, in the 
face of the surrounding Austrians. 

After the overthrow of the constitution 
of the Venetian republic on the 22nd of 
May, 1797, occasioned by a rising of the 
Venetian against the French troops sta- 
tioned in their territory, Austria, in the 
peace of Campo Formio, gave up the 
whole of Belgium to France, and recog- 
nized the Cisalpine republic, to which 



FRANCE. 



301 



she surrendered Milan and Mantua ; 
while, on tlie other hand, she received 
from the Venetian states, Venice, Istria, 
Dalmatia, and the neighboring districts 
extending to the Adige. The remainder 
of the Venetian dominions, and the state 
of the duke of Modena were annexed to 
the Cisalpine republic ; and the seven 
islands belonging to Venice were ceded 
to France. 

In the period between the peace of 
Campo Formio and the renewal of the 
war, a directorial government was formed 
in Batavia, on the 22nd of January, 1799, 
under French influence. The ancient 
constitutions of Switzerland were ex- 
changed, after a series of bloody strug- 
gles, for the new constitution of the Hel- 
vetian republic in March, 1798; and 
Berthier, on the 10th of February, 1798, 
founded a republic with a consular con- 
stitution at Rome, and led pope Pius VI, 
prisoner to France, where he died the 
following year. Bonaparte embarked on 
the 22nd of May, 1798, for Egypt; and 
after having subdued the Mamelukes, 
penetratad even into Syria, but was com- 
pelled to abandon the siege of Acre, and 
to retrace his steps into Egypt. At 
Aboukir he defeated the Turkish forces, 
and leaving Kleber in the command of 
the army, retur^ped to Europe in Septem- 
ber, 1799, at the moment that France 
had exhausted herself in the new war 
against Austria and Russia, with whom 
the Porte had coalesced. 

A new war was begun in November, 
1798, by the king of Naples, Ferdinand 
IV, who had marched into Rome Avith 
the design of re-establishing the dominion 
of the Pope, whereupon the French in- 
stantly proclaimed war against Naples, 
and likewise against Sardinia, under the 
pretext of these powers having secret 
correspondence with the enemies of 
France. General Joubert, on the 9th of 
December, 1798, forced the king of Sar- 
dinia to relinquish Piedmont ; and Cham- 
pionnet in the same month defeated the 
Neapolitans under Mack, and on the 25th 
of January, 1799, proclaimed the Par- 
thenopeian republic. These successes in 
Italy, where the French had also erected 
Tuscany into a republic, were lost in the 
beginning of the war with Russia and 



Austria in March, 1799, when the arch- 
duke Charles defeated the French under 
Jourdan at Ostrach in Suabia on the 21st 
of March, and at Stobach on the 26th ; 
whilst Kray defeated Scherer at Past- 
rengo in Italy on the 26th of March, at 
Verona on the 30lh, and at Margnano on 
the 5th of April ; after which Suwarrow, 
at the head of the Russians and Austrians, 
engaged the French at Cassano on the 
27th of April. Moreau succeeded Sche- 
rer in the command of the French forces ; 
but Macdonald — who after Champion- 
net's arrest, commanded the French at 
Naples — retreated, after Scherer's de- 
feat, from Naples into Upper Italy. He 
fought with great valor from the 12th to 
the 1 8th of June, at Piacenza, against the 
Russians and Austrians, who opposed his 
march to Mantua, but was forced to join 
Moreau with the remains of his army. 
The Russian, Austrian, and French ar- 
mies again measured their strength in 
the battle of Novi, on the 1 5th of August, 
which was begun by Joubert, and con- 
tinued by Moreau, after the former had 
received a mortal vv^ound. After this en- 
gagement, in which the French were 
defeated, both armies retreated into strong 
positions ; and the Russian and Austrian 
forces separated, the first intending to 
penetrate into Switzerland, to unite with 
another Russian army under Korsakow. 
Massena defeated the united forces of 
Korsakow and the Austrians under Hotze, 
at Zurich, on the 25th and 26th of Sep- 
tember, by which victory he maintained 
himself upon the boundaries of Germany 
and Switzerland, and prevented the arch- 
duke Charles from crossing the Rhine ; 
and Brune, on the 9th of September, and 
6th of October, defeated the Russians 
and English troops who had landed in 
the Netherlands. The greatest disunion, 
meanwhile, prevailed in Paris between 
the directory and the legislative body. 

Bonaparte arrived in Paris on the 15th 
of October, 1799. In concert with the 
director Sieyes, he abohshed the third 
French constitution, by occupying the 
hall of the legislative body with troops, 
on the 9th of November, 1799, or the 
1 8th of Brumaire, according to the French 
republican almanac. Sieyes, himself, 
and Roger Ducos, were named consuls 



302 



FRANCE 



ad interim, till the new constitution thus 
forced upon France was proclaimed on 
the 13th of December, and general Bo- 
naparte nominated first consul, Camba- 
ceres and Lebrun being appointed second 
and third consuls. The executive power 
was vested in the three consuls. A sen- 
ate of eighty members, who were to liold 
their office for life, a tribunal of one hun- 
dred members, and a legislative assembly 
of three hundred members, composed the 
other branches of the government. The 
strength and energy of the new govern- 
ment made itself visible in the immediate 
union of the best leaders of all parties, 
and the return of many thousand emi- 
grants in the humbler ranks of life. 

In Italy, at the beginning of 1800,. the 
French retained scarcely any of their 
conquests, except the republic of Genoa, 
and this the Austrians were preparing to 
wrest from them. In the city of Genoa, 
Massena took the command, and resolved 
to defend it to the last extremity. In 
the beginning of April, the Austrian ge- 
neral Melas, and a British fleet, invested 
it so completely, that the communication 
with France was cut off. General Melas j 
having thus prevented the possibility of 
its relief, left some troops before it, and 
marched with the main body against the 
French general Suchet, whom, on the 
7th of May, he totally defeated. In con- 
sequence of this defeat they crossed the 
Var, and entered France, and the Aus- 
tiian general became master of the whole 
department of the maritime Alps. 

On the Rhine, general Moreau was 
opposed to general Kray ; but the latter 
was fettered by the orders which he re- 
ceived from the council of war at Vienna, 
whereas Moreau refused to act according 
to the instructions sent him by the Chief 
Consul, except where his own judgment 
and observation convinced him they were 
wise and practicable. The plan of Mo- 
reau was to cross the Rhine ; in this he 
succeeded, and drove Kray before him 
as far as Ulm : here he fortified himself ; 
but Moreau, manoeuvring in such a man- 
ner as to threaten to cut him off from his 
magazines, the Austrians were obliged 
to fight at Hochstet. The French were 
victorious, and the Austrian general, after 
in vain endeavoring to oppose the enemy 



again at Newburg, was obliged to fall 
back to Ingolstadt. The electorate of 
Bavaria was conquered : the hereditary 
domiuions of Austria were threatened, 
and at Vienna, the popidace demanded 
peace. 

The affairs of Austria, were not more 
promising on the side of Italy. The 
army of reserve that had been collected 
at Dijon, marched, as soon as the cam- 
paign opened on the Rhine, towards Italy, 
Bonaparte joined them near the lake of 
Geneva ; and the passage of the Alps 
was immediately prepared to be under- 
taken. The difficulties only served to 
stimulate the ambition, the energy, and 
the talents of Bonaparte. The trunks 
of trees were hollowed into the forms of 
troughs, that the cannon might slide 
along in them ; the gun carriages were 
conveyed on sledges, and the wheels on 
poles. Their passage was over Mount 
St. Bernard, which the men could only 
ascend one by one, moving with the ut- 
most caution. The descent was still 
more dangerous ; but so admirably were 
the measures of Bonaparte planned and 
executed, that scarcely any lives were 
lost ; and none of the cannon or provi- 
sions were left behind. Thus Avas ef- 
fected the passage of a numerous and 
well-appointed army over the Alps, — an 
enterprise so extraordinar}^, that the Aus- 
trians, from a firm conviction that it was 
absolutely impracticable, never thought 
of opposing it. Aosta, the fort of Bard, 
Ivria, Romagno, and Vercelli.were taken. 
The Tessino was crossed ; Milan entered 
without opposition ; valuable magazines 
were captured at Pavia ; and Placentia 
fell into the possession of Bonaparte, 
who, by his sudden and unexpected ap- 
pearance, and by his subsequent mas- 
terly manoemTcs, completely out-gener- 
aled Melas. 

He did not arrive, however, in time to 
relieve Genoa ; for Messena, after one 
of the most obstinate defences recorded 
in history, during which 15,000 of the 
inhabitants are said to have perished by 
disease and famine, was compelled to 
surrender to the Austrian and British 
commanders on the 5th of June. As 
soon as Genoa fell, Melas despatched 
General Ott with 30 battalions to check 



FRANCE. 



303 



the progress of the French, who hitherto 
had not penetrated further than Piedmont ; 
but that general having suffered a dread- 
ful defeat at Mon Abello, Melas collected 
his whole force between Allessandria and 
Tortona. Here, on the 14th of June, 
Avas fought the battle of Marengo : for 
nine hours the Austrians were victorious ; 
but an imprudent or unskilful movement 
of General JVlelas, which was instantly 
taken advantage of by General Dessaix, 
who made a vigorous charge with a body 
of fresh cavalry, turned the fate of the 
day. The victory was purchased by 
the death of Dessaix, to whose memory 
due honors were paid by his grateful 
countrymen. 

On the 3rd of Dec. 1 800, was fought the 
battle of Hohenlinden, in which Moreau 
defeated the archduke John, and entirely 
routed his army. This was followed by 
the conclusion of a treaty with Austria, 
in its own name and that of the German 
empire, but without the concurrence of 
England, on the 9th of February, 1801. 
In this peace — which was signed by 
Joseph Bonaparte and Cobenzel, — the 
course of the Rhine was fixed as the limit 
between France and Germany. Those 
German princes who lost their territories 
beyond the Rhine by this new arrange- 
ment, were to be indemnified by addi- 
tional possessions on the right bank of 
that river. In Italy, the course of the 
Adige was fixed as the boundary between 
Austria and the Cisalpine republic, and 
the former power gave the Breisgau and 
Ortenau to the duke of Modena. The 
territories of the grand duke of Tuscany 
were erected into the kingdom of Etruria, 
which was given to the hereditary prince 
of Parma, according to a treaty between 
France and Spain : the grand duke being 
to be indemnified in Germany, for the j 
loss of his territories. 

After this peace, Portugal also con- 
cluded a treaty with France, on the 29th 
of September, 1801 ; and Russia and I 
Turkey, on the 8th and 9th of October, I 
concluded a treaty upon the statu quo. 
Great Britain, by concluding the peace \ 
of Amiens, on the 27th of March, 1802, j 
retired from the struggle ; retaining Cey- j 
Ion and Trinidad, but engaging to restore 
all the other captured colonies, to re- j 



establish the order of the knights of St. 
John, at Malta, and to guarantee all the 
possessions of the Porte. France, on the 
other hand, guaranteed the existence of 
the kingdoms of Naples and Portugal. 

The states-consultat of the Cisalpine 
republic, which had assumed at Naples, 
on the 26th of January, 1 802, the name of 
the Italian republic, made choice of Bona- 
parte for its president ; and on the 3rd of 
August, 1802, the French also nominated 
him consul for life, after that he had found- 
ed the order of the Legion of Honor 
in May, 1802, and concluded with the 
new-elected pope, Pius VII, on the 15th 
of July, 1801, a concordat for the Galil- 
ean church, which "was published in 
April, 1802. The business of the indem- 
nification in Germany was concluded and 
accomphshed in 1802 and 1803, at Rat- 
isbon, by France and Russia, according 
to a secret convention concluded between 
these two powers on the 10th of October, 
1801. An armament despatched under 
Leclerc for the reduction of Domingo 
was baffled ; and neither Napoleon nor 
the Bourbons could succeed in again 
reducing this island, which gained its 
political independence after a bloody 
struggle. 

A conspiracy against the life of the 
first consul, by Georges and Pichegru, 
was adopted by some of Bonaparte's 
friends as a pretext for introducing a pro- 
posal to the senate to change the con- 
sular government into an hereditary one. 

The first consul having given his as- 
sent to the proposal of the senate on the 
5th of April, 1 804, the senatus-consultus, 
by decree of the 18th of May, placed 
Napoleon Bonaparte, as hereditary em- 
peror, at the head of France ; and on 
the 2d of December, pope Pius VII, 
solemnly anointed the new monarch, who 
himself placed the imperial crown upon 
his own head. The Italian republic of 
course followed the example of France ; 
and on the 15th of March, 1805, having 
named their president king of Italy, Na- 
poleon, on the 26th of May, with his 
own hands also placed the new crown 
of the Lombardian kings upon his own 
head, and Avas anointed by the arch- 
bishop of Milan. During his presence in 
Italy, the senate of the Ligurian republic 



304 



FRANCE. 



demanded and obtained the incorporation 
of the Genosee state with the French 
empire, on the 4th of June, and the small 
republic of Lucca, was transformed in 
the same year into an hereditary princi- 
pality for the princess Eliza, sister of 
Napoleon. 

These transactions excited the suspi- 
cions of Great Britain, and a new and 
third coalition was concluded at St. Pe- 
tersburg, on the 11th of April, by the 
English ambassador lord Gower, prince 
Czartorinsky, and the chamberlain Novo- 
siltzoff. Austria joined this coalition on 
the 9th of August; and Sweden like- 
wise took part in it by the treaties of sub- 
sidy which she concluded with England. 

Austria seemed to meditate the prin- 
cipal blow in Italy, where the archduke 
Charles was opposed to marshal Mas- 
seaa ; at the same time 25,000 French 
marched under St. Cyr from Naples into 
Upper Italy, after a treaty of neutrality 
had been concluded between France and 
Naples, on the 21st of September, 1805. 
The Austrian army in Germany was 
commanded by the archduke Ferdinand 
and general Mack. This army penetra- 
ted into Bavaria in September, 1805, and 
demanded that the elector should either 
unite his army with the Austrian forces 
or disband it. Upon this the elector as- 
sembled his troops in the Upper Palati- 
nate, whence they marched into Fran- 
conia, whilst he himself proceeded to 
Wirtemberg, where he joined Napoleon. 
The same course was adopted by the 
dukes of Wirtemberg and Baden. 

Napoleon now left the camp of Bou- 
logne, where he had been employed with 
idle preparations for invading England, I 
and on the 2d of October arrived at lAid- 1 
wigsburg in Wirtemberg. The next day 
he issued a declaration of war. The 
corps of Bernadotte and the Bavarians ! 
having marched towards the Danube, 
through the neutral province of Anspach, 
belonging to Prussia, the latter power, 
which had assembled its armies in the 
neighborhood of the Russian frontier, 
issued a note on the 14th of October, 
renouncing its obligations to France ; 
and by the treaty of Potsdam, concluded 
on the 3d of November, during the stay 
of the emperor Alexander at Berlin, 



promised to take part in tlie coalition 
against France upon certain conditions. 
The Prussian armies, in conjunction with 
the Saxons and Hessian forces, took up 
a hostile position extending between the 
frontiers of Silesia and the Danube. But 
the Austrian armies in Suabia had been 
rapidly turned and defeated by the 
French, in a series of operations extend- 
ing from the 6th to the 13lh of October; 
upon which general Mack, the Austrian 
commander, in the infamous capitulation 
of Ulm, dated the 17th of October, sur- 
rendered with 28,000 men, but the arch- 
duke Ferdinand by constant fighting 
reached Bohemia. The French now 
penetrated through Bavaria and Austria 
into Moravia ; and after having obtained 
possession, in November, of the defiles of 
the Tyrol, and driven back several Rus- 
sian corps in a series of skirmishes at 
Limbach, Amstetten, and Krems, they 
occupied Vienna on the 13th of Novem- 
ber, and afterwards took possession of 
Presburg. The battle of Austerlitz deci- 
ded this war, which lasted only two 
months ; and the archduke Charles, hav- 
ing received information of the event in 
Suabia, retired through the German 
provinces, after having fought a dreadful 
battle upon the Adige, which lasted tliree 
days. 

The emperors of Russia and Austria 
now rallied their forces at Olmutz. 
They were at the head of 80,000 men, 
whilst Bonaparte did not muster more 
than 60,000. Confident of victory, on 
the 27th of November, they marched from 
Olmutz towards the French, who were 
concentrated to the eastward of Brunn. 
Napoleon, who had studied the ground 
in his rear, retreated before the enemy, 
drawing his right wing back more than 

j the rest of the army. KutusofF, seeing 

I this, and taking it for weakness, deter- 
mined to turn the right wing of the 
French, and so threaten to cut off their 
army from Vienna. Bonaparte thus, by 
drawing his army as nearly as was wise 
to one point, suggested to his enemies 
the idea of turning and surrounding him ; 
a dangerous project for them, since it 

, extended their lines, and exposed their 
weak points to an enemy, vigilant, drawn 

I together, and enabled to protrude an 



FRANCE. ' 



305 



overwhelming force in any one direction. 
Had the Russians an idea that this re- 
treat and concentration of the French 
were dictated by art, ihey would of course 
not have committed themselves. But 
the French did every thing to affect hesi- 
tation and timidity: they not only retired, 
but, in partial encounters, showed a 
disposition to fly. To the proposals of 
Alexander, Bonaparte answered hesita- 
tingly. He received the aid-de-camp 
sent to him on the outskirts of the camp, 
as if to avoid its weak state being seen. 
Works were thrown up. An interview, 
as the pretext of four and twenty hours' 
truce, was begged. In short, a hundred 
petty artifices were employed to persuade 
the Russians that the French meditated 
a retreat; and that the former should 
lose no time, not only to attack, but also 
to intercept. 

On the 1st of December the combin- 
ed army completely fell into the trap. 
The chief force was pushed on to the 
extreme left, whilst the troops on the rest 
of the line, diminished for this purpose, 
descended from heights in front of the 
French, in order to move towards the 
left also. Napoleon might have posted 
his army on these heights, and would 
have done so, had his object been merely 
to repulse or check the enemy ; but his 
aim was to defeat and destroy them ; and 
he therefore yielded them the heights, 
which, being separated by ravines be- 
tween, favored his project for cutting the 
Austrian line, when weakened by its ex- 
tension and its march to take the French 
in flank. Bonaparte Avatched anxiously 
the motions of the enemy in advance of 
Austerlitz ; and no sooner did his acute 
eye perceive their forces thrown to their 
left, and the number, in front of him, on 
and around the line of heights dimin- 
ished, than he exclaimed, " Yon army 
shall be at our mercy ere to-morrow's sun 
sets." Nay, so certain was he of this, 
that he determined to communicate his 
confidence to his soldiers ; and informed 
them in a printed circular or order of the 
day, that " the enemy, in marching to 
turn the French right, had exposed their 
own flauk." On the evening of the first, 
the firing commenced on the menaced 
point, the right of the French. Napo- 
39 



leon galloped thither, made his disposi- 
tion for the morrow, and returned on foot 
through the ranks and bivouacs of his 
soldiery. The morrow was to be the 
anniversary of his coronation : they 
promised him the Russian colors and 
cannon as a gift in honor of his fete. 

Soult commanded the main right wing, 
called by some the centre, because Da- 
voList led a division still further off', to 
oppose the object of the enemy in turn- 
ing the French or taking them in the 
rear. Bernadotte was the general of the 
centre, Lannes at the left, Murat and the 
cavalry behind the two latter, Bessieres 
in reserve, Avith Oudinot and the guard. 
The sun rose on the 2nd of December, 
1805, with unclouded brilliancy; it was 
hailed and remembered long as the sun 
of Austerlitz. Its rays discovered the 
Austrians and Russians disseminated on, 
around, and behind the heights before the 
village of Austerlitz, whence the allied 
emperors watched the first effect of their 
chief effort against the French right. 
Here the battle began ; Soult and Da- 
voust supporting the attack with their 
wonted activity and skill, greatly aided 
by their positions, which were amongst 
flooded and marshy ground, with the ice 
too weak to support the tread. All that 
Bonaparte required of these generals was 
to hold their ground for a certain number 
of hours ; his aim being to attack simul- 
taneously with his left and centre that 
portion of the enemy in front of him, 
which he proposed to cut ofl" from their 
engaged wing. Napoleon delayed long, 
however, to give the signal for this attack, 
so little looked for by the enemy. He 
feared lest they might recall their troops 
from their left. No sooner, however, did 
he hear the sound of battle fully en- 
gaged in that direction, than he gave the 
word. His generals hurried from him, 
each to his post; Lannes, Bernadotte, 
Legrand, St. Hilaire, each at the head of 
his division, advanced. The allied col- 
umns at this moment were descending 
from the heights, in the direction of their 
left, where they looked for the brunt of 
the battle. They never expected to find 
it before them, Bonaparte having sedu- 
lously concealed the force and motions 
of his army. The Russians were thus 



306 



FRANCE. 



surprised, and attacked during an oblique 
march, by cohnnns their equals or supe- 
riors in strength. They Avere cut in 
two, routed, and separated one from the 
other. The French grained the heights, 
pushing their enemies into the defiles. 
This, no doubt, took time to effect ; but 
the details can be imagined, if the ma- 
noeuvres be comprehended, and the result 
seized. 

Between Austerlitz and the heights 
thus won by the French was still the 
Russian reserve, with the emperor in 
person ; his choicest troops, the guard 
for instance, commanded by the grand 
duke Constantine. These two were 
marching towards the left, when to their 
astonishment the French skirmishers and 
cavalry charged in amongst them. It 
was a scene of surprise and confusion. 
The emperor, however, aided by Kutu- 
soff, rallied his men. The Russian 
guards and other regiments charged ; and 
the French, a moment since victorious, 
were driven back. Some regiments that 
had even formed squares were broken 
into and routed by the impetuosity of the 
Russians. Napoleon did not see what 
was taking place, Austerlitz being hid- 
den from him by the heights. His ear, 
however, caught sounds that did not 
augur lictory, and he instantly sent Rapp, 
his aid-de-camp, to see what was the 
matter. Rapp galloped off with some 
squadrons of the guard, rallied stragglers 
as he advanced, and saw, as he came up, 
the menacing position of affairs, the Rus- 
sians victorious, and sabring the French, 
who were driven from their broken 
squares. They were already bringing 
cannon to play upon Rapp, when the 
latter, crying out to his men, " to avenge 
their comrades and restore the day," 
charged at full speed amongst the Rus- 
sians. This gave the routed French 
time to breathe and rally. They group- 
ed and formed : Rapp returned to the 
charge. Half an hour's obstinate strug- 
gle and carnage took place, which ter- 
minated in the rout of the Russian guards 
before the eyes of the two emperors. 

This feat achieved, Rapp rode back 
to acquaint Napoleon that all the foe in 
the direction of Austerlitz were in flight. 
On other points victory had been already 



assured. The left of the allies — the 
left, on the efforts of which so much had 
been built — was now cut off; it was 
completely destroyed or taken. The 
most dreadful feature of its route was the 
attempt of several squadrons to escape 
over the lakes : the ice at once gave way 
under the accumulated weight, and thou- 
sands of the brave men perished. 

Such was Austerlitz. Savary had best 
summed it up in calling it " a series of 
mancEUvres, not one of which failed, 
that cut the Russian army, surprised in 
a side march, into as many portions as 
ccftumns were directed against it." 

The battle of Austerlitz was followed, 
on the 4th of December, by an interview 
between Napoleon and Francis H., and an 
armistice between both powers was con- 
cluded on the 6th. By the treaty of 
peace of Presburg, signed by Talleyrand, 
the prince John of Lichtenstein, and 
count Stadion, on the 26th of the same 
month, Austria yielded its A^'enetian pos- 
sessions to the kingdom of Italy ; the 
Tyrol and several German countries to 
Bavaria ; Breisgau to Baden ; and other 
Suabian possessions to Wirtemberg ; she 
also recognised the elector of Bavaria and 
Wirtemberg as kings, and the elector of 
Baden as sovereign elector ; and obtain- 
ed on the other hand, the greater part of 
the bishopric of Saltzburg, now erected 
into an electorate for the grand duke of 
Tuscany, the bishop being indemnified 
by the principality of Wurtzburg, taken 
from Bavaria, with the title of elector and 
all the rights of sovereignty, and the 
hereditary dignity of a grand-master of 
the Teutonic order. But during the vic- 
torious course of the armies of France 
by land, she suffered, a sensible loss by 
sea ; the united fleets of France and 
Spain, under Villeneuve and Gravina, 
being wholly defeated off cape Trafalgar, 
on the 21st of October, by Admiral lord 
Nelson. 

On the 15th of December, the empe- 
ror concluded a treaty with Prussia at 
Vienna, in which the aUiance between 
both these powers was renewed, and 
a reciprocal guarantee of the ancient 
and newly-acquired states exchanged. 
France pretended to give Hanover to 
Prussia : and on the other hand Prussia 



FRANCE. 



307 



yielded to France, Anspach, Cleve, and 
Neufchatel. Prussia was now obliged 
to act offensively against England, as 
well by taking possession of Hanover as 
by excluding English vessels from the 
rivers which flow into the North Sea. 
Napoleon gave the province of Anspach 
to the king of Bavaria, who was directed 
to resign the dukedom of Berg, which, 
being united with the Prussian part of 
Cleve, was given to Murat, the brother- 
in-law of Napoleon, who, on the 13th of 
March, was named duke of Cleve and 
Berg. Neufchatel was also given to 
marshal Berthier, with the title of Prince. 
Joseph, the elder brother of Napoleon, 
was by an imperial decree of the 13th of 
March, 1806, named king of Naples and 
Sicily, which had been conquered by 
marshal Messena, who marched with an 
army from Upper Italy into Naples, on 
account of a pretended breach of neu- 
trality occasioned by the landing of the 
English and Russians. But Ferdinand 
IV took refuge in Sicily with his family ; 
and that island being protected by the 
English fleet, formed merely a nominal 
appendage to the crown of Joseph Bona- 
parte. With the principality of Lucca 
given to his sister Eliza, the emperor 
now united Masso-Carrara and Carfag- 
nana, which he detached from the king- 
dom of Italy. He also named prince 
Eugene Beauharnois, son of the empress 
Josephine by her first husband, viceroy 
of Italy, and married him to the daughter 
of the king of Bavaria ; the minister 
Talleyrand received the nominal title of 
prince of Benevento ; Bernadotte was 
proclaimed prince of Ponte Corvo ; and 
Louis, the second brother of the emperor, 
was proclaimed hereditary and constitu- 
tional king of Holland. The constitution 
of the German empire, which had lasted 
for above 1000 years, was overthrown on 
the 12th of July, 1806, to make way for 
the Rhenish confederation, of which the 
emperor Napoleon was named protector. 
The misunderstandings which had 
arisen between France and Russia, es- 
pecially after the occupation of Cattaro 
by the Russians, were only suspended 
for a moment by the treaty concluded on 
the 20th of July, 1806, by the French 
general Clarke, and the Russian minis- 



ter Oubril. The emperor Alexander 
refused to ratify this peace after the for- 
mation of the Rhenish confederation ; 
and the same reason instigated England 
to break off the pending negotiations of 
peace with France. Prussia assembled 
an army in August, 1806, which entered 
Thuringia, and after some negotiations 
at Dresden, was joined by 22,000 Sax- 
ons ; while at the same moment lord 
Morpeth proceeded to the Prussian head- 
quarters, and after some negotiations, on 
the 1st of October, the Prussian ultima- 
tum was delivered to France. This 
document demanded the withdrawment 
of the whole French army from Germa- 
ny, and announced the intended forma- 
tion of a northern league, which was 
designed to comprehend all those coun- 
tries which were not already included in 
the Rhenish league. 

These propositions having been con- 
temptuously rejected, the struggle began 
with the advance of the French troops 
upon the Prussian left wing. The grand 
duke of Berg forced the passage of the 
Saal at Saltzburg on the 8th of October, 
and on the 9th, the Prussians and Sax- 
ons were defeated at Schleiz. On the 
1 0th the French left wing defeated the 
united corps of Prussians and Saxons at 
Saalfeld, where prince Louis of Prussia 
was killed; and on the 14th the bat- 
tles of Jena and Auerstadt decided the 
fate of the countries between the Rhine 
and the Elbe ; upon which Napoleon de- 
clared Saxony a neutral province, and 
marched instantly upon Berlin, whilst the 
grand duke of Berg and marshal Soult 
pursued the divisions of the Prussian 
army through Thuringia. The prince 
of Ponte Corvo defeated the Prussian 
reserve under the prince Eugene of Wir- 
temberg at Halle, on the 17th of October, 
1806, and marshal Ney laid siege to 
Magdeburg. On the 22d of October, 
Napoleon arrived at Wittenberg, and on 
the 27th entered Berlin. The fortresses 
of Spandau, Crustrin, Stettin, Magde- 
burg, Glogau, and others, instantly sur- 
rendered ; indeed, with the exception of 
Colberg, commanded by Gneisenau, and 
Graudenz, all the Prussian fortresses 
ultimately capitulated ; and the prince 
of Hohenlohe, at the head of 16,000 



308 



FRANCE 



Prussians, laid down his arms at Prenz- 
low on the 28th of October. Blucher 
alone ofl'ered a show of resistance ; but 
retired to Lubeck, where he surrendered 
on the 7th of November, after having 
fought the corps of Bernadotte, Soidt, 
and the grand duke of Berg. 

Before the second series of operations 
connected with this important struggle 
commenced in Southern Prussia, Napo- 
leon had taken possession of the do- 
mains of the elector of Hesse, the duke 
of Brunswick, the prince of Fulda, the 
Hanseatic towns, and all the Prussian 
provinces between the Rhine and the 
Elbe. A proclamation, signed by Dom- 
browski and Wybicki, two chiefs of an- 
cient Polish families, on the 3rd of No- 
vember, called upon the inhabitants of 
that part of Poland which had fallen to 
the lot of Prussia in the course of the 
three partitions, to rise for the recovery 
of their ancient independence, and a new 
Polish army quickly joined the French, 
who entered Warsaw on the 2nd of No- 
vember. Before the struggle began with 
the Russians upon the right bank of the 
Vistula, the elector of Saxony, by the 
peace of Posen, on the 11th of Decem- 
ber, 1806, joined the confederation of the 
Rhine, as an independent sovereign. 
The five dukes of Saxony also joined the 
Rhenish confederarion by the treaty of 
Posen on the 15th of the same month. 

Beyond the Vistula, the war between 
France and Russia was opened on the 
24th December, 1806, by the fight of 
Czarnowo, in which the French carried 
the Russian redoubts upon the left bank 
of the Ukra. On the succeeding morn- 
ing, Davoust drove field-marshal Kam- 
enskji out of his position near Nasielsk ; 
and on the day following the marshal 
renounced the command-in-chief, in 
which he was succeeded by Benningsen. 
After an obstinate struggle at Pultusk 
against the latter, and at Golymin against 
Buxhouden, the Russians retreated to 
Ostrolenka, and Benningsen suddenly 
transported the theatre of war into East- 
ern Prussia, where the Russians, on the 
23rd of January, 1807, attacked the ad- 
vanced posts of the prince of Ponte 
Corvo, who engaged them on the 25th at 
Mohrungen, and by his mancEuvres cov- 



' ered the flank of the French army until 
a junction was formed. After continual 
fighting from the 1 st to the 7th of Febru- 
ary, 1807, the battle of Eylau took place 
on the 8th. 

On the morning of the 8th, the Rus- 
sians were drawn up in front of Eylau, 
on which town, and on all its issues, 
their artillery opened a furious fire. Un- 
der this the French were obliged to come 
forth in order to engage in the battle. 
Great difference exists as to the stated 
numbers of each army : they were prob- 
j ably equal ; the Prussians under Lestocq 
I being absent on one side, Ney and Ber- 
' nadotte on the other. The aim of both 
generals was to overthrow his adversa- 
ry's left. Bonaparte, in addition, sent 
strong columns against the Russian cen- 
tre; but these, in the midst of smoke, 
and a heavy fall of snow, which prevent- 
ed their seeing, missed the right direc- 
tion, and got engaged between the Rus- 
sian right and centre. Thus the head of 
I the column was flanked on both sides, 
I whilst the reserve charged them in front. 
There ensued a dreadful scene of confu- 
sion and slaughter ; and Bonaparte was 
obliged, in order to extricate his troops, 
to send on his cavalry and reserve to 
charge, which increased the fury and 
indecision of the battle. Davoust by 
this time had arrived, by a considerable 
circuit, on the left flank of the Russians, 
and drove it in. It folded up, as it were, 
about to make a steady retreat, when the 
Prussians under Lestocq arri^-ed, and re- 
newed the engagement. Davoust re- 
treated in turn. But, at the same time, 
Ney arrived with his division on the 
other extremity of the Russians. Thither 
Avas transported the heat of combat. 
Mutual and inveterate charges took place 
1 betwixt him and Benningsen. Order 
I there was no longer any. The Rus- 
sians, huddled together in a small space, 
refused still to quit the ground ; and the 
; French being in equal confusion, their 
generals in vain endeavored to bring them 
; in formed or decisive masses on the foe. 
It was, in fact, a drawn battle; the 
slaughter incalculable on either side, and 
I rendered more frightful by the snow 
I which covered the ground, and which 
I still fell upon the woimded, dyeing itself 



FRANCE. 



309 



with tlieir blood. The Russians had not 
yielded their ground on the day of bat- 
tle ; but they had been dreadfully cut up, 
with no succor to expect, while Berna- 
dotte's fresh division was still behind 
Napoleon's. Benningsen, therefore, re- 
treated on the following day. 

The emperor had contemplated mak- 
ing the same movement ; but on the 
disappearance of the Russians, he re- 
mained at Eylau an entire week, and 
then retired to occupy with his army the 
line of the river Passarge, his head-quar- 
ters being established at Osserode. 

During a pause of several months, in 
which both armies recruited themselves, 
Dantzic was besieged and bombarded by 
Lefevre, and General Kalkreuth was 
compelled to capitulate on the 24th of 
May, after marshal Lannes had defeated 
a body of Russians who had landed at 
Weichselmunde with the view of raising 
the siege. At last, after a series of skir- 
mishes between the different divisions of 
the hostile armies, the decisive victory of 
the French over the Russians at Fried- 
land, took place on the 14th of June, 
1807. Bonaparte remembered that it was 
the anniversary of Marengo, and wel- 
comed it as betokening good fortune. 
Forming his columns in the passes of 
the woods, he allowed Benningsen, the 
Russian general, to cross the bridge of 
Friedland with the greater part of his 
array. The Russian did not suspect that 
the whole army of the French were 
lying in wait for him when he thus ven- 
tured. But the several columns soon 
issuing from the wood, their caimon get- 
ting info position and opening upon him, 
convinced Benningsen that he was forced 
to fight at a disadvantage, and without 
the possibility of retreating. He drew 
out his line, however, — its left communi- 
cating with the bridge. At this point 
Napoleon of course directed his chief 
attack, to cut off the enemy. Ney led 
it ; and in his ardor to reach the bridge, 
he was routed, and the head of his col- 
umn broken. Dupont supported him and 
rallied the men. Napoleon, however, 
thought best to achieve the victory with | 
his artillery, which from many points j 
played upon the Russians, who were 
now concentrated and formed in squares. | 



Heavy charges of cavalry now and then 
filled the pause of carmon ; and at 
length, towards evening, the Russians 
having much suffered, and many of their 
squares broken, the French infantry again 
advanced with musketry, and completed 
the victory. As the cannon' raked the 
bridge, there was no retreating by it. 
The Russians flung themselves into the 
river ; but the attempt to swim across 
was impracticable to the Russian soldier, 
charged and accoutred as he was. Thou- 
sands were drowned, in addition to those 
who perished in the field. Such was 
the decisive victory on which Napoleon 
reckoned, and which he had long desired, 
as the means of disposing the Russian 
emperor to an accommodation. 

Konigsberg now surrendered. Ben- 
ningsen had retreated with his army be- 
yond the Niemen, the natural boundary 
of Lithuania. The French soon arrived 
in pursuit upon its banks. The Russians 
demanded an armistice. It was granted ; 
and preparations made for an interview 
between the emperors. The first instant 
of repose, Napoleon issued a proclama- 
tion to his army : " In ten days' cam- 
paign," said he, "you have taken 120 
pieces of cannon ; killed, wounded, or 
taken 60,000 Russians, Konigsberg, its 
shipping, &c. From the banks of the 
Vistula you have flown to the Niemen 
Avith the rapidity of the eagle. Soldiers ! 
you are worthy of yourselves and of 
me !" A raft was now prepared in the 
midst of the Niemen, off Tilsit. On the 
25th of June the emperors met upon this 
raft, embraced, and conversed for a con- 
siderable space. On the following day 
Alexander crossed to the town of Tilsit, 
and the two emperors were soon upon 
terms of friendship and equality. A 
peace was concluded on the 8th of July, 
between France and Russia, by Talley- 
rand, prince Kurakin, and Labanof-Ros- 
trow ; and on the 9th of .J.:ly, between 
France and Prussia by Talleyrand and 
count Kalkreuth, after an interview be- 
tween the three monarchs upon the Nie- 
men, and subsequently at Tilsit. In this 
peace Prussia lost the principality of 
East Friesland, the county of Mark, the 
principality of Minden, and the county 
of Ravensberg ; the principalities of 



310 



FRANCE 



Hildeshiem, Paderborn, and Munster ; • 
the counties of Tecldenburg and Lingen; i 
the electorate of Hanover, with the prin- j 
cipality of Osnabruck ; the greatest part ! 
of ancient Mark, and the dukedom of 
Magdeburg ; the principalities of Hal- 
berstadt, Eichsfeld, and Erfurt ; the ] 
county of Mansfield ; the ancient free 
towns of Nordhausen, Muhlhausen, and 
Goslar ; the ancient abbacies of Qued- 
linburg, Essen, Elten, and Weiden ; the 
principality of Bayreuth, the circle of 
Kottbuss, the whole of Southern Prussia, 
the whole of new Eastern Prussia, and 
a considerable part of Western Prussia, 
with the Netz district, including Dant- 
zic, — territories containing upwards of 
one half of the former population of 
Prussia. 

From these districts and other coun- 
tries conquered by France, were formed 
two new states: viz. the kingdom of 
Westphalia, and the dukedom of Warsaw. 
The ancient department of Bialystock, 
containing 2150 British square miles, 
and a population of about 200,000 souls, 
was annexed to Russia ; and on the oth- 
er hand Russia yielded the little princi- 
pality of Jever to the kingdom of Hol- 
land. By the peace of Tilsit, Jerome, 
Napoleon's youngest brother, was ac- 
knowledged Idng of Westphalia, and the 
king of Saxony was flattered with the 
title of duke of Warsaw. Upon the in- 
tercession of Russia, the dukes of Meck- 
lenburg-Schwerin, Oldenburg, and Co- 
burg, were reinstated ; and France and 
Russia exchanged reciprocal guarantees 
of their possessions, and of those of the 
other powers included in this peace. 

After the peace of Tilsit, Napoleon 
returned by Dresden — where he signed, 
on the 22d of July, the constitution of i 
the dukedom of Warsaw — to Paris. The 
constitution of the kingdom of Westpha- 
lia was signed by Napoleon, at Fontain- 
bleau, on the 15th of November, 1807. 
The other northern German princes had, 
in April, 1807, joined the Rhenish con- 
federation at Warsaw, with the exception ' 
of the two dukes of Mecklenburg, and - 
the duke of Oldenburg, who did not join 
the confederation till the following year. | 

The above events are of so important \ 
a character as to render a brief recapitu- 



lation necessary. We have seen that 
the senatus consulte organique declared 
Napoleon emperor of the French, and 
the imperial dignity hereditary in his 
family. This decree of the senate regu- 
lated the privileges of the imperial family, 
the inheritance, the titles and appanages 
of its members, and their particular re- 
lations to the person of the emperor. 
The civil list remained as it had been 
fixed by the constitution of 1791, and 
amounted to 25,000,000 livres annually. 
At the same time were established the 
great officers of the empire, to whom the 
marshals and covirt officers belonged ; 
and the supreme imperial tribunal, which 
was to judge offences of members of the 
imperial family and of the higher officers 
of state, high treason, and all crimes 
against the state or the emperor. The 
electoral colleges also received a precise 
organization. The senate remained; 
but the appointment of the senators, and 
the right of fixing their number, were 
given to the emperor. The legislative 
body was also preserved ; but the tribu- 
nate, which alone ventured on opposition, 
was suppressed August 19, 1807. The 
new emperor was now crowned with his 
wife, in the presence of Pius YH, in the 
church of Notre Dame. 

March 18, 1805, the emperor of the 
French was made king of Italy, and sol- 
emnly crowned in Milan, and the order of 
the iron crown was established. Genoa 
(the Ligurian republic) and the principality 
of Guastalla were soon after incorporated 
with France. Lucca and Piombino were 
erected into a duchy, and conferred on 
one of the emperor's sisters, and Parma 
and Placenza were placed under the 
French government. The emperor of 
Austria and many German princes ac- 
knowledged Napoleon as emperor. 

In April, 1805, the Russian and Swed- 
ish charges d'affaires left Paris, and the 
French ambassadors Petersburg and 
Stockholm. Sweden concluded a sub- 
sidy treaty with England, and Russia 
entered into a third coalition with Eng- 
land against France. The French had 
already taken possession of Hanover. 

The emperor of France now rigor- 
ously prohibited the introduction of Eng- 
lish manufactures wherever his power 



FRANCE. 



311 



extended, and threatened England with 
a descent. Pitt therefore drew Austria 
into the coalition ; and the French army 
marched from their encampment at Bou- 
logne to Germany. The war was of 
short duration. The surrender of an 
Austrian army, under Mack, at Ulm, and 
the battle of Austerlitz produced the 
peace of Presburg, in which Austria was 
compelled to sacrifice about 21,190 
square miles, and 3,000,000 of inhabit- 
ants, (among them the Tyrolese). 

Napoleon was thus enabled to bestow 
on his allies the rulers of Bavaria and 
Wurtemberg, royal crowns and full sove- 
reignty, which they did not enjoy under 
the German empire. The latter was 
also granted to Baden. Each of these 
three states likewise received a conside- 
rable increase of territory and inhabit- 
ants. The kingdom of Italy was en- 
larged by the addition of 10,600 square 
miles, and France obtained a decided 
predominance over the German princes. 
The victory of the English at Trafalgar 
over the united fleets of France and Spain, 
destroyed an armament which had cost j 
six years of preparation and 60,000,000 i 
francs, 1640 cannons, and 15,000 men 
fell into the hands of the victors. 

Napoleon now changed his system 
against England. Instructed by repeated | 
experience that he never could meet the | 
English successfully by sea, he resolved 
to conquer them by land, and attempted, 
by the continental system, to suppress all 
intercourse with England. With this 
view, he abandoned Hanover to Prussia, 
which involved that power in a war with • 
England. The dynasty of Naples was 
declared to have forfeited the throne, on 
account of the breach of its engagements j 
with France. Joseph Bonaparte Avas ' 
made king of Naples and Sicily ; Louis, | 
the second brother of Napoleon, king of 
Holland ; Napoleon's son-in-law, Eugene I 
Beauharnois, whom he had adopted, was 
created viceroy of Italy, and married to ; 
the daughter of the king of Bavaria ; ] 
Alexander Berthier, the companion in 
arms of the emperor, was created prince 
of Neufchatel ; Talleyrand, the minister 
of foreign affairs, prince of Benevento ; 
Bernadotte, prince of Ponte-Corvo ; 
Joachim Murat, grand-duke of Cleves | 



and Berg; and Stephanie Beauharnois, 
niece of the empress, whom Napoleon 
had adopted, was given in marriage to 
the crown-prince of Baden. All those 
who immediately belonged to the new 
dynasty, or were united with it, were to 
be attached to France by a federative 
system. The accession of Bavaria, 
Wirtemburg, and Baden to the federal 
system of the "great empire," and the 
incorporation of the electorate of Hano- 
ver with Prussia, had torn asunder the 
political union of the German states. 

Napoleon established the confedera- 
tion of the Rhine, of which he was re- 
cognised protector, July 12 , and Francis 
II resigned the imperial crown of Ger- 
many, August 6. 

The affairs of Spain now began to oc- 
cupy the attention of Napoleon ; one of 
his first objects, however, was to destroy 
the English influence in Portugal. A 
French army, in concert with a Spanish 
one, marched against that kingdom, the 
partition of which had been concerted 
between France and Spain, on the 27th 
of October, 1807 ; the northern part be- 
ing given to the house of Parma ; the 
southern part to the prince of Peace, Go- 
doi ; and the middle, on the conclusion 
of peace, to the house of Braganza. Tus- 
cany was to be given to France, and the 
king of Spain to be declared protector of 
the three states erected out of Portugal ; 
the Spanish monarch was also to assume, 
after the maritime peace should be con- 
cluded, the title of emperor of both Ame- 
ricas. In conformity with this treaty, 
Tuscany was given up to Napoleon in 
1807, and afterwards incorporated with 
France ; and marshal Junot, duke of 
Braganza, entered Lisbon on the 30th of 
November, after the royal family had 
embarked with their treasures, and a few 
of the principal nobility, in a British fleet, 
for the Brazils. But in 1808 the Span- 
ish nobility, tired of the government of 
the prince of Peace, formed a plot to raise 
Ferdinand VII to the throne, and free 
their country from foreign influence. The 
palac*e of the prince of Peace was assail- 
ed by a mob on the night of the 17th of 
March ; and king Charles IV, in whose 
name the government had been carried 
on, resigned the throne in favor of his 



312 



FRANCE. 



son. But Napoleon refused to acknow- 
ledge Ferdinand VII, and Charles IV 
resumed the regal dignity ; and on the 
5th of May, finally resigned all the rights 
of his house in Spain and India, into the 
hands of Napoleon. Ferdinand VII, Avas 
constrained to acquiesce in this renun- 
ciation on the 10th, and both father and 
son now became pensioners of the French 
conqueror, who nominated his brother 
Joseph, then king of Naples, king of 
Spain and India. The people now rose 
en masse to vindicate their rights, and 
that struggle commenced in which the 
patriotic Spaniards were so warmly and 
successfully supported by the British 
troops under lord Wellington. 

The breaking out of the national war 
in Spain, afforded Austria a convenient 
opportunity for re-establishing her former 
influence in Germany and Italy. In 1809, 
therefore, Austria declared war against 
France, and advanced her armies into 
Bavaria, Italy and the dukedom of War- 
saw. Ir. the preceding autumn, Napo- 
leon and Alexander of Russia had an hi- 
terview at Erfurth, and the consequence 
of their alliance was, that a Russian aux- 
iliary army now advanced against Austria 
into Gallicia. Napoleon, with the aid of 
the Bavarians and Wirtenbergers, defeat- 
ed the Austrians at Abensberg, on the 
20th, at Eckmuhl, on the 22nd, and at 
Ratisbon, on the 23rd of April. 

On the 4th of July, the French, re- 
enforced by the Saxons, the army of Eu- 
gene, and that of Marmont from Dalma- 
tia, were concentrated in the island of 
Lobau, to the number of 150,000. There 
was scarcely room for the troops to re- 
pose. Napoleon ordered the original 
bridge opposite Essling, which had been 
destroyed by the Austrians a few days 
before, to be repaired, as if he intended 
to cross by its means. This was but to 
deceive the Austrians. In the night 
three more bridges, ready prepared, were 
fixed lower down, and the French army 
crossed on the night of the 4th and morn- 
ing of the 5th. The archduke instantly 
found his batteries and preparations idle. 
Instead of fronting the Danube, he was 
obliged to extend his line perpendicular 
to it, from behind Aspern to Wagram, and 
from thence behind a little river on his 



left. The 5th was spent in manoeuver- 
ing and cannonade, the Austrians retiring 
from Essling. Towards evening, Bona- 
parte wished to dislodge tliem from their 
connnanding position at Wagram, but his 
troops were beaten back and routed. 
Both armies slept on the field, and in 
their positions, the French without a fire, 
Napoleon in a chair. 

On the morning of the 5th commenced 
the famous battle of Wagram. The Aus- 
trian centre was on the high ground near 
that village. As the French on the pre- 
ceding evening, had been repulsed with 
ease from it, the archduke thought it 
strong to keep, and easy to maintain. 
He threw his chief force, therefore, into 
his wings. The Austrian right attacked 
Massena near Aspern and the Danube, 
and drove him back with such rout that 
his four divisions crowded into one. Da- 
voust, on the right, was able to resist 
with more success. But on Massena's 
side the battle seemed lost. That gene- 
ral, from the effects of a fall, was in a 
carriage, not on horseback ; his troops, 
unanimated by his presence, shrunk from 
the enemy, whose cannon enfiladed the 
line. For a long time Napoleon Avas in 
doubt, riding on a white charger in the 
midst of this raking fire, which Savary 
calls "a hail-storm of bullets." At length 
he resolved to allow his wings to resist 
as they might, and to fling all his disposa- 
ble force once more upon the Austrian 
centre at Wagram. He sent Lauriston 
first against it with 100 cannon, at full 
trot, with orders to approach very near. 
He knew the weakness of the xlustrians 
at Wagram would not allow them to ad- 
vance from the position. The infantry 
under Macdonald followed Lauriston, 
Bessieres supporting both with the caA'^- 
alry of the guard. Macdonald's charging 
columns arrived just as the artillery of 
Lauriston had made large breaches in 
the Austrian bodies. The French rushed 
into the gaps. A diversion from the ex- 
treme right aided them, and the centre 
of the archduke Charles, at Wagram, 
was driven in, routed, and the wings 
abandoned. It was then an easy task to 
take in the flank of the corps already vic- 
torious over Massena. In short, the seve- 
ral portions of the Austrian army fled 



FRANCE. 



313 



from the field in disorder, separated from 
one another. Both armies displayed 
great valor. The loss of the Austrians 
amounted to 27,000 killed and wounded. 
The loss of the French was nearly equal. 
The archduke retreated, constantly fight- 
ing, to the heights of Znaym. This vic- 
tory led to the peace of Vienna, which 
was signed on the 14th of October, 
und in which Austria was obliged to re- 
sign the sovereignty of three millions of 
subjects. 

By the peace of Vienna, Austria re- 
signed Sahzburg, Berchtolsgaden, and 
the Innviertel and Hansruckviertel, which 
were given to Bavaria ; the whole of 
Western Gallicia, and a part of Eastern 
Gallicia, with the town of Cracow, which 
were united to the dvdiedom of Warsaw ; 
the circle of Villach in Carinthia ; the 
dukedom of Krain, the district of Trieste, 
the county of Gorz, whh Friaul and Cro- 
atia upon the right of the Saave, and Fi 
ume ; of which — united with Dalmatia, 
Istria, and Ragusa, which Avere taken 
from the kingdom of Italy — Napoleon, on 
the 15th of October, 1809, formed the 
new state of the lUyrian provinces. The 
Teutonic order was now abolished, and 
its possessions given to those princes in 
whose dominions they lay. Russia ob- 
tained the circle of Tarnapole, in East- 
ern Gallicia, containing 400,000 souls. 
With this peace was connected the dis- 
solution of the marriage between Napole- 
on and Josephine, in December, 1 809 ; 
and the emperor's second marriage with 
the archduchess Maria Louisa of Austria, 
in April, 1810. This peace also occa- 
sioned a considerable change in some 
of the Italian and German dominions ; 
the southern half of Tyrol was united 
with the kingdom of Italy, in the place 
of those countries taken from the latter, 
and annexed to the Illyrian provinces ; 
Bavaria obtained for the cession of this 
part of the Tyrol, besides the already 
mentioned acquisitions, the old Prussian 
principality of Bayreuth and Ratlisbonne, 
from the prince Primate, whose state 
Napoleon raised to the grand-dukedom of 
Frankfort, and enlarged with the greater 
part of the principality of Fulda, and the 
county of Warsaw. 

Previous to the breaking out of the 
40 



war with Austria, the provinces of Urbi- 
no, Ancona, Macerata, and Caraerino, 
had been united, on the 2nd of April, 
1808, with the kingdom of Italy, because 
the pope had refused to exclude the Eng- 
lish from the ports of his state. Napo- 
leon, during his residence at Vienna, 
abolished the temporal power of the 
pope, on the 17th of March, 1809, and 
united the remaining territories of the 
states of the church with France, to 
which he had previously united Pied- 
mont, Liguria, Tuscany, and Parma, be- 
sides Savoy and Nice. A pension was 
assigned to his holiness ; and the city of 
Rome declared an imperial and free city. 
The pope was conducted to Fontainbleau, 
where Napoleon concluded a second con- 
cordat with him, in which, though the 
pope did not resume his temporal juris- 
diction, he obtained the right to keep 
ambassadors at foreign courts, to receive 
ambassadors, and to appoint several 
bishoprics. 

In 1812, Russia made common cause 
with Great Britain in opposing the con- 
tinental system of Napoleon. The em- 
peror left Dresden on the 29th of May, 
for the purpose of joining his army in 
Eastern Prussia, whilst the archbishop 
of Mechlin appeared as his ambassador 
in Warsaw, where the re-establishment 
of the kingdom of Poland was formally 
proclaimed on the 28th of June, six days 
after Napoleon had announced the open- 
ing of the second Polish war. He now- 
crossed the frontiers of Russia, and the 
Russian armies retreated into the interior 
of the empire without offering any formi- 
dable resistance to his advance, except 
at the strongly fortified position of Smo- 
lensk, which was taken by storm on the 
17th of August, after a brief but bloody 
struggle ; the Russian general, Barclay 
de Tolly, firing the town on his retreat. 

On the 5th of September the French 
came in view of their enemies, posted on 
heights extending southward from the 
village of Borodino. Driving them from 
an advanced redoubt. Napoleon estab- 
lished his line opposite to theirs, and 
prepared for a battle on the morrow. He 
refused to manoeuvre on their flanks, or 
menace to intercept them, lest such 
a movement should bring about their re- 



314 



FRANCE. 



treat, and put oiF the engagement. The 
French army was about 120,000 strong; 
the Russians were perhaps more. The 
6th of September was the day long sought 
by Napoleon. He was on horseback be- 
fore <1 ay break, saw the sun rise in splen- 
dor, like that of Austerlitz. Two fresh 
arrivals from Paris were announced ; the 
one a chamberlain, with a portrait of the 
young king of Rome ; the other, Fabvier, 
with tidings of the loss of the battle 
of Salamanca by Marmont. Shaking off 
the ideas excited by both, Napoleon is- 
sued a short address : — " Soldiers ! here 
is the battle you have so much desired. 
Victory must depend on you. We need 
one, in order to have abundance, good 
quarters, and a speedy return to France. 
Conduct yourselves as at Austerlitz and 
Friedland. Let people say of each of 
you with pride — ' He was at that great 
battle in the plains of Moscow.' " 

The left of the French, under the vice- 
roy, was at Borodino, beyond the stream ; 
the Russian right opposed to it was well 
fortified. Prince Eugene was ordered 
to follow this example. The other bo- 
dies of the Russians, their centre and 
left, under Barclay and Bagration, were 
also fortified, each on its summit ; Bar- 
clay by a large re'Joubt, Bagration by 
several batteries. The French, as usual, 
had the disadvantage of attacking. The 
plan of Bonaparte was to carry first the 
batteries of Bagration, and then take the 
great central redoubt in flank. Accord- 
ingly the action, though commenced on 
all points, chiefly lay in the attack of 
Davoust upon the batteries. It was gal- 
lantly supported, and as gallantly resisted. 
The general of the attacking division, 
Campans, was wounded ; Rapp, who suc- 
ceeded him, was wounded also ; and 
Davoust himself hurt by the fall of his 
horse, which was killed under him. The 
attack on the right, in consequence, fal- 
tered ; but victory came from the left, 
where Napoleon least expected it. 

The viceroy of Italy, Eugene Beau- 
harnois, instead of holding back, accord- 
ing to his orders, pushed forward into 
Borodino, got possession of it, and im- 
proving his advantage, dashed across the 
river, to attack the great redoubt. The 
colmnn of Davoust had, in the mean time, 



rallied ; its second effort drove Bagration 
from his batteries ; his soldiers still re- 
turned to recover them, but in vain. Their 
efforts, however, restored confidence to 
the Russian army. Borodino was again 
menaced by Cossacks, Eugene's attempt 
upon the central redoubt repulsed, and 
Bagration himself rallied to cover Bar- 
clay's flank. The French were not used 
to meet with this stubborn resistance, 
these alternations of fortune. Again, how- 
ever, they returned to the charge, and 
what Fain calls a third battle was fought 
towards evening on the contested points. 
Finally, the Russians were beaten from 
the great redoubt, and abandoned the field. 

The battle of Moskwa, or Borodino, 
was won dearly. Eight generals fell on 
the part of the French. The heroic Ba- 
gration killed, was a loss as severe lo 
the Russians. Moscow, however, was 
won. Kutusoff reluctantly abandoned 
the hope of defending it, — consequently 
it was evacuated by the inhabitants who 
carried with them their most valuable 
effects. On the 14th of September the 
French army entered it, and Napoleon 
took up his residence at the Kremlin, the 
ancient palace of the czars. 

Two days afterwards, flames suddenly 
burst forth in various quarters of the city ; 
the conflagration rapidly spread, and all 
means used to stop it were unavailing ; 
in the issue the whole city was reduced 
to ashes, and the French, being thus de- 
prived of all the means of subsistence on 
which they had depended, commenced 
their retreat, after having made proposals 
of peace to the czar, which were not ac- 
cepted. The extraordinary severity and 
earliness of the winter destroyed the re- 
treating army, although they struggled 
with great valor against the pursuing 
Russians in several fights, and particular- 
ly at the passage of the Beresina, on the 
27th of November. {See Russia.) 

The wreck of the French army re- 
treated at first under the command of the 
king of Naples, and subsequently under 
the viceroy of Italy, through Prussia and 
'Poland into Saxony. Napoleon himself 
hastened with a small suite through 
Dresden and Mentz towards France, 
where he employed the winter months in 
raising new levies of troops, with which 



FRANCE. 



315 



he appeared towards the end of April in 
Thuringia. Tne capitulation of general 
York, who commanded the Prussian aux- 
iliary corps upon the Vistula, on the 30th 
of December, 1812, to the van-guard of 
the corps of Wittgenstein, before any 
breach of alliance had occurred between 
his coimtryand France, materially affect- 
ed the issue of the war. In this capitu- 
lation general Massenbach joined the 
following day, and the public voice in 
Prussia loudly demanded war with 
France. On the 23rd of January, 1813, 
the king of Prussia went from Berlin to 
Breslau, where he signed the treaty of 
Kalisch, and entered into an alliance 
with Russia. The armies of these newly 
united powers sustained a considerable 
loss at Lutzen on the 2nd of May, and at 
Bautzen on the 2 1 st and 22nd, in engage- 
ments with the French, upon which an 
armstice of ten weeks was concluded. 
Although Napoleon had now recruited 
his army, and effected an alliance with 
Denmark — the alliance of Austria and 
Sweden with Russia and Prussia, and 
the unanimous and hearty consent with 
which the subjects of these powers, irri- 
tated by the bondage in which they had 
for a long series of years been kept by 
France, seconded the efforts of their gov- 
ernments, altogether threw such a physi- 
cal and moral preponderance into the 
scale against the cause of the French 
emperor, that even the successful defence 
of Dresden on the 27th of August, and 
the success of his arms at Lowenberg, 
in Silesia, on the 21st of August, could 
not save his army from the successive de- 
feats of Grossbeeren on the 23rd, of 
Katzbach on the 26th, of Culm and Nol- 
lendorf on the 30th of August, of Denne- 
witz on the 6th of September, and of 
Wittenberg, on the 30th of the same 
month. Having united his forces for one 
tremendous effort in the neighborhood of 
Leipsic, Napoleon was defeated in an 
engagement fought during the 16th, 17th, 
and ISih of October, and compelled to 
evacuate that town, and retreat upon the 
Rhine, through Thuringia, followed by 
the allied troops. After a severe struggle 
at Hanau, on the 30th of October, in 
which the Bavarians, luider the command 
of Prince Wrede, took a decisive part 



against the French, Napcleon crossed 
the Rhine. 

The fortresses occupied by the French 
in the rear of the allied army were in- 
vested, while the main armies pressed 
forward, and the isolated French corps 
were driven back into the provinces of 
the Rhine, Holland, and Belgium. The 
advance of the Prussian general, Bulow, 
into the Netherlands, enabled that coun- 
try to throw off the French yoke, and re- 
call the prince of Orange from England, 
who assumed the title of sovereign prince. 
Wellington now crossed the Pyrenees, 
and in the battle of the Nieve, on the 
10th and 13th of January, 1814, trans- 
ferred the war to the French soil, while 
the allies defeated the French armies in 
their own country, at Bar sur Aube in 
Champagne, on the 24th of January, 
I 1814. Napoleon had the advantage over 
j Blucher at Brienne on the 29th of Jan- 
uary, but was forced to retreat at La Ro- 
' chiere, where the allies had concentrated 
j their forces. He now retired between 
I the Loire and the Marne, with the view 
I of covering Paris ; and it was not with- 
I out difficulty that Blucher succeeded in 
penetrating the French line. Napoleon, 
however, obtained a partial success 
against the Russians and Wirtenbergers ; 
but the successful advance of the army 
of the north under Bulow gave a favora- 
ble turn to the affairs of the allies. Na- 
poleon by his mancEuvres tried to trans- 
i fer the war to the rear of the allied ar- 
j mies, but Marmont retreated, on the 25th 
of March, after the fight of Fere-Cham- 
penoire upon Paris ; and on the 31st of 
I March the French capital surrendered to 
• the allies. 

Alexander now declared, in the name 
of the allied sovereigns, that they would 
: not negotiate with Napoleon Bonaparte, 
i nor with any of his family ; that they 
j acknowledged the right of France only 
to the territory embraced within its an- 
I cient limits under its kings ; and, finally, 
that they would acknowledge and guar- 
antee the government which the French 
nation should adopt. They therefore 
invited the senate to establish a pro\ds- 
I ional government for the administration 
j of the country, and the preparation of a 
1 constitution. Accordingly the senate as- 



316 



FRANCE. 




iMmlint;: of Louis A'K/7/ at Calais. 



seniblod, April 1, under the presidency 
of Talleyrand, whom, with lour other 
members, thoy charged with the provis- 
ionary government. On the next day, it 
declared that Napoleon and his I'amily 
had forfeited the throne of France. The 
legislative body ratitied this decree, which 
tlie provisionary government published, 
and soon aller made kviown the recall of 
Louis XVHI, to the throne of France. 
Meanwhile Napoleon had resigned the 
crown unconditionally in favor of his son 
at Fontainbleau. A treaty was conclud- 
ed the same day ceding to him the island 
of Elba. 

The Bourbons were restored to the 
throne of France by the senate. But it 
is verv questionable whether the nation 
received them with joy. 

Louis XVIII landed at Calais * April 



* With Louis landed also the duchess of An- 
gouleine, the prince of Conde, and liis son the duke 
of Bourbon. Upon landing, he pressed the diicli- 
ess of Angouleme to his breast, and said, " I hold 
•gain the crown of my ancestors. If it were of 
roses, I would place it on your head, as it is of 
thorns, it is for me to wear it." The memory 
of his landing upon French ground is perpetuated 
by a Doric column of marble erected at Calais, 
and the trace of his first footsteps is carefully pre- 
served in brass. 



24, and entered Paris, May 3, 1814. A 
plan of a constitution had already been 
adopted by the senate, April 5, and by 
the legislative body on the following day. 
This fundamental law was to bo confirm- 
ed by Louis XVIU. before ascending the 
throne ; but he merely issued the decla- 
ration of St. Ouen, in which, as king of 
France and Navarre, he publicly declar- 
ed his adoption of the princi[)h's of the 
new constitution, as his brother, the 
count d'Artois, had already done in the 
character of lieutenant-general of the king- 
dom ; but reserved for himself the right 
of revising the document, which bore 
marks of the haste in which it had been 
drawn up by the senate. 

The administration of Louis excited 
the discontent of the French people, es- 
pecially of the Parisians, who could not 
tolerate the restoration of the ancient 
forms and principles. In this state of 
public feeling, nothing could be more 
fatal for the royal government, than the 
sudden re-appearance of Napoleon at 
Cannes, on the coast of France, on the 
1st of March, 1815. 

These circumstances explain why, 
without the existence of an actual con- 
spiracy in favor of Napoleon, the meas- 



FRANCE. 



317 



ures taken to oppose his progress were 
unsuccessful ; why the army and a great 
part of the nation declared for him ; and 
why, after a march of eighteen days, 
which resembled a triumph, he was able 
to enter Paris without shedding a drop 
of blood. The king and his partisans 
left the country. Napoleon immediately 
annulled most of the royal ordinances, 
dissolved the two chambers, and named 
a new ministry. He declared that he 
should content himself with the limits of 
France as settled by the peace of Paris, 
and that he would establish his govern- 
ment on liberal principles. But he could 
not satisfy the expectations of the differ- 
ent parties ; much less could he avert 
the danger of a new war with Europe. 

As soon as the news of Napoleon's 
landing in France was received at Vien- 
na, the ministers of all the allied powers, 
who were assembled in congress there, 
declared Napoleon the enemy and dis- 
turber of the repose of the world ; and 
that the powers were firmly resolved to 
employ all means, and unite all their ef- 
forts, to maintain the treaty of Paris. 
For this purpose, Austria, Russia, Eng- 
land, and Prussia, concluded (March 25) 
a new treaty, on the basis of that of 
Chaumont, whereby each power agreed 
to bring 1 50,000 men into the field against 
Napoleon, who, on Ids part, was inde- 
fatigable in making preparations for war. 
At the same time, he published the ad- 
ditional act to the constitutions of the 
empire, and summoned the meeting of 
the Champ de Mai, which accepted that 
act, June 1. 

On the 7th of June, the new chambers 
met. The army expressed great attach- 
ment to him, but the nation was less con- 
fident. Ilis greatest difficulty was the 
want of supplies. The expedition of 
Murat against Austria (April, 1815) frus- 
trated the secret negotiations of Napo- 
leon with the court of Vienna, so that 
war was unavoidable. The armies of 
the allies formed a cordon around the 
frontiers of France, extending from Os- 
tend to Switzerland, and beyond it to 
Italy. Napoleon with his main army, 
advanced to meet the English and Prus- 
sians, under Wellington and Blucher, 
who were approaching from the Nether- 



I lands. After some skirmishes with the 
j outposts on the frontiers, the French at- 
tacked the Prussians at Thuin on the 
Sambre, (June 15,) and drove them back. 
On the 16th, Napoleon gained a victory 
over the Prussians, in the plains of 
Fleurus. 

In consequence of the retreat of the 
Prussians, the duke of Wellington retir- 
ed on Waterloo. The position which 
he occupied was good, but towards the 
centre it had various weak points. It 
ran from the Brussels road to the right, 
about a mile and a half in length ; and 
then turned very sharply to the right, 
and crossed the road from Nivelle to 
Namur ; these two roads cross each 
other, so that the British position formed 
nearly a quarter circle. At the turn of 
the bottom of a slope, Avas a farm and 
orchards, called Mount St. John, which 
was the key of the position, and the front 
of the centre. On their left, the British 
communicated with the Prussians at 
Wavre, through Ohaim. 

At half past 1 o'clock in the forenoon 
of the 1 8th, Bonaparte began to put his 
troops in motion ; and, about an hour 
afterwards, one of his corps attacked the 
country-house on the right of the British, 
where the Nassau troops were posted ; 
these were obliged to give way ; but the 
house itself was so well defended, that 
the French could not gain possession of 
it. This attack on the right of the Bri- 
tish centre, Bonaparte accompanied with 
a dreadful fire of artillery ; under the 
cover of which, he made repeated attacks 
of cavalry and infantry, sometimes mixed, 
and sometimes separate, from the centre 
to the right : but the skill of the duke of 
Wellington, and the admirable moral 
courage and physical strength of his 
troops, were unconquerable. Agaiii.st 
one of these attacks of the French cav- 
alry, General Picton, who was with his 
division on the road from Brussels to 
Charleroi, advanced with the bayonet. 
The French, stnick with astonishment at 
the circumstance of infantry advancing 
to the charge of cavalry, fired, and then 
fled. At this moment, General Picton 
! was unfortunately killed. The English 
hfe guards next advanced against the 
49th aod 105th regiments of French in- 



318 



FRANCE. 



fantry ; to their support the cuirassiers 
came up : the most sanguinary cavalry 
fight perhaps ever witnessed, was the con- 
sequence ; but the British were victori- 
ous, and the cuirassiers were annihilated. 

The battle had now lasted above five 
hours ; during which Bonaparte had lost 
an immense number of men, by his des- 
perate charges, without being able to 
make any decisive impression. The 
duke of Wellington, kept his troops en- 
tirely on the defensive ; but though he 
thus had saved their strength as much as 
possible, yet they were beginning to be 
exhausted, and he frequently turned his 
anxious and vigilant eye to that quarter 
where he expected the Prussians to 
arrive. 

At break of day, the Prussian anny 
had began to move ; the 2d and 4th corps 
marched to take up a position whence 
they might attack the French on the rear, 
if circumstances proved favorable. The 
1st corps was to operate on the right 
flank of the French ; and the 3d corps 
was to follow slowly in order. About 5 
o'clock, Bonaparte perceived the advance 
of part of the Prussian army, which at 
first he seems to have supposed to have 
been the division of his own army under 
Marshal Grouchy, who had been posted 
on the rear of the allies to take advan- 
tage of their anticipated defeat. As soon, 
however, as he ascertained that it was 
the Prussians, he repeated his attacks 
with cavalry and infantry, supported by 
artillery, in a more desperate and mur- 
derous manner than ever ; but the British 
were immoveable. At last, about seven 
in the evening, he made a last eflbrt, put- 
ting himself at the head of his guards. 
He succeeded for a moment in driving 
back the Brunswickers ; but the duke of 
Wellington, putting himself at their head, 
and animating them by a short speech, 
restored the combat. At this critical 
moment, the Prussians came up : Gen- 
eral Bulow advanced rapidly on the rear 
of the right wing of the French ; and 
Marshal Blucher had joined in person 
with a corps of his army to the left of 
the British army, by Ohaim. The duke 
of Wellington headed the foot-guards ; 
spoke a few words to them, which were 
replied to by a general hurrah ; and his 



grace guiding them on with his hat, they 
marched at the point of the bayonet, to 
close action with the imperial guard ; 
but the latter began a retreat, in which 
they were imitated by the whole French 
army. The British, completely exhaust- 
ed, left the pursuit to the Prussians, who, 
coming fresh to battle, soon changed the 
retreat of the French into a rout, the most 
destructive, perhaps, ever known. In 
this battle, nearly 300 pieces of cannon 
were taken, and upwards of 14,000 pris- 
oners. The loss of the French in kill- 
ed, especially on the 16th, when the 
Prussians neither gave nor received quar- 
ter, was immense ; on the 16th and 18th, 
it could not have amounted to less than 
40,000 men. On the 16th, the Prussians 
lost about 16,000 men; and on the 18th, 
the duke of Wellington's army about 
13,000. 

As Napoleon saw that France was 
lost to him, he resigned the crown, on 
the 22nd of June, in a proclamation to 
the French nation, and at the same time 
declared his son emperor, under the title 
of Napoleon II. A provisional govern- 
ment, at the head of which was Fouche, 
was vested with the administration of the 
state. Napoleon left the capital, and 
surrendered himself to the power of Great 
Britain. 

The army of the allies had, in the 
meantime, arrived at Paris, where on the 
3rd of July, a military convention was 
concluded by Blucher and Wellington, 
with marshal Davoust, according to the 
articles of which, the French army retir- 
ed behind the Loire, and Paris was sur- 
rendered to the troops of the allies. On 
the 6th they entered Paris ; and, on the 
following day, Louis XVIIl, a second 
time took possession of his throne. A 
new chamber of deputies was now con- 
voked, the French army behind the Loire 
was disbanded, and an order was issued 
for the formation of a new army. Severe 
measures were adopted against the ad- 
herents of Napoleon. After much nego- 
tiation, the treaty of Paris was concluded 
between the allies and Louis XVIII, 
on the following conditions : — the limits 
of France was to remain as in 1790 ; 
France was to surrender four fortresses ; 
the duchy of Bouillon ; that part of the 



FRANCE. 



319 



depavment of the Lower Rhine situated 
on the left bank of the Lauter ; a part of 
the district of Gex ; and the part of Sa- 
voy which had been left to France in 
1814; in all, 434,000 inhabitants. She 
was bound not to erect any fortress within 
three leagTies of Basle, in the place of 
the fortifications of Hiiningen, which had 
been demolished immediately after its 
surrender ; renounced her claims to the 
principality of Monaco ; agreed to pay 
to the aUies a contribution of 700,000,000 
francs ; to give up seventeen citadels for 
from three to five years, and to support 
150,000 troops of the allies within her 
frontier^. 

The French government was further 
bound to satisfy the lawful claims of in- 
dividuals, corporations, or institutions, in 
the countries of the allies, and to restore 
ail the treasures of literature and art, 
which the French had carried off from 
conquered countries. The last article 
was executed while the foreign troops 
were in Paris. Finally, P'rance agreed 
to abolish the slave-trade unconditionally. 

This treaty was signed by Richelieu, 
the president of the new ministry, ap- 
pointed in September, 1815. The law 
of the 29lh of October, 1815, granted to 
the government the extraordinary power 
of confining all persons suspected of de- 
signs against the king and the state, 
without previous conviction by a judicial 
tribunal, and often without publicity. 
Finally, the two chambers passed the 
law of amnesty proposed by the king, 
(January 6, 1816,) by which all those 
who had voted for the death of Louis 
XVI, or had accepted ofiices from Na- 
poleon during the hundred days, were 
for ever banished from the kingdom. 

Though the Bourbons endeavored to 
build up an aristocratical and absolute 
monarchy, many of their measures had 
a contrary effect. The nobles had ceas- 
ed, in France, to form an aristocracy. 
Their great numbers and little wealth ; 
the mixture of political elements they 
presented^ — the noblesse of the ancien 
regime and of the imperial dynasty, the 
one the offspring of feudalism, the other 
of the revolution — the soldier of Conde, 
and the officer of the republican army 
who encountered him in the field ; their 



total want of any political privileges ; 
these, with some other circumstances, 
had left the noblesse entirely without 
consequence. Even the peers at the 
present period, do not contain many aris- 
tocratical elements. As they are with- 
out the immense wealth and patronage 
of the British peerage, they exercise lit- 
tle influence ; and they follow, rather 
than lead, the nation. One of the meas- 
ures of the late dynasty, which had re- 
coiled upon themselves, was the allowing 
only those to vote, and to be eligible to 
office, who paid the highest taxes. As 
the nobility were not rich, it very often 
happened that barons and counts could 
neither be eligible nor even electors, 
while rich manufacturers, bankers, &c, 
enjoyed these privileges. Those very 
persons whom it was the great object of 
the government to exclude from the legis- 
lature, were the persons who paid the 
highest taxes, and, consequently, were 
electors, and frequently were elected. 
The Bourbons did not understand France, 
and had gradually alienated the nation ; 
the latter knew the sentiments of the 
Bourbons ; they knew what they had to 
expect from the new ministry, and were 
determined, from the beginning, not to 
tolerate their illegal projects. 

The political history of the year 1830, 
commenced, March 2, by a speech from 
the throne, which announced that war 
had been declared against Algiers on ac- 
count of the insults oflered to the French 
flag (the dey had also struck the French 
consul at a public audience, on receiving 
an answer in the affirmative to his ques- 
tion whether the debt due from France 
to Algiers, had been settled) ; that active 
negotiations were on foot to effect a re- 
concihation between the members of the 
Braganza family ; and that the revenue 
of 1829, though less than that of the 
preceding year, exceed the estimates of 
the budget. The speech ended with the 
following words : " Peers of France, 
deputies of the departments, I do not 
doubt your co-operation in the good I de- 
sire to do. You will repel, with con- 
tempt, the perfidious insinuations which 
malevolence is busy in propagating. If 
guilty intrigues should throw any obsta- 
cles in the way of my government. 



320 



FRANCE. 



which I cannot and will not anticipate, I 
I should find force to overcome them, in 
my resolution to preserve the public 
peace, in the just confidence I have in 
the French nation, and in the love which 
they have always evinced for their kings." 

The funds fell as soon as the speech 
was made public. There was a consid- 
erably majority in the chamber of depu- 
ties against the ministers. Royer-Col- 
lard was re-elected president. On the 
18th of March, the usual deputation of 
the chamber, with the president at their 
head, presented to the king the answer of 
the chamber. The address declared, in 
a frank, but respectful tone, that a con- 
currence did not exist between the views 
of the government and the wishes of the 
nation ; that the administration was ac- 
tuated by a distrust of the nation ; and 
that the nation, on the other hand, was 
agitated with apprehensions which would 
become fatal to its prosperity and its re- 
pose. " Sire," continued the address, 
" France does not wish for anarchy any 
more than you wish for despotism." 
Never was a more firm yet prudent warn- 
ing given to a king. The king replied, 
by expressing his regret that the concur- 
rence which he had a right to expect 
from the deputies of the departments, did 
not exist ; he declared that his resolu- 
tion was fixed, and that the ministers 
would make known his intentions. The 
peers had answered on the 10th, by a 
mere echo of the speech from the throne. 
Chateaubriand's address on this speech 
was a bold attack on the ministers. The 
two chambers were immediately con- 
voked for the next day, (the 19th,) to 
receive a communication from the gov- 
ernment, when the chambers v/ere de- 
clared to be prorogued until September 
1, the same year, — a measure which 
produced great excitement throughout 
France. 

The journals became more active than 
ever. The Jesuitical and royalist journals 
exulted in the measure, and praised the 
ministry for its firmness, whilst the liber- 
al papers began to predict the events 
which have since taken place. They 
were conducted, in general, with great 
decorum, whilst the ministerial journals 
were filled with abuse and reproaches of 



their opponents, whom they denounced 
as traitors and enemies of the throne. 
To the hatred of the liberals against Fo- 
lignac and his colleagues was added con- 
tempt for his imbecility. A society was 
formed in Paris for the purpose of print- 
ing journals in such departments and dis- 
tricts as were destitute of them, and re- 
moving the impediments to their publi- 
cation occasioned by the refusal of prin- 
ters to lend their presses to papers op- 
posed to the measures of govenmient. 
In Britany, an association was formed 
to refuse the payment of taxes not regu- 
larly granted by the chamber of dep- 
uties. 

The members of this association 
agreed to assist each other in case of 
prosecution. The association was de- 
nounced, but was acquitted by the cour 
royale at Paris. 221 deputies had voted 
for the answer to the king's speech, and 
181 against it. The names of 221 Avere 
printed in hand bills ; the number 221 
were seen on snuff-boxes, &c, and un 
des 221 soon became an honorable title. 
Benjamin Constant, however, declared 
himself, in the Gazette de France, against 
the answer. Government prohibited the 
sale of snuff-boxes, &c, and published 
a list of prefects, dismissed or transfer- 
red to other departments ; purified, as 
the ministerials called it, all branches of 
the administration ; appointed many of 
the most servile partisans judges, prose- 
cuted the journals, and men of letters, 
many of whom were national favorites, 
and continued, though in the minority, to 
treat their opponents as traitors, and de- 
liberately insulted the nation. 

April 1, coimt Villele had a long inter- 
view with the king, and the papers as- 
serted that negotiations were on foot to 
recall him to the ministry. Prince Po- 
ligTiac seemed to have become more 
violent in proportion to his weakness ; 
and it Avould seem as if schemes of ven- 
geance had mingled with his absurd ideas 
of governing France. The anniversary 
of the entry of Charles X, (then count 
d'Artois,) into Paris, in 1814, was celebra- 
ted, April 13. All the public bodies made 
flattering speeches, and received gracious 
answers, and all the pageantry of mon- 
archy, though of a very different com- 



FRANCE. 



321 



plexion from what was soon to follow, 
was displayed. 

We have already mentioned the diffi- 
culties which existed between the king 
of P^rance and the dey of Algiers, and 
the intimation, in the king's speech, of his 
determination to take effectual measures 
on this point. A war with Algiers was 
in every shape agreeable to the adminis- 
tration. The same reason, which was 
one of the inducements to the war with 
Spain, the desire of making the army 
familiar with the name of the Bourbons 
and the drapeau Mane, still existed. But 
there were other reasons which rendered 
a war with reasonable probability of suc- 
cess, particularly desirable for the minis- 
try at this moment. It enabled them to 
assemble an army, which, in case of 
necessity, might be used at home, and 
even if it were absent at Algiers, the 
military preparations might be useful for 
their purposes. They hoped that a war 
of this kind would divert the public at- 
tention, and victory would at once render 
them popular with a nation so enthusias- 
tically fond of military glory. In both 
calculations the ministry, as we shall see, 
were grievously mistaken. Count Bour- 
mont, the minister of war, was appointed 
commander-in-chief of the expedition, 
and admiral Duperre the commander of 
the fleet. April 20, 1830, the Moniteur 
stated the reasons for the war to be, that 
the dey had raised the ancient tribute of 
17,000 francs per annum to 60,000, and 
finally to 200,000 francs ; that, though 
this sum was duly paid from 1820 to 1826, 
the dey had been unfavorable to the in- 
terests of the French nation, insulted the 
French flag, and struck the French con- 
sul, &c. May 10, the army consisting 
of 37,577 infantry and 4,000 horse, em- 
barked at Toulon, and the fleet, consist- 
ing of ninety-seven vessels, of which 
eleven were ships of the line and twenty- 
four frigates, set sail. June 14, at four 
o'clock, the army began to disembark at 
Sidi Ferrajh, on the coast of Africa. 

May 17, the royal ordinance dissolv- 
ing the chamber appeared in the Moni- 
teur. At the same time, new elections 
were ordered, and the two chambers 
convoked for August 3. The Moniteur 
of June 15, contained a proclamation of 
41 



the king, in which he called upon all 
Frenchmen to do their duty in the col- 
leges, to rely upon his constitutional in- 
tentions, &c. In this proclamation are 
these remarkable words ; — " As the father 
of my people, my heart was grieved ; as 
king, I felt insulted. I pronounced the 
dissolution of that chamber." It ends 
I thus — " Electors, hasten to your colleges. 
Let no reprehensible negligence deprive 
them of your presence ! Let one senti- 
! ment animate you all ; let one standard 
[ be your rallying point ! It is your king 
j who demands this of you ; it is a father 
I who calls upon you. Fulfil your duties, 
j I will take care to fulfil mine." The 
j elections for the new chamber took place 
in the latter part of June and in July. 
The activity and talent displayed in the 
opposition papers during this struggle 
were admirable. Though the success of 
the army in Algiers became known during 
the electoral struggle at home, and though 
all parties exulted in the success of the 
French arms, it appears that the ministry 
gained no popularity by it. All the re- 
turns of the new elections, indicated a 
strong majority against the ministry, so 
that, in the beginning of July, intelli- 
gent men spoke of a change of the min- 
istry as a natural consequence, and the 
funds rose ; but the infatuated ministry 
had determined otherwise. It preferred 
to attack the charter, violate the social 
contract, and expose France to a civil 
war, rather than to yield. The ministerial 
papers now began to assert that, after the 
enemies in Africa were subdued, those 
at home remained to be conquered. 
They began to utter the phrase coup 
d'etat, which several papers, under the 
more direct influence of the clergy, actu- 
ally demanded. During this time the 
king and queen of Naples visited Paris, 
and many festivals took place, strongly 
in contrast with the state of political 
affairs. The king also ordered Te 
Deum to be sung in all churches of the 
kingdom for the victory of his army in 
Africa, the news of which reached Paris 
(July 9) four days after the capture of 
Algiers. The capital was illuminated. 

In several departments numerous con- 
flagrations had taken place, which were 
evidently the work of incendiaries. Ma- 



322 



FRANCE. 



ny people, whether reasonably or not, 
believed these atrocities lo have been 
perpetrated by the instigation of the min- 
istry. This appears from the cries of 
the populace, when prince Polignac was 
arrested — " This is the monster who has 
burned our houses. Hang him, Hang 
him !" 

Of the 221 who voted for the answer 
of the chamber, 220 were re-elected. 
The liberals in the new chamber were 
270, the ministerial members 145, and 
fifteen were undecided. In consequence 
of this result, the ministers made a " re- 
port to the king," setting forth at length 
the dangers of a free press, of which 
they say, " At all epochs, the periodical 
press has only been, and from its nature 
must ever be, an instrument of disorder 
and sedition ;" and calling upon the king 
to suspend the liberty of the press, a 
measure authorised, as they asserted, by 
the fourteenth article of the charter, 
which declares that the king has the 
power to make all regulations and ordi- 
nances for the execution of the laws and 
the safety of the state. " The state," 
they said, " is in danger, and your ma- 
jesty has the right to provide for its 
safety. No government can stand, if it 
has not the right to provide for its own 
safety ; besides, the eighth article of the 
charter only gives every Frenchman the 
right of publishing his own opinions, but 
not, as the journals do, the opinions of 
others ; the charter does not expressl)^ 
allow journals and the liberty of the 
press. The journals misrepresent the 
best intentions of government ; and the 
liberty of the press produces the very 
contrary of publicity, because ill-inten- 
tioned writers misconstrue every thing, 
and the public never knows the truth." 

This report, to which its consequences 
have given a considerable degree of his- 
torical importance, is one of the shallow- 
est and most preposterous state papers on 
record. It combines the most unconsti- 
tutional principles wdth miserable sophis- 
try and the verbiage of despotism. The 
Polignac ministry had resolved to violate 
the constitution, and wanted talents to 
play the despot. History proves that 
nothing is so violent and so blind as 
bigotry, religious or political ; and this 



was the characteristic of the whole par- 
ty, priests and laymen, who supported or 
rather instigated Polignac. 

Meetings of opident citizens were now 
held for the purpose of considering what 
course to pursue ; and they resolved not 
to pay the current taxes, lest the money 
should be applied to the final subjugation 
of the chamber of deputies and the pe- 
riodical press. The Bourse or Exchange 
was crowded to excess. In every face 
their Avas either stupefacticm or alarm. 
There were at this time in Paris the de- 
puties representing the electors of the 
city, and some of the deputies from other 
parts of the kingdom. They assembled, 
to the number of thirty-two, and deliber- 
ated at the house of the deputy, M. La- 
fitte, the banker. A number of constitu- 
tional peers hastily met at the duke de 
Choiseul's. At each of these meetings 
it was resolved not to submit. The peers 
signed a protest, and sent it by a deputa- 
tion to the king, who refused to receive 
it. This rejection strengthened the re- 
solution of the deputies, and forty cou- 
riers were sent with despatches to towns 
and villages Avithin one hundred miles 
of the metropolis, representing the out- 
rageous conduct of the government, and 
urging the inhabitants to co-operate with 
the Parisians in a determined stand for 
the liberties of France. 

In the meantime the government was 
on the alert, and sent a general officer to 
Grenelle, and another to Anglers, for mil- 
itary purposes. The military command 
of Paris was intrusted to the marshal 
duke of Ragusa (Marmont). Troops 
were ordered in from the barracks with- 
in fifty miles around ; and the guards in 
the city were doubled. Towards the 
evening, bodies of gendarmerie were 
stationed about the Bourse, and on the 
Boulevards. In consequence of the bank 
refusing to discount bills, the manufac- 
turers perceived it had not confidence in 
the government, and they immediately 
discharged their workmen. These arti- 
sans congregated in the difTerent streets 
and reported what had happened to list- 
ening throngs. Lovers of news rushed 
to the offices of journals which contained 
second editions, with the obnoxious ordi- 
nances. The ministers were not willing 



FRANCE. 



323 



that a knowledge of their own acts? should 
extend to the provinces. Most of the 
papers put into the post-office were with- 
held, and the prefect of the police, M. 
Maugin, issued the annexed ordinance. 

" We, Prefect of Police, &c, seeing 
the ordinance of the King, dated the 
25th inst., which puts again in force ar- 
ticles 1, 2 and 9, of the law of the 21st 
October, 1814, &c, have ordained, and 
ordain as follows : — 

"Art. 1. Every individual who shall 
distribute printed writings, on which there 
shall not be the true indication of the 
names, profession, and residence of the 
author and of the printer, or who shall 
give to the public the same writings to 
read, shall be brought before the commis- 
sary of police of the quarter, and the 
writings shall be seized. 

" 2. Every individual keeping a read- 
ing-room, coffee-house, &c, who shall 
give to be read journals, or other writings, 
printed contrary to the ordinance of the 
king of the 25th inst., relative to the 
press, shall be prosecuted as guilty of 
the misdemeanors which these journals 
or writings may constitute, and his es- 
tablishment shall be provisionally closed. 

" 3. The present ordinance shall be 
printed, published, and posted up. 

" 4. The commissary chief of munici- 
pal police, the commissaries of police, 
shall be enjoined to see the execution of 
it. It shall be addressed to the colonel 
of the city of Paris, commander of the 
royal gendarmerie, to cause the execu- 
tion of it as far as he is concerned." 

This ordinance, which was posted on 
the walls in all parts of the city, height- 
ened the general discontent. It was 
plain there were to be fewer papers, and 
each with only such a small amoimt of 
adulterated intelligence as Prince Polig- 
nac and his confederates should sanction. 
Newspapers v/ith a Frenchman's coffee 
in the morning are essential to his exist- 
ence. He neither does, nor can he do, 
without them. M. Maugin's ordinance 
was honored with as much contempt as 
the ordinance of Polignac and the other 
members of the government. The offi- 
cers of this functionary cleared the cof- 
fee-houses and reading-rooms of visiters, 
and shut up these and other places of re- 



sort for amusement or refreshment. 
By order of the police, the theatres were 
closed. These precautionary measures 
were by no means effective. The gov- 
ernment spies prowled in redoubled num- 
bers, and were enabled to inform their em- 
ployers that all Paris was in a state of 
high sedition. 

In the course of the day the gendar- 
merie were objects of popular dislike, 
which was chiefly manifested by words. 
Several shops and public buildings were 
closed ; and, much earlier than was cus- 
tomary, ail the shops in the Palais Royal 
were shut up. Young men, chiefly the 
sons of tradesmen, paraded the streets 
with walking sticks containing small 
swords, which they drew occasionally 
and flourished in the air, at the same 
time uttering loud cries of " Vive la 
Charte." Charles X came privately to 
Paris, and slept at the duchess de Her- 
ri's ; while many of the Parisians passed 
the night in devising means for opposing 
the arbitrary domination he had assumed. 

About noon, on Tuesday, the police 
and a large force of gendarmes, mounted 
and on foot, appeared before the office of 
a very popular journal, called the Na- 
tionnel. They found the door fast closed ; 
and being refused entrance, broke in, 
seized the types, and carried the redac- 
teur-en-chef to prison, leaving five mount- 
ed gendarmes to blockade the entrance 
of the street. The same force proceed- 
ed to the office of the Temps, another 
popular newspaper, where, the door being 
blockaded and admission denied, a smith 
was sent for to break it open, but he re- 
fused to act. Another smith was pro- 
cured, who picked the lock and opened 
the door. Still there was no entrance ; 
for the door-way within was barricaded, 
and a body of printers inside vowed to 
defend the blockaded pass, and the press, 
with their lives. The commissaries of 
police, however, by some means got in, 
and seized the papers that remained and 
the types. 

A deputation of peers left Paris for St. 
Cloud ; but the court had taken a head- 
long course, and perversely determined 
on enforcing its mandates. The deputies 
assembled, and were understood to have 
unanimously resolved, that the ministers 



324 



FRANCE. 



having placed themselves out of the pale 
of the law, the people would be justified 
in refusing payment of the taxes ; and 
that all the deputies should be summoned 
to meet on the 3rd of August, the day 
first appointed for their convocation. By 
twelve o'clock, there were, at least, 5000 
people in the Palais Royal. The multi- 
tude was increased by printers thrown 
out of employment from the suppression 
of the journals, and by workmen dis- 
missed from the manufactories. The 
ferment rapidly heightened, especially 
among groups of electors of 12/. a year, 
whom the ordinances disfranchised, who 
listened to harangues from speakers : 
mounted on chairs. 

All work was now abandoned, every 
manufactory closed, and detachments of 
artisans with large sticks traversed the j 
streets. Troops of gendarmes patrolled i 
the streets at full gallop to disperse the j 
accumulating crowds. The people were ! 
silent, and at an early hour the shops 
throughout Paris were closed. Troops 
of the royal guard and soldiers of the 
line came pouring in. The people look- 
ed sullen and determined. The chief 
points of rendezvous were the Palais 
Royal, the Palais de Justice, and the 
Bourse. There were simultaneous cries 
of " Vive la Charte .'" — " Down with the 
absolute king !" — but no conversation — 
no exchange of words with each other. 
The king was at the Tuilleries. In the 
Place Carousel there was a station of 
several thousands of the military, includ- 
ing the lancers of the royal guard, with 
a great number of cannon. At the Place 
Vendome a strong guard of infantry was 
stationed around the column, to guard 
the ensigns of royalty upon it from being 
defaced. Crowds of people assembled 
on the spot and menaced the troops. 

On Wednesday morning, July 28, the 
shops of Paris were closely shut, and 
the windows fastened and barred, as if 
the inhabitants of the city were in 
mourning for the dead, or in apprehen- 
sion of approaching calamity. The toc- 
sin sounded, and the people flocked in 
from the fauxbourgs and different quar- 
ters of the city. That determined enemy 
to oppression, the press, had been at 
work during the night. Handbills were 



profusely distributed, containing vehe- 
ment philippics against the king and his 
ministers, and summoning every man to 
arm for his country, and to aid in ejecting 
the Bourbons. Placards were constantly 
posted up and eagerly read. During the 
preceding night an organization of the 
people had been arranged. All the arms 
that could be found at the theatres, and 
remaining in the shops of armourers that 
had not been visited the evening before, 
were seized and distributed. Every 
other kind of property was respected. 

Strong detachments guarded the difler- 
ent hotels of the ministers. Loud cries and 
shouts were constantly heard of " Down 
with the Jesuits !" — " Down with the 
Bourbons !" — " Death to the ministers !" 
Each man strove to provide himself with 
a musket, a pistol, a sword, a pole with a 
knife, or some cutting instrument to form a 
weapon of offence. Troops continually 
arrived from St. Denis, St. Cloud, and 
other military stations. Rude barricades 
were hastily thrown up in diflTerent places 
to prevent the attacks of cavalry. Se- 
veral telegraphs, including that on the 
church des Petits Peres, were dismount- 
ed. Groups of the people, armed with 
sticks, bayonets, pikes, and muskets, re- 
moved or effaced all the insignia and em- 
blems of royalty. A red flag was hoist- 
ed on the gate of St. Denis, amidst the 
shouts of the people. Tri-colored flags 
were promenaded in the streets, and tri- 
colored cockades and breast-knots were 
worn, not only by the French, but by the 
English and foreigners of all nations. The 
royal arms and other ensigns of the gov- 
ernment of Charles X that were move- 
able, were burned in the Place Publique. 
All Paris was in insurrection. Every 
movement of the people portended a ter- 
rible conflict. The government reposed 
in security upon a Wind and implacable 
dignity. 

A deputation was formed of the follow- 
ing eminent deputies : — Messrs. general 
Gerard, count de Lobau, Lafitte, Casimir 
Perrier, and Mauguin. — Amidst the fire 
of musketry they went to the marshal 
duke of Ragusa. M. Lafitte represented 
to the marshal the deplorable state of 
the capital ; blood flowing in all direc- 
tions J the musketry firing as in a town 



FRANCE. 



325 



taken by storm. He made him person- 
ally responsible, in the name of the as- 
sembled deputies of France, for the fatal 
consequences of so melancholy an event. 
The marshal replied — " The honor of a 
soldier is obedience." " And civil hon- 
our," replied M. Lafitte, " is not to mas- 
sacre the citizens." The marshal said, 
" But, gentlemen, what are the condi- 
tions you propose ?" Without judging 
too highly of our influence, we think that 
we can be answerable that every thing 
will return to order on the following con- 
ditions : — The revocation of the illegal 
ordinances of the 25th of July, the dis- 
missal of the ministers, and the convoca- 
tion of the chambers on the 3rd of August." 
The marshal replied, " that, as a citizen, 
he perhaps mightnot disapprove, nay, even 
might participate in the opinions of the 
deputies ; but that, as a soldier, he had his 
orders, and he had only to carry them into 
execution — that, however, he engaged to 
submit these proposals to the king in 
half an hour. But," said the marshal, 
" if you wish, gentlemen, to have a confer- 
ence on the subject with M. de Polignac, 
he is close at hand, and I will go and 
ask him if he can receive you." A quar- 
ter of an hour passed, the marshal return- 
ed with his manner much changed, and 
told the deputies that M. de Polignac had 
declared to him that the conditions pro- 
posed, rendered any conference useless. 
" We have then civil war," said M. La- 
fitte. The marshal bowed, and the de- 
puties retired. 

It had been known among the people 
that the deputies were to have a communi- 
cation with the duke of Ragusa ; and 
during the conference, and for some short 
time after, though the public feeling was 
intense, the assembled multitude was 
perfectly still, and mixed freely among 
the troops. As soon, however, as Polig- 
nac's answer was made known, " that 
ministers would enter into no compromise 
or concession," war, and war to the knife, 
commenced ; and never were witnessed 
more heroic acts of personal bravery, 
and more generous disregard of selfish 
feelings than were displayed by the citi- 
zens of Paris on this memorable day and 
night. The drums of the national guards 
soon beat " to arms !" The populace 



answered the call amid the incessant 
ringing of the tocsin, and the struggle 
began in earnest. About two o'clock a 
cannon on the bridge near the March^ 
aux Fleurs, raked with grape-shot the 
quay, while the troops were resolutely 
attacked by the people, and several of 
the guards led ofl', killed, or wounded. 

There was a tremendous conflict in. 
La Halle, the great market-place of the 
Rue St. Denis. The royal guard were 
early in possession of it. All the out- 
lets were speedily closed by barricades, 
from behind which, from the corners of 
the various streets, and from the win- 
dows of the houses, the people fired on 
the guards, and there was a terrible 
slaughter on both sides. The hottest en- 
gagement seems to have been in the Rue 
St. Honore, opposite the Palais Royal, 
where the military were assembled in 
great force, and the people resisted their 
assailants with desperate determination. 

At the Place de Greve they fiercely 
contended with the household troops, the 
Swiss guards, and compelled them to 
fly with great loss. In the Rue Mont- 
martre an attack was made by the duke 
de Ragusa in person. During part of 
the day the Place des Victoires was oc- 
cupied by some troops, among whom was 
a part of the fifth regiment of the line, 
who had gone over to the national guards 
established at the Petits Peres. About 
two o'clock the duke de Ragusa arrived at 
the place at the head of fresh troops. He 
drew them up opposite the Rues du Mail, 
des Fosses, Montmartre, Croix des Petits 
Champs, and Neuve des Petits Champs, 
He immediately commanded a charge, 
and on both sides several men were kill- 
ed or wounded. The marshal directed 
his troops down the Rue du Mail, and 
they scoured the Rue Montmarte without 
much difficulty till they reached the Rue 
Joquelet, where the people were prepar- 
ed. Each house was armed and guarded. 
The black flag was displayed on the 
Porte St. Denis and other edifices. 

As soon as the firing ceased, the peo- 
ple made preparations for the next day 
by strengthening the barricades and in- 
creasing their number. They were as- 
sisted by women and even children. 
The remainder of the afternoon and 



326 



FRANCE, 



evening, and the whole of the night, was 
spent in raising these important obstruc- 
tions to the evolutions of cavalry. Ex- 
cellent materials were at hand in the 
paving stones ; they were dug up and 
piled across the streets in walls breast 
high, and four or five feet thick. These 
walls were about fifty paces distant from 
each other. Hundreds of the finest trees 
were cut down for blockades. Nothing 
could be more effective for the defence 
of a large open town like Paris, traversed 
in every direction by long narrow streets, 
overlooked by houses of six, seven, and 
eight stories, than such barriers scienti- 
fically constructed. All the means that 
industry and ingenuity could devise, in 
so short a time, w^ere carried into exe- 
cution, for the energetic stand and as- 
sault determined to be made against the 
military in the morning. 

At day-break on Thursday the tocsin 
sounded " To arms !" and the people be- 
gan to assemble rapidly and in great 
crowds. The military, whose guard- 
houses had been destroyed, were chiefly 
quartered at the Louvre and the Tuille- 
ries, the Swiss and the royal guards be- 
ing posted in the houses of the Rue St. 
Honore and the adjacent streets. At the 
same time, the students of the Polytech- 
nic School joined the citizens nearly to 
a man ; they then separated, proceeding 
singly to different parts to take the com- 
mand of the people, and nobly repaid the 
confidence reposed in them. The garden 
of the Tuilleries was closed. In the 
place du Carousel were three squadrons 
of lancers of the garde royale, a battal- 
ion of the third regiment of the guards, 
and a battery of six pieces, also belonging 
to the guards. 

About one o'clock in the afternoon, a 
party of the royal guards and of Swiss, 
to the number of nearly 800 men, ap- 
peared on the Place de Greve. A brisk 
fire commenced, but the national guards 
not being in sufiicient strength, were 
obliged to give ground, and to suffer the 
royal guards to take possession of their 
post. The royal guards had scarcely 
made themselves masters of the Hotel 
de Ville, when they were assailed on all 
sides with a shower of bullets from the 
windows of the houses on the Place de 



Greve and in the streets abutting on the 
quay. The royal guards resisted vigor- 
ously, but were ultimately compelled to 
retreat along the quay ; their firing by 
files and by platoons succeeding each 
other with astonishing rapidity. They 
were soon joined by fresh troops of the 
royal guard and of Swiss, including 100 
curiassiers of the guard, and four pieces 
of artillery, each of them escorted by a 
dozen artillerymen on horseback. With 
this terrible re-enforcement they again 
advanced on the Hotel de Ville, and a 
frightful firing began on all sides. The 
artillery debouching from the quay, and 
their pieces charged with cannister shot, 
swept the Place de Greve, in a terrific 
manner. They succeeded in driving the 
citizens into the Rues de Matroit and du 
Mouton, and entered for the second time 
that day into their position at the Hotel 
de Ville. But their posession of it did 
not continue long ; for they were soon 
again attacked with a perseverance and 
courage which was almost irresistible. 
Their artillery ranged before the Prefec- 
ture of the Seine and the Hotel de Ville 
threatened death to thousands. 

Hundreds of the constitutionalists 
were killed by the fire of the Swiss guard 
from the windows of this edifice. It 
was erected in 1 600, and though it does 
not appear to possess any of the charac- 
teristics of strength in a military sense 
of the word, yet its gates being of im- 
mense thickness furnished a good defence 
from the musketry of the attacking par- 
ties. The Hotel de Ville was afterwards 
employed as the head-quarters of La 
Fayette and the provisional government. 

The Rue St. Honore, for two days, 
was a perpetual scene of slaughter. The 
Louvre, except the picture gallery, was on 
all sides attacked and defended at the same 
moment, and for hours. In the court of 
the Louvre a field-piece was planted, 
which commanded the Pont des Arts, 
being exactly opposite the Institute. Here 
the fighting was so dreadful and so main- 
tained, that the front of the building of 
the Institute was speckled with musket 
and grape shot. One cannon ball smash- 
ed a portion of the wall, and from its 
elevation did dreadful execution in sweep- 
ing the bridge. The attack on the Tuil- 



FRANCE. 



327 



levies was over in two or three hours. 
A young man marched with a tri-colored 
flag at the head of the attacking bour- 
geois. A thousand balls, fired from the 
front of the chateau, whistled by him 
without touching him. He continued to 
march with perfect sang froid, but with, 
at the same time, an air of importance, 
up to the triumphal arch, and remained 
there until the end of the battle. 

While the people and the military were 
combating at the Place de Greve, the 
Louvre, and the Tuilleries, troops were 
arriving by the Champs Elyse'es. A 
great party of the people, and many na- 
tional guards, with two pieces of cannon, 
were hastening along near the Place 
Louis XVI, towards the Barrier St. 
Etoile, when a large troop of dragoons 
arrived, made a desperate charge, and 
cut down the people without mercy, who 
made a very bold stand. Many of the 
soldiers solemnly vowed that they would 
not continue to obey orders to massacre 
their brothers and sons. Their nimibers 
were thinned, they were fatigued, dis- 
heartened, discomfited, beaten, and fled. 
At Chaillot, a district of Paris, verging 
on the route to St. Cloud, the inhabitants, 
though few in number, sustained the fire 
of five regiments of the guards, who at- 
tempted to eflfect their retreat by the bar- 
rier of Passy. At length, all the royal 
troops left the capital by the way of 
the Champs Elysees, and in their retreat 
were fired upon by the people. 

At night, part of the town was illum- 
inated, particularly the streets of St. De- 
nis, St. Martin, St. Jacques, and the 
neighborhood of the Hotel de Ville. 
Perfect tranquillity prevailed throughout 
the city. Strong patrols silently paraded 
the streets, passed gently from barricade 
to barricade, and disarmed individuals 
whom fatigue and the heat of the weath- 
er, more than wine, had rendered incapa- 
ble of employing their weapons usefully. 

A deputation from Charles X at St. 
Cloud, arrived at the Hotel de Ville ear- 
ly in the morning. It consisted of the 
marquis de Rastoret, chancellor of France ; 
M. Semonville ; and count d'Argout, 
peer of France. They announced that 
Charles X had named the duke de Morte- 
mart president of the coimcil, and that 



he was willing to accept a ministry 
chosen by him. 

At eleven o'clock, the deputies and 
peers then in Paris assembled in their 
respective halls, and established regular 
communications with each other. The 
duke de Mortemart was introduced to 
the chamber of deputies, and delivered 
four ordinances signed, the previous day, 
by Charles X. One of them recalled 
the fatal ordinances of the 25th ; another 
convoked the chambers on the 3rd ; the 
third appointed the duke de Mortemart 
president of the council ; and the fourth 
appointed count Gerard, minister of war, 
and M. Casimir Perier, minister of fin- 
ance. The reading of these ordinances 
was listened to with the greatest atten- 
tion. At the termination profound silence 
continued ; — no observation was made ; — 
the deputies passed to other business. 
The duke de Mortemart returned to ac- 
quaint his master that he was no longer 
acknowledged as king of France. The 
manner in which the duke and his com- 
mxmications were received by the depu- 
ties was an announcement that Charles 
X, had ceased to reign. 

July 31, the deputies published a pro- 
clamation, declaring that they had invited 
the duke of Orleans to become lieuten- 
ant-general of the kingdom. At noon of 
the same day, Louis Philippe d'Orleans 
issued a proclamation, declaring that he 
had hastened to Paris, wearing the "glo- 
rious colors" of France, to accept the 
invitation of the assembled deputies to 
become lieutenant-general of the king- 
dom. A proclamation of the same date 
appointed provisional commissaries, for 
the different departments of government, 
as follows ; for the department of justice, 
M. Dupont-do I'Eure ; of finance, baron 
Louis ; of war, general Gerard ; of the 
marine, de Rigny ; of foreign afl^airs, 
M. Bignon ; of public instruction, M. 
Guizot ; of the interior and public works, 
M. Casimir Perier ; signed Lobau, A. 
de Puyraveau, and Mauguin de Schonen. 
The king, Avith his family, had fled to 
St. Cloud. 

History has but few events to show 
that can be compared with the struggle 
in Paris. The Parisians left their hab- 
itations to fight, without organization, we 



328 



FRANCE. 



might almost say, without arms, against 
some of the best troops in the world ; 
and for what ? Were they a rabble 
driven by hunger, or a rebellious nobility 
endeavoring to wrest new privileges from 
the monarch ? No : they were men 
who would not sulTer themselves to be 
stripped of their civil rights, but firmly 
and manfully defended them with their 
lives. It is in this respect a great moral 
revolution, and forms a brilliant epoch in 
the history of France. 

The king and his household fled on 
July 31, from St. Cloud to Rambouillet, 
a small place six leagues W. S. W. of Ver- 
sailles. Three commissioners, Messrs. 
De Schonen, marshal Maison, and O'Dil- 
lon Barrot were sent to treat with him. 
They informed the authorities at Paris, 
under date of August 3, that the king 
wished to leave France by way of Cher- 
bourg ; to restore the crown jewels, 
which he had taken from Paris, &c. 
These concessions were produced by the 
advance of the national guard toward 
Rambouillet. On the morning of Aug. 
2, the abdication of Charles X, and the 
dauphin, Louis Antoine, was placed in 
the hands of the lieutenant-general. The 
abdication, however, was made in favor 
of the duke of Bordeaux. A letter of 
the king, of August 2, appointed the 
duke of Orleans lieutenant-general of 
the kingdom, and ordered him to proclaim 
the duke of Bordeaux, king, under the 
title of Henry V. 

August 3, (the day originally fixed for 
opening of the session), the chambers 
met. The lieutenant-general addressed 
the peers and the deputies, and announ- 
ced the abdication of Charles. Casimir 
Perier was chosen president of the 
chamber, which had acted during the late 
memorable events, under the vice presi- 
dent Lafitte. 

August 6. The chamber of deputies 
declared the throne of France vacant, 
de jure and de facto, and discussed those 
changes of the charter, which we have 
already given in the former part of this 
article. On the 7th, new changes were 
adopted, and it was voted to invite the 
duke of Orleans to become king of the 
French on condition of his accepting 
these changes ; the vote stood 219 in fa- 



vor, 33 against. The whole number of 
deputies is 430 ; so that 219 is not only 
an immense majority of those present, 
but a majority of the whole chamber. 
On the 8th, the chamber went in a bo- 
dy to the duke of Orleans, and offered 
him the crown, which he accepted ; and 
on August 9, he took the prescribed con- 
stitutional oath. A majority of the cham- 
ber of peers actually present concurred 
in these measures. 

In the middle of November, 1831, 
alarming riots occurred at Lyons, in con- 
sequence of a dispute between the work- 
ing weavers, their employers, and the 
civic authorities, respecting the rate of 
wages. The insurgents seized on the 
prefect and general Ordoneau, the civil 
and military leaders, and took possession 
of the city, after driving out the troops. 
In their first excitement, the rioters col- 
lected some valuable properly, to which 
they set fire ; but this feeling soon sub- 
sided, and the discontented afterwards 
behaved with moderation till the arrival 
of the duke of Orleans, at the head of 
50,000 men, when they submitted, and 
order was restored. 

At the beginning of February of the 
following year, a conspiracy to de- 
throne Louis Philippe, and re-establish 
the late dynasty, was detected in Paris. 
About 300 arrests took place, and large 
sums of money, received as bribes, were 
found on the persons of some prisoners. 

In June, 1833, marshal Soult declared 
the intention of the French government 
not only to relinquish Algiers, but to en- 
courage its colonization from France. 
Since that time, the whole coast from 
Oran to Constantine has been subjected 
to the government of Algiers ; and the 
fortifications of the city itself have been 
repaired and greatly strengthened. Thus 
the determination of the French govern- 
ment to retain possession of the new col- 
ony is no longer doubtful. 

The present condition of France is 
prosperous. Agriculture, manufactures 
and commerce are in a flourishing state. 
Great attention is paid to the education 
of all classes. The arts and sciences 
are highly cultivated, and among her 
learned men, are to be found the greatest 
scholars of the age. 



GERMANY. 



329 



GERMANY. 



Germany is divided among such a 
number of sovereigns, native and foreign, 
and its natural boundaries are so obscure- 
ly marked, that it is difficult, and at first 
sight seems improper, to describe it as a 
single country. But when it is consid- 
ered, that, in respect to name, language, 
and inhabitants, it possesses a unity of 
character, from which it derives a fair 
and solid claim to occupy a separate place 
among the divisions of Europe, and that 
although its extreme limits are not easily 
ascertained, the great mass of which it 
is composed is sufficiently identified, we 
trust we shall be justified in making it 
the subject of a separate article. 

Our most accurate, full, and important 
information respecting ancient Germany, 
is derived from Tacitus. He gives the 
names and locations of the numerous 
tribes inhabiting the country, which it 
appears comprehended about one third 
part of Europe. 

The ancient Germans were distin- 
guished by their blue eyes, red hair, and 
large stature. Their children were al- 
ways kept naked and dirty ; every mother 
suckled her own infants, and did not 
commit them to the care of maid-servants 
or nurses. There was no distinction in 
the mode of rearing the master and slave. 
They lived among the same cattle, and 
lay on the same ground, till age caused 
them to be separated, and superior valor 
marked out the free-born. They were 
not permitted to marry early in life : the 
more numerous a person's kinsman and 
relations by marriage were, the more 
comfortable and respectable was his old 
age : it was no advantage, but rather 
considered a misfortune and disgrace, to 
be childless. The uncle, by the mother's 
side, regarded his nephews with the 
same affection as their father ; every 
man's children were his heirs and suc- 
cessors, without any testament ; if there 
were no issue, the brothers of the de- 
ceased inherited the property, and then 
his uncles, by his father's or mother's 
side. The ancient Germans were utterly 
ignorant of arts and agriculture. Tacitus 
42 



expressly says, that in his time they had 
no cities ; and though Ptolemy reckons 
up 90 places, which he calls cities, in 
all probability they were only rude forti- 
fications, erected to secure the women, 
children, and cattle, while the men were 
engaged in warfare. They had not even 
regular and connected villages, but each 
individual fixed his dwelling were it suit- 
ed his convenience, or pleased his fancy. 
Neither stones, nor bricks, nor tiles, 
were employed in erecting their habita- 
tions. They were equally rude and ill 
supplied with respect to their govern- 
ment. The clothing used by all the 
Germans was a loose mantle, fastened 
with a clasp, or, when that could not be 
procured, with a thorn. The rich, how- 
ever, sometimes were clothed in a gar- 
ment girt close, and showing the shape 
of every limb. The tribes who dwelt 
towards the north clothed themselves in 
furs : the dress of the women was not 
different from that of the men, except 
that they sometimes wore linen robes of 
their own manufacture, and adorned them 
with purple. The principal employment 
of the men, in time of peace, consisted 
in hunting the various sorts of game, 
with which the forests of Germany were 
plentifully stocked : their herds of cattle 
formed the principal object and source 
of their wealth. The country, though 
considerably varied, was in general cover- 
ed with M'oods, or deformed by marshes ; 
and the indolence and ignorance of the 
inhabitants prevented them from render- 
ing any large portion of it fit for the 
growth of corn. Gold, silver, and iron, 
were extremely scarce ; the scarcity of 
iron appeared from their weapons, which, 
for the most part, were spears tipt wdth 
a short and narrow piece of iron. With 
this spear, and with a shield, their cav- 
alry went to battle. The infantry had 
also missile weapons, which they threw 
to a great distance, with wonderful force 
and unerring aim. Their warriors were 
either naked, or dressed in a loose and 
light mantle. Their shields of wood, or 
osier, were distinguished and ornament- 



330 



GERMANY. 



ed with a variety of colors ; some of 
the chiefs wore cuirasses, and a (cw 
helmets. Their horses were slow, un- 
manageable, and not remarkable for their 
beauty. On their cavalry, therefore, they 
seldom placed much reliance in the hour 
of battle, their principal strength in gene- 
ral consisting in their infantry, which 
were drawn up, either mixed with the 
cavalry, or in several deep columns by 
themselves. They fought by families 
and clans ; and while they fought, they 
were encouraged by the presence of their 
wives and children. Their mothers and 
wives dressed their wounds : carried re- 
freshments to them while fighting ; and 
exhorted them to deeds of bravery. Their 
armies were totally devoid of discipline ; 
they rushed to battle Avith dissonant 
shouts. Sometimes by their native valor, 
they prevailed over the disciplined troops 
of the Romans ; but they knew not how 
to rally or retire ; a repulse was a sure 
defeat; and when they were defeated, 
the destruction of their army almost in- 
evitably followed. 

The ancient Germans had no temples, 
but performed their religious rites in 
groves, or in woods, forests, and desert 
places. They adored the sun, the moon, 
the fire, and the earth. Jupiter was wor- 
shipped under the name of Thor, or 
Thoran, the Thunderer. Odin, or Wo- 
din, appears to have been their Mars, or 
god of battle. The supreme deity was 
worshipped under the name of Esus, or 
Hesus, and under the emblem of an oak, 
which was consecrated to him. They 
had no druids, though their priests bore 
some resemblance to them in several 
points of their authority. The priests 
exerted the influence wliich they pos- 
sessed over the fears and superstition of 
their countrymen, frequently to very use- 
ful purposes. They maintained silence 
and decency in the popular assemblies ; 
and during a solemn procession of the 
goddess Erlha, the sound of war was 
hushed, quarrels were suspended, arms 
laid aside, and the blessings of peace 
and harmony were enjoj^ed. In war, 
too, the influence of the priests was con- 
spicuous. The consecrated standards, 
which during peace were kept concealed 
from the vulgar eye in the recesses of 



the sacred groves, were placed in the 
front of the battle ; and the army of their 
enemies was devoted in the most solemn 
manner to the gods of war and of thun- 
der. They were taught by their priests, 
that a brave man was the favorite of their 
gods ; while the coward, Avho had lost 
his shield, was devoted equally to con- 
tempt and banishment in this world, and 
shut out from the enjoyment of a future 
state. A life spent in arms, and a glo- 
rious death in battle, they were taught 
assuredly led to a happy futurity, either 
in this or in another world. 

The passion of the ancient Germans 
for play was extremely powerful. In 
their sober moments they applied to dice, 
as to a serious and important concern, 
and with such resolved and blind eager- 
ness to gain or lose, that when every 
thing else was gone, they risked their 
liberty and persons on the last throw. 
The loser, though more powerful or more 
noble than the winner, submitted to vol- 
untary slavery, and sufllered himself to be 
bound and sold. Still, however, notwith- 
standing the strong and general preva- 
lence of the spirit of gaming, some shame 
was attached to it, which induced the 
Avinner to dispose of the slave he had ac- 
quired in this way, by commerce, in order 
to wipe oft' the scandal of the transaction. 
The slaves of the Germans were much bet- 
ter treated, and of a higher class than the 
slaves of the Romans ; each had his own 
dwelling ; he was indeed bound to give 
his master, from the fruits of his own 
labor, a certain portion of grain, and a 
certain number of cattle ; but when he 
had given these, his labor was his own. 

The invasion of Italy by the Cimbri 
and Teutones ; their defeat by Marius, 
A. M. 3909 ; the invasion of Gaul by 
the borders of the Rhine, under Arioris- 
tus, and their defeat by Julius Caesar, A. 
M. 3950, are almost the only events of 
consequence in the history of Germany, 
before the Christian era, of which we 
have any certain account. When Ca;sar 
had completed the conquest of Gaul, he 
j divided it into the Celtic, the Aquitanic, 
and the Belgic provinces ; in the last, all 
the German provinces on the left side of 
; the Rhine were comprised. In the reign 
' of Augustus, a further division took pLice, 



GERMANY. 



331 



and the country lying between the Meuse, 
the Scheldt, and the Rhine, was separa- 
ted from the Belgic Gaul, and formed 
into a province called Germania cis- 
Rhonanas. In A. M. 3995, the famous 
Arminius, at the head of the Cherusci, 
massacred three Roman legions under 
Varus, between the Lippe and the Ems. 
In the third century of the Christian era, 
the German tribes formed different asso- 
ciations for their common defence against 
the Romans. Of these the most remark- 
able were the Saxons, comprising those 
who dwelt on each side of the Elbe ; 
tho Alemanni, formed by the nations be- 
tween the Rhineji the Mayne and the 
Lech ; the Francici, by the nations be- 
tween the Rhine, the Mayne, and the 
Weser ; and the Thuringians by the 
nations between the Mayne, the Danube 
and the Hartz. Charlemagne was the 
first who united Germany under one 
sceptre. 

Soon after the division of the empire 
of Charlemagne, the feudal system gain- 
ed a consistency and firm footing, so that 
by degrees it overpowered the influence 
and authority of his descendants. In 
consequence of the weakness of the 
Carlovingian princes, the dukes and 
counts converted their hereditary posses- 
sions, which the)^ parcelled out among 
their barons, and those among their vas- 
sals. The principal of these in Germany 
were, the dukes of Franconia, Saxony, 
Bavaria, Suabia, and Lorraine. These 
usurpations, joined to the incapacity of 
the Carlovingian princes, caused the 
house of Charlemagne to decline rapidly. 
In Germany, on the abdication of Charles 
the Fat, the people, from respect to the 
placed the 



empire were extended, chiefly by Otho 

the Great. 

This monarch subdued the kingdom of 
Italy, deUvered the pope, and fixed the 
imperial crown in the name and nation 
of Germany. From that era, A. D. 
962, two maxims of public jurisprudence 
were introduced ; 1st, That the prince, 
who was elected in the German diet, 
acquired from that instant the kingdoms 
of Italy and Rome ; and 2d, That he 
could not legally assume the titles of 
Emperor and Augustus, till he had re- 
ceived the crown from the hands of the 
pope. 

It has already been mentioned, that in 
the time of Tacitus, the Germans did 
not live even in villages ; as, however, 
they spread themselves over the country 
on the west of the Rhine, they began to 
inhabit villages, and even to construct 
towns ; so that at an early period, after 
the Triboci, Nemetes, and Vangions, 
settled in the country between the Rhine 
and the Vosges, the cities of Strasburg, 
Spire, Mentz,and Worms, are mentioned. 
Under the Francic sovereigns, cities were 
multiplied ; and by Henry the Fowler 
they were particularly encouraged by a 
singular institution. From the troops 
stationed in Germany, he chose every 
ninth soldier ; the remaining eight were 
to sow and till the land, and to carry the 
produce to the ninth, whose business it 
was to build habitations for himself and 
his companions. By degrees, the lower 
order of the people united themselves to 
these soldiers ; and the Emperor order- 
ed the courts of justice, fairs, tourna- 
ments, &c, to be held in the cities they 
constructed. His example was followed 
in the other parts of Germany, so that in 



memory of Charlemagne, 

crown on the head of Arnold, a natural [ a short time it scarcely contained a d 
son of Carloman, and after the decease : trict of any extent which had not its 
of Arnold, on Louis, his son. On the { city. To each of them exclusive priv- 
death of Louis, they elected a duke of j ileges were granted ; the most important 
Franconia for their king, and then a of which were the jus stapulcB and the 
Saxon line of princes. jus geranii ; by the former, all commodi- 



The emperors of the house of Saxony 
reigned from A. D. 911 to A. D. 1024. 
They were, Henry I, surnaraed the 
Fowler ; Otho I, surnamed the Great ; 
Otho II, Otho III, and Henry II. During 
the period that the throne was filled by 
the Saxon emperors, the limits of the 



ties brought into them were exposed to 
public sale ; by the latter, all commodi- 
ties imported or exported, were to be 
weighed or measured by the public 
weights or measures of the city, for 
which it was entitled to a duty. At first, 
the chief magistrates were of noble birth, 



332 



GERMANY. 



but, by degrees, the chief offices were \ 
opened to the people at large. Thus, | 
soon after the era of the Saxon Enipe- 1 
rors, there were in almost every town 
three different classes, — nobles, citizens, i 
and slaves ; but, about the beginning of! 
the 12th century, Henry V, eniranchised 
all slaves in cities who were artisans. 

The emperors of the house of Fran- 
conia were called to the throne after the 
Saxon emperors ; they reigned from 
1027 to 1137. They consisted of Con- 
ard II, who conquered the kingdom of; 
Burgundy; Henry III, who conquered, 
the country between the Inn and the i 
Lech, now called Lower Austria ; Henry 
IV, and Henry V ; on the death of the | 
last, Lothaire, the Saxon, was elected i 
king of Germany. Under Henry III, I 
the empire of Germany had its greatest j 
extent. It comprehended Germany, Italy, j 
Burgimdy, and Lorraine. Poland and 
other Slavonian districts, were tributary 
to it ; and Denmark and Hungary ac- 
knowledged themselves its vassals. The 
Emperors of Germany at this period af- 
fected to consider all Christendom as 
forming a royal republic, of which the 
Emperor was chief. In consequence of 
this assumed supremacy, they claimed 
the exclusive right of creating kings ; 
and the states of the empire proclaimed 
war against the Duke of Poland for hav- 
ing taken to himself the title of king in 
1077. Soon after reaching this point of 
power and grandeur, the empire began to 
decline, principally owing to the rapid 
extension of the feudal system. In every 
province, the subjects of the law were 
the vassals of a private chief ; and the 
standard which he received from his 
sovereign, was often raised against him. 
The power of the Emperors was also 
curtailed by the incn^asing influence and 
possessions of the clergy ; and the bish- 
oprics in Germany became equal in ex- 
tent and privileges, and superior in wealth 
and population, to most of the secular 
states. The emperors were gradually 
deprived of the privilege of filling up 
the ecclesiastical and secular benefices ; 
and at length each sovereign was reduced 
to a recommendation, once in his reign, I 
to a single prebend in each church. l"he 



by the sentence of their peers ; the ap- 
pointment of the son to the duchy or 
county of his father, which in the first 
age of the monarchy was solicited as a 
favor, was at length extorted as a right ; 
and this right was claimed even by col- 
lateral or female branches. 

The emperor Henry IV, of Germany, 
in attempting to preserve the rights of 
the empire relative to the nomination of 
the pope was opposed by Paschal HI, 
who excommunicated the emperor, for 
the alleged crime of introducing schisms 
into the church. Whilst the emperor la- 
bored under this calamity, his unnatural 
son Henry, took up arms against him, 
and having obtained possession of his 
person, the archbishops of Mentz and 
Cologne, were seni to inform him of his 
deposition, and to demand the crown, 
and other regalia. Henry having remon- 
strated in vain, he put on his royal orna- 
ments, and seating himself in a chair of 
state, addressed the unfeeling prelates 
to this effect ; " Here are the ensigns of 
that royalty with which we were invested 
by God and the princes of the empire ; 
if you disregard the wrath of Heaven, 
and the eternal reproach of mankind, so 
much as to lay violent hands on your 
sovereign, and strip us of them by force, 
we are not in a condition to defend our- 
selves from such an outrage." This ex- 
postulation had no effect ; the bishops 
snatched the crown from Plenry's head, 
and, dragging him from his seat, pulled off 
the imperial robes by force ; whilst he 
lifted his streaming eyes to heaven, ac- 
knowledging the sins of his youth, and 
imploring God to punish the perjury and 
insolence of his inhuman enemies. This 
took place A. D. 1106. 

The emperors of the house of Suabia 
succeeded to those of the house of Fran- 
conia, and held the empire from A. D. 
1138 to A. D. 1254. They were, Con- 
ard III ; Frederic I, surnamed Barba- 
rossa ; Henry VI ; Philip ; Otho IV ; 
Frederic II ; and Conard IV. The 
principal events in the history of the lat- 
ter princes of the Franconian line, and 
of all the princes of the Suabian line, 
were produced or influenced by the con- 
tests between the popes and the empe- 
rors ; and the principal ground of these 



GERMANY 



333 




Deposition of Henry IV, Emperor of Germany. 



contests was the claim of the popes to 
the supreme dominion of every part of 
the Christian world, both in temporal 
and spiritual concerns. This claim gave 
rise to the factions of the Guelphs and 
the Ghibelines ; of which the former 
were attached to the popes, and the latter 
to the emperors. These two factions 
kept Germany and Italy in perpetual 
agitation during three centuries ; and 
during this period, the imperial authority 
continued to decline. 

The next period, between 1254 and 
1272, is generally called by the German 
writers, the Great Interregnum. During 
it, six princes claimed to be emperors. 
The interregnum was determined by the 
election of Rodolph, Count of Hapsburgh. 
From him till the ultimate accession of 
the house of Austria, the empire of Ger- 
many was held by the following empe- 
rors. Rodolph, Count of Hapsburg, elec- 
ted A. D. 1273. Adolph, Count of Nas- 
sau, elected A. D. 1292. Albert I, Arch- 
duke of Austria, elected A. D. 1298. 
Henry, Count of Luxemburg, elected A. 
D. 1308. Louis V, Duke of Bavaria, 
elected A. D. 1314. Charles, King of 
Bohemia, A. D. 1347. Winceslaus, 
King of Bohemia, A. D. 1378. Robert, 



Elector Palatine, A. D. 1400. Sigis- 
raond. King of Hungary, A. D. 1410. 
and Albert I, duke of Austria, A. D. 1438. 
During the period between the last acces- 
sion of the house of Hapsburg and the 
election of Charles V, the empire was 
possessed by the following emperors. 
Frederic III, elected A. D. 1440; Max- 
imilian I, elected 1493 ; and Charles V, 
elected A. D. 1519. 

During this period, the boundaries of 
the Germanic empire, the form of its 
government, and the rise of its towns, 
particularly those which composed the 
Hanseatic league, are the chief subjects 
of consideration. The emperor was al- 
ways elective ; but great alterations took 
place in the mode of election. In early 
periods, the emperor was chosen by the 
people at large ; afterwards the nobility 
and principal officers of state possessed 
the privilege exclusively ; by degrees it 
was engrossed by the five great officers, 
the chancellor, the great marshal, the 
great chamberlain, the great butler, and 
the great master. At first they contented 
themselves with proposing a candidate 
to the general body of electors. After- 
wards they confined the whole right of 
election to themselves. This mode was 



334 



GERMANY. 



finally settled in tlie reign of Charles IV, 
by the celebrated constitution, called the 
Golden Bull, which fixed the right of 
election in four spiritual and three tempo- 
ral electors. These were, the King of 
Bohemia, the Duke of Saxony, the Mar- 
grave of Brandenburg, the Count Pala- 
tine of the Rhine, and the three arch- 
bishops of Meutz, Treves, and Cologne. 
Subsequently, the Duke of Bavaria and 
the Duke of Brunswick Lunenburgh 
were added. The multitude of princes, 
bishops, al)bots, and male and female no- 
bles, who, under various names, possess- 
ed sovereign rights, though all recogni- 
zed the emperor as their feudal lord, 
were divided into the primitive states, or 
those which had always been held of the 
emperor, as the duchies of Saxony aud 
Bavaria, the Palatinate, and several bish- 
oprics ; those which arose on the ruin of 
the Guelphic family, in consequence of the 
confiscation of the possessions of Henry 
the Lion ; those which arose from the ruins 
of llie Suabian family, and those which 
arose principally during the interregnum. 
But though the exclusive privilege of 
choosing the emperor was confined to 
the electors, they formed only one branch 
of the diet. The other two branches 
consisted of the princes, and of the free 
and imperial cities of Germany. In pro- 
cess of time, the college of princes and 
prelates purged themselves of a promis- 
cuous multitude. They reduced to four 
representative votes the long series of in- 
dependent counts, and totally excluded the 
nobles, 60,000 of whom had often appear- 
ed in the field of election. The cities of 
Germany, the origin and first state of 
which has been already noticed, insensi- 
bly became divided into the free cities, 
or those which held immediately of the 
emperor, and had a voice at the diet ; the 
mixed cities, or those under the protec- 
tion of some prince, which had no voice; 
and the municipal cities, entirely subject 
to the states. The Hanse towns also 
arose during the same period. They were 
originally united for the support and en- 
couragement of their commerce. Bremen 
and several sea-ports in Livonia first es- 
tablished the confederacy. At one time 
80 towns were included in it. They were 
divided into four classes ; the Vandallic, 



I or the cities on the Baltic between Ham- 
burgh and Pomerania ; over these Lu- 
beck presided ; the Rhinarian, or cities 
on the Rhine, at the head of which was 
Cologne ; the Saxon, the cities in Saxony 
and Westphalia, over which Brunswick 
presided ; and the Prussian, the cities in 
Prussia and Livonia, at the head of which 
was Dantzic. From the beginning of 
the 15th centurj^ Lubeck was regarded 
as the head of the whole confederacy. 
In the following century it declined ; in 
the middle of the 17th, it was almost 
wholly confined to Hamburg, Lubeck, and 
Bremen. Their political existence ter- 
minated in 1806. 

Another important event in this period 
of the history of Germany, is the division 
of the territories of the empire into cir- 
cles. The first division of Germany 
was into the Upper and Lower, or south- 
ern and northern states. The line divi- 
ding them was supposed to be drawn 
easterly from the mouth of the Mayne. 
It was afterwards geographically divided 
into the states lying on the principal 
rivers, as the Danube, Rhine, &c. Maxi- 
milian the First divided it into ten cir- 
cles, viz, Bavaria. Franconia, Suabia, 
Lower and Upper Saxony, Lower and 
Upper Rhine, Westphalia, Austria, and 
Burgimdy ; but the last, comprising High 
Burgundy or Franche Compte, and the 
17 provinces of the Netherlands, was soon 
afterwards separated from the empire. 

During the same period, the diets 
which had been frequently held, were 
regularly and solemnly established, con- 
sisting, as has been already noticed, of 
three classes : the college of electors of 
ecclesiastical and secular princes, and 
of imperial towns. This division was 
finally established at Frankfort in 1580. 
The three colleges deliberated separate- 
ly. The agreement of them all, as well 
as the consent of the emperor, was 
necessary to form a resolution or law of 
the empire. 

Maximilian I, also established the im 
perial chamber, and the Aulic council. 
The president of the former was appoint- 
ed by the emperor ; the assessors by the 
states. The Court Palatine, or Aulic 
Council, was established as a check on 
the imperial chamber. During the va- 



GERMANY. 



335 



cancy of the throne, its powers where 
suspended ; but the imperial council act- 
ed under the vicars of the empire. There 
was no appeal from one to the other ; 
the dernier resort was the diet. From 
the accession of the house of Austria to 
the imperial throne, the history of Ger- 
many may properly be sought for imder 
the article Austria. It will be neces- 
sary here, however, to notice the lead- 
ing events ; first, from the division of 
the house of Hapsburg into its Spanish 
and German lines, till the final extinction 
of the latter in the house of Lorraine, or 
the period between 1558 and 1745 ; 
and, secondly, from the marriage of 
Maria Theresa, till the abdication, by 
the emperor of Germany, of the imperial 
government of the empire, and the for- 
mation of the confederation of the Rhine, 
or the period between 1745 and 1806. 

The principal events in Germany 
during the first period, were the war of 
thirty years, which began in 1618 and 
ended in 1648 ; the war for the succes- 
sion of Spain, which began in 1700 and 
ended in 1713 ; the war for the succes- 
sion of Poland, which began 1733, and 
ended 1735 ; and the war for the suc- 
cession of Austria, which began in 1740 
and ended in 1748. The war of thirty 
years was principally owing to the re- 
ligious disputes of the 16th century. 

The Reformation of religion in Ger- 
many, by Martin Luther and others, was 
the commencement of an important era 
in the religious and civil history of the 
world. This event is dated A. D. 1517, 
when Tctzel, an agent of pope Leo X, 
began to publish indulgences, and brought 
them into Germany and offered them for 
sale. Leo X was a man of pleasure and 
ambition, who exhausted the papal trea- 
sury, and took this method to raise mo- 
ney ; but the scandalous manner in which 
these pardons for all sins, past, present, 
and to come, were disposed of, together 
with the gross immorality of Tetzel and 
his associates, gave offence to many re- 
ligious persons. Luther at this time was 
a professor of divinity at Wittenburg, and 
when Tetzel came into the vicinity, he 
boldly and eloquently protested against 
the iniquity of these indulgences, and 
other papal doctrines, and the vices of 



the monks. He also published his sen- 
timents, which spread over Germany 
with great rapidity, and were read with 
the greatest eagerness. Leo and his 
agents, alarmed by the progress of Lu- 
ther's sentiments among all classes of 
people, excommunicated him as a heretic, 
and would have probably put him to 
death, had he not been befriended by 
some of the princes of Germany, who 
were friendly to the new doctrines he set 
forth. * In 1520, the pope issued a bull, 
or proclamation, threatening him with 
destruction as an excommunicated heretic, 



* Being at Augsburg in 1518, whither he had 
been summoned to answer for his opinions, Lu- 
ther declared he could not renounce opinions 
founded in reason, and derived from Scripture, 
and at the same time delivering a formal protest, 
the cardinal asked, " What do you mean 1 Do you 
rely on the force of arms 1 When the just punish- 
ment and the thunder of the pope's indignation 
break in upon you, where do you think to re- 
main ]" His answer was, " Either in Heaven or 
under Heaven." 

Luther was at length summoned to appear be- 
fore the diet at Worms, to answer for his heresy. 
The emperor Charles V, having granted him a 
safe conduct, he yielded obedience and set out 
for Worms. While on his journey, many of his 
friends (whom the fate of Huss under similar cir- 
cumstances, and notwithstanding the same secu- 
rity of an imperial safe conduct, filled with solici- 
tude) advised and entreated him not to rush 
wantonly into the midst of danger. But Luther 
superior to such terrors, silenced them with this 
reply : — " J am lawfully called,'" said he, " to ap- 
pear in that city : and thither I will go in the 7hame 
of the Lord, though as many devils as there are 
tiles on the houses were there combined against me." 

When Luther arrived at Worms, greater crowds 
than had appeared at the emperor's public entry, 
assembled to behold him. At his appearance be- 
fore the diet he behaved with great decency and 
firmness. When called upon to recant his opin- 
ions, Luther replied, in a truly exalted manner, 
" Except I can be convinced by clear reasoning, 
or by proofs taken from the Holy Scriptures, I 
neither can nor will recant, because it is neither 
safe nor advisable to do any thing which is against 
my conscience. Here I stand ; I cannot do other- 
wise ; so help me God ! Amen !" Luther per- 
sisting in this answer, he was dismissed from the 
assembly under a strong escort, and was permit- 
ted by the emperor to return from Worms. 

Luther, after this, in 1534, translated the bible 
into the German language, wrote many works, 
and labored with unwearied zeal in propagating 
the doctrines of the reformation. He had during 
his life the pleasure of seeing vast numbers of 
the people adoj)ting his sentiments, and the re- 
formed religion firmly established in many parta 
of Europe, 



336 



GERMANY. 



unless he should within sixty days pub- 
licly recant his errors, and burn his own 
books. Amid a vast assemblage of peo- 
ple at Wittenburg, Luther threw the pa- 
pal bull, with the volumes of the canon 
law into the fiames, renounced the au- 
thority of the pope, exhorted the princes 
of Europe to shake off the oppressive yoke 
which they had so long borne, and ofler- 
ed thanks to Almighty God that he was 
selected as the advocate of true religion, 
and a friend to the liberties of mankind. 

At the diet of Augsburg, 1530, the pro- 
testant princes of Germany delivered in 
their confession of faith, and afterwards 
formed the league of Smalkald against 
the emperor. At the peace of Passau, 
the free exercise of the Lutheran reli- 
gion was permitted. In consequence of 
the disputes regarding the succession to 
the Duchies of Cleves and Juliers, the 
protestant princes formed a confederacy, 
called the Evangelical Union, at the 
head of which was the Elector Palatine. 
To this the Catholics opposed the confed- 
eracy called the Catholie League, and 
placed at its head the duke of Bavaria. 
From 1618, when open war began, till 
the peace of Westphalia in 1648, Ger- 
many was a scene of deA'^astation. By 
this peace, the empire underwent con- 
siderable changes ; the Swedes obtained 
Pomerania ; the house of Brandenburg 
obtained Magdeburg, Minden, &c ; Al- 
sace was conquered by France ; and Lu- 
satia ceded to Saxony. The war for the 
succession of Spain not producing any 
changes in the Germanic empire, need 
not be particularly noticed ; the same re- 
mark applies to the war for the succes- 
sion of Poland. 

In Charles VI, the male stock of the 
house of Hapsburg expired ; in his grand- 
son Joseph, the two lines of this family, 
after a separation of 1100 3rears were 
reunited. On the decease of Charles VI, 
Maria Theresa, his only daughter, suc- 
ceeded him. The first events of import- 
ance, after her accession, was the war 
of seven years. In consequence of the 
king of Prussia invading Saxony and 
Bohemia, the Aulic Council voted his 
conduct a breach of tlie public peace; 
and the diet of the empire passed a de- 
cree to the same effect. This made it a 



war of that kind, which the publicists of 
Germany call a war of execution of the 
empire. The event of the war was, that 
a mutual oblivion and restitution took 
place. The next war was occasioned by 
the extinction of the house of Bavaria ; it 
ended in the peace of Saxe-Teschen, by 
which the right of the Elector Palatine 
to the succession was allowed, with the 
exception of some districts of land be- 
tween the Danube, the Inn, and the Salze, 
which was ceded to Austria. 

No event affecting the Germanic em- 
pire took place after this till the French 
revolution. By it the German states on 
the left of the Rhine were first over- 
whelmed ; afterwards the power of Aus- 
tria was reduced ; Bavaria, Wurtemberg, 
and Saxony, raised to the rank of king- 
doms, and their territories considerably 
increased, principally by the annexation 
of the smaller states. Shortly after the 
treaty of Presburg, most of the princes 
in the western and southern divisions of 
Germany separated themselves from the 
Germanic body, and formed themselves 
into a league, under the protection of the 
emperor of the French, under the title of 
the Confederated Slates of the Rhine. 

By the act of the confederation, all 
the laws of the empire were abrogated 
with respect to these states ; their com- 
mon interests were to be discussed in an 
assembly of the league at Frankfort, di- 
vided into two colleges of kings and 
princes ; the members of the confedera- 
tion to be independent of foreign powers, 
and not to enter into any kind of service 
except among themselves; the emperor 
Napoleon to be protector of the alliance ; 
all the princes, counts, &,c, within the 
circle of the aUied territory to be subject 
to the confederation ; every continental 
war in which the emperor of the French 
or the confederated states might be en- 
gaged, to be common to both ; the con- 
tingents to be as follows ; France 200,000 
men ; Bavaria, 30,000 ; Wurtemberg, 
12,000; Baden 8,000; Berg 5,000; 
Darmstadt 4,000 ; Nassau, Hohenzol- 
lern, and the others, 4,000 ; other Ger- 
man princes were to be admitted into tho 
alliance, when conducive to the common 
interest. 

By a solemn act, dated at Vienna on 



G E Pv. M A N Y . 



337 



the 6th of August, 1806, the emperor of | assembly have but seventeen votes. Aus- 
Germany after adverting to the conse- j tria, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, 
quences of the treaty of Presburg, and | Wurtemberg, Baden, Hesse-Cassel, Hes- 
to the formation of the confederation of , se-Dannstadt, Holstein, and Luxembero- 
the states of the Rhine, absolved all his ; have each one vote. The other votes 
German provinces and states of the em- j are collective. 

pire from the reciprocal duties towards Austria presides in both diets, and has 
the Germanic empire ; and the electors, ; the casting vote in the smaller assembly, 
princes and states, and all that belonged j The deputies have the character of ple- 
lo the empire, from the duties by which ' nipotentiaries, are responsible to their 
they were united to him as their legal respective governments only, and are, 
chief; at the same time abdicating the ; therefore, governed by the instructions of 
imperial government of the Germanic their courts, not by their own convictions. 



empire, renouncmg the title of emperor 
of Germany, and assuming that of em- 
peror of Austria. 

With the fall of Napoleon, the confed- 
eration of the Rhine was dismembered. — 
Bavaria, and the other members succes- 
sively, joining the allies against their for- 
mer protector, — and was succeeded by 
the Germanic confederation, formed June 
the 8th, 1814, according to the words of 
the document, to secure the indepen- 
dence and inviolability, and to preserve 
the internal peace, of the states. Ger- 
many thus presents again the semblance 
of a political whole, which in reality 
possesses no strength, even in time of 
peace, as many instances show. It is 
only necessary to mention the fruitless 
decrees of the Germanic diet, respecting 
the arbitrary ordinances of the elector of 
Hesse-Cassel against the holders of the 
old domains, tlie,excesses and follies of 
the duke of Brunswick, and the want of 
any general system for promoting the 
internal navigation of the country. In 
time of war, its inefficiency must be still 
more apparent. At present, the Ger- 
manic confederation can be considered 
only as an imperfect union, directed prin- 
cipally by the two most powerful mem- 
bers, Austria and Prussia, which entered 
into it reluctantly, withholding several of 
their provinces from the confederacy. 

The confederation consists of thirty- 



rhe chief objects of the German con- 
federation are the following: — 1. The 
independence and integrity of the states ; 
with this is connected the right of ex- 
amining the disputes between members 
of the confederation and foreign states, 
and of obliging the former to yield, if 
they are judged to be wrong. 2. The 
mutual protection of the states against 
each other, or the preservation of the 
confederacy. 3. The internal tranquilli- 
ty of the separate states is left to the 
care of the respective governments ; but 
in case of the resistance of the subjects 
to their government, the confederation 
may assist the latter. The confederacy 
may even interfere, without being called 
upon by the government, if the commo- 
tions are of a dangerous tendency, or if 
several states are threatened by danger- 
ous conspiracies. A central commission 
for political examinations is instituted at 
Mentz, which has been engaged for a 
numl:)er of years in the investigation of 
revolutionary plots. 4. The establish- 
ment of representative constitutions in 
all the states belonging to the confedera- 
tion. Article 13 says — all the states of 
the union shall have landes-standische 
Verfassungen. This landes-standische 
has been since explained in such a way 
that mockeries of constitutions, like that 
of Prussia, have been thought sufEcient 
to answer the claims of the a<je. 5. The 



four monarchical states of very unequal ; establishment of three degrees of juris- 
extent, and four free cities. The diet is diction. 6. Legal equality of all Chris- 
constituted in two forms : first, as a gen- tian denominations. 7. The establish- 
eral assembly in which every member j ment of a common civil law in Germany, 
has at least one vole ; the great powers 1 the liberty of emigration, and the right 
having several. The other form of the } of the subjects of each state to hold real 
diet is the ordinary a.ssembly, in Avhich ! property in every other state of the con- 
the thirty-nine members of the general I federation. 8. The regiilation of the 
43 



338 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



leo^al relations of the mediatized princes ] Vienna, as the constitution of the con- 
of the old empire. These provisions j federation. In regard to Austria and Prus- 
were first settled by the fmidamental act i sia, it must be observed, that it is only their 
of the 8th of June, 1815, and confirmed, German provinces which are considered 
according to a decree of the congress of | as parts of the German confederation. 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



The history of England has been 
traced to the close of the reign of Eliza- 
beth. The union of the crowns of Eng- 
land and Scotland forms a new era, and 
tlie history of the two countries will here- 
after be treated of under the name of 
Great Britain. 

James YI, of Scotland, came to the 
throne of England, March 25lh, 1603. 
He derived his claim to the throne of 
England from being the grandson of Mar- 
garet, eldest daughter to Henry VH ; 
and, on the failure of the male line, his 
hereditary right remained incontestiblc. 
Elizabeth had, with her latest breath, 
recognised him for her successor, so that 
few monarchs ever ascended the throne 
under more favorable auspices. 

These favorable anticipations, how- 
ever, were soon dispelled ; and the his- 
tory of this monarch's reign consists of 
little else than a detail of disputes and 
contentions between him and his parlia- 
ment. A particular and minute account 
of such transactions could excite but little 
interest ; but it is of importance to know 
their origin, as they may be considered 
the original cause of the civil war which 
took place in the succeeding reign. 

During the last years of queen Eliza- 
beth's reign, the commerce, navigation, 
and number of seamen in England, had 
sensibly decayed. A remonstrance from 
the Trinity House, in 1602, says, that 
from 1588 to that period, the number of 
seamen and shipping had decayed about 
a third part. Every species of domestic 
industry was fettered by monopolies ; and 
by exclusive companies, which are only 
another species of monopoly, almost all 
foreign trade, except that to France, was 
brought into the hands of a few rapacious 
traders, and all prospect of future im- 



provement in commerce was sacrificed 
for a slight temporary advantage to the 
sovereign. These companies, though 
arbitrarily- erected, had carried their privi- 
leges so far, that almost all the commerce 
centered in this country was conlhied to 
the metropolis ; the customs of London 
alone amounted to 110,000/, a-year ; 
while those of all the kingdom beside 
amounted only to 17,000Z, ; nay, the 
whole trade of London was confined to 
about two hundred citizens, who were 
easily enabled, by combining among 
themselves, to fix Avhatever price they 
pleased both on the exports and imports 
of the nation. Besides this, the subjects 
were burdened by wardships and purvey- 
ances. The latter was an ancient pre- 
rogative of the crown, by which the of- 
ficers of the household were empowered 
to take, without consent of the owners, 
provisions for the king's family, and 
wagons and horses, for the removal of 
his baggage, upon paying a stated price 
for them. The king had also a power 
of sending any person, without his con- 
sent, on whatever message he pleased ; 
and thus he could easily force any indi- 
vidual to pay him whatever money he 
chose, rather than be sent out of the coun- 
try on a disagreeable errand. Money 
obtained from individuals, by this or any 
other method of the same description, 
was called a benevolence. 

These formed the principal features 
of oppression under which the nation at 
this time labored, and these the rising 
spirit of patriotism tended to redress. 
This disposition, however, the severe 
government of Elizabeth had confined 
within very narrow bounds ; but when 
James succeeded to the throne, symptoms 
of a more free and independent char- 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



339 



acter immediately appeared. But James 
neither perceived the alteration, nor had 
sufficient capacity to check its early ad- 
vances. He had established in his own 
mind a speculative system of absolute 
government, w^hich few of his subjects, 
and none but traitors and rebels, he 
thought, would make any scruple to ad- 
mit. The almost unlimited power which, 
for upwards of a century, had been ex- 
ercised by the English sovereigns, he 
considered as due to royal birth and title, 
not to the prudence and spirit of those 
monarchs, or the peculiarities of the times 
in which they lived. In his person, 
therefore, he imaghied all legal power 
to be centered by an hereditary and a 
divine right ; and so fully was he per- 
suaded that he was the absolute proprietor 
of his subjects, that in his speech to the 
parliament in 1621, he told them, that 
he " wished them to have said that their 
privileges were derived from the grace 
and permission of him and his ances- 
tors." And vi^hen the same parliament 
protested that " the liberties, franchises, 
privileges, and jurisdictions of parliament, 
are the ancient and undoubted birth-right 
and inheritance of the subjects of Eng- 
land," he was so enraged, that sending 
for the journals of the Commons, he, with 
his own hand, before the council, tore out 
this protestation ; and ordered his rea- 
sons to be inserted in the council book. 

The consequence of such opposite 
opinions prevailing between the king and 
his parliament was, that during this reign 
the prerogatives of the crown were vio- 
lently and openly attacked ; but the chief 
grounds of discontent were money and 
religion. The king's high notions of the 
royal prerogative made him imagine he 
had a right to whatever sums he pleased 
to demand ; and his profusion caused him 
to dissipate in a short time the scanty 
supplies he could extort from the parlia- 
ment, who seem to have acted as unrea- 
sonably on the one hand as J ames him- 
self did on the other. In the previous 
reign the severities of Elizabeth had al- 
most totally suppressed the catholics, but 
it had been otherwise with the puritans. 
So much had they increased by the very 
means which had diminished the number 
of catholics, that no less than 750 clergy- 



men of that persuasion signed a petition, 
to James on his succession. They hoped 
that the king, having received his educa- 
tion in Scotfand, and having always pro- 
fessed an attachment to the church es- 
tablished there, would at least abate the 
rigor of the laws enacted against the pu- 
ritans, if he did not show them particular 
favor and encouragement. But in this 
they were mistaken. He had observed 
in their Scotch brethren a zealous attach- 
ment to civil liberty. In the capacities 
both of monarch and theologian, he had 
experienced the little complaisance they 
were disposed to show him. They con- 
trolled his commands, disputed his tenets, 
and to his face, before the whole people, 
censured his conduct and behavior. This 
superiority assumed by the presbyterian 
clergy, the monarchical pride of James 
could never digest. He therefore not 
only rejected the petition of the seven 
hundred and fifty clergjTiien above men- 
tioned, but thoughout his whole reign re- 
fused to relax in the least the severity of 
the laws against protestant non-conform- 
ists, though very often petitioned in their 
favor by his parliament. 

The same principles which occasioned 
in James such an aversion to the puritans, 
prompted him to favor the episcopalians, 
and even the catholics ; indeed, in his 
youth he had frequently been suspected 
of a bias towards the religion of the latter ; 
and when he ascended the throne of Eng- 
land, it is certain he often endeavored to 
procure some mitigation of the laws 
against them, if not an absolute toleration. 
But in this he was constantly opposed by 
the parliament ; and, indeed, the strong 
inclination shown by James to establish 
episcopacy, tended greatly to alienate 
the minds of his subjects from his gov- 
ernment. 

In May, 1617, the king set out for Scot- 
land, expressly with the design of estab- 
lishing episcopacy in that kingdom. He 
did not, however, propose to abolish pres- 
bytery entirely, and set up absolute epis- 
copacy in its room. He intended, to con- 
tent himself with establishing the royal 
authority above the ecclesiastical, and 
introducing some ceremonies into the 
public worship, such as kneeling at the 
sacrament, private communion, private 



340 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



baptism, courirination of ohiUlron, ami the ] 
observance of Christmas, itc. Ihit as 
Ills desigij was t'liUy seen from the eom- 
menoement, it was promptly met by the i 
people ; every ailvance towards episeo- '■ 
paey, ami the most trivial ceremonies . 
wore rejected as so mauv miMtal sins. i 

The sante bad success attciulcd James : 
when he attempted to oppose puritanical ! 
innovations in Englaml. He had observed 
in his proijress throuuh that kingdoni. 
that a strict observance of the Sunday 
gained jiround every day ; and that by 
tliis means, under color of relioion, the 
people were departed from such sports , 
and recreations as he coitsidered neces- ' 
sarv for their health as well as amuse- ■ 
ment. He therefore issued a proclama- 
tion to allow and encouraive, after divine j 
service, all kinds of lawful «auu^s and 
exercises ; but this proclamation his sub- 
jects regarded as an instance of the great- 
est impiety. 

In lOOowas discovered the celebrated 
gunpowder plot. 'I'he origin of which 
was as follows : — On the accession of 
James, great expectations had been form- 
ed by the catholics that lie wotdd prove i 
favorable to them, both as that was the 
religion of his mother, and as he him- ' 
self had been suspected of a Iiias towards | 
it in his youth. It is even pretended that 
he had entered into positive engagements 
to grant them a toleration as soon as he 
should ascend the English throne. Here, 
however, they fomul their hopes built on 
a false foundation. As .lames on all oc- 
casions expressed his intention of execu- 
ting strictly the laws enacted against 
them, and of persevering in all the rigor- 
ous measures of queen Elizabeth, a plan 
of revenge was first thought of bv a gen- 
tleman of the name of Catcsbv. He com- j 
municated his intention to Percy, a des- ' 
cendant of the house of Norihuniberland. 
The latter proposed to assassinate the 
king; but this seemed to Catesby very I 
far from being adequate to their purpose. I 
He told Percy, that the king would be ' 
succeeded by his children, who would 
also inherit his maxims of government. | 
He told him, that even though the whole 
royal family were destroyed, the parlia- ! 
ment, nobility and gentry, who were all ! 
infected with the same heresy, would i 



raise another protestant prince to tho 
throne. " To serve any good jmrpose, 
we must," to use his own words. " destroy, 
at one blow, the king, the royal family, 
the lords and commons ; and bury all our 
enemies in one comnum ruin. Happily 
tht\v are all assembled on the fust meet- 
ing of parliament ; and alVord us the op- 
portunity of glorious and useful ven- 
geance. Great preparations will not be 
requisite. A tew of us may run a mine 
below the hall in which ihcy meet; and 
choosing the very moment when the king 
harangues both the houses, consign over 
to destruction those determined foes to 
all piety and religion. Meanwhile, wo 
ourselves standing aloof, safe and unsus- 
pected, shall trimuph in being the instru- 
ments of divine wrath, and shall behold 
with pleasure those sacrilegious walls, in 
which were passed the edicts for pro- 
scribing our church and butchering her 
childrtMi, tossed into a thousand fragments, 
while their impious inhabitants, medita- 
tingperhaps still newpcrseculicms against 
us, pass from flames above to fhunes be- 
low, there for ever to endure the torments 
due to their oU'ences." 

This scheme being approved of. it was 
resolved to cmnmunicate it to a few more. 
Thomas \\ inter was sent over to Flan- 
ders in quest of Eawkes, an oflicer in the 
Spanish service of approved zeal and 
courage. All the conspirators were bound 
by the most solemn oaths, accompanied 
with the sacrament ; and to such a de- 
gree had superstition etlaccd every prin- 
ciple of humanity from their minds, that 
not one of them ever entertained the 
smallest compunction for the massacre 
they proposed to commit. Some indeed 
were startled at the thoughts of destroy- 
ing a number of catholics who must ne- 
cessarily be present as spectators, or at- 
tendants on the king, or as having seats 
in the house of peers. But Desmond, a 
Jesuit, and Garnet, who was the superior 
of that order in this eoimtry, removed 
those scruples, by showing that the inte- 
rest of religion required in this case the 
sacrifice of the innocent with the guilty. 

This happened hi the spring and sum- 
mer of 1604 ; when the conspirators also 
hired a house in Percy's name, adjoining 
to that in which the parliament was to 



ORE AT BRITAIN. 



341 



assemble. Towards the end of that year 
they bej^an to pierce through the wall of 
the hoii.se, in order to gcA in below that 
wliere the parliament was to sit. 'i'he 
wall was three yards thick, and conse- 
quently occasioned a great deal of labor. 
At length, however, they approached the 
other side, but were then startled by a 
noise for which they could not well ac- 
count. Upon infjuiry, tln^y found that it 
came from a vault below the house of 
lords ; that a magazine of coals had been 
kept tliere ; and that the coals were then 
selling ofl", after which the vault would 
be let to the highe.st bidder. Upon this 
the vault was immediately hired by Per- 
cy ; 3('y barrels of powder lodged in it ; 
the whole covered up with faggots and 
billets ; the doors of the cellar boldly 
flung open ; and every body admitted as 
if it contained nothing dangerous. 

'J'hc; king, the queen, and prince Hen- 
ry, were expected to be pres(;nt at the 
opening of the parliament. The duke, 
on account of his age, would be absent, 
and it was resolved that Percy should 
seize or murder liim. The princess Eliza- ' 
beth, likewise a child, was kept at lord 
Harrington's house in Warwickshire; 
and some others of the conspirators en- ' 
gaged to assemble their friends on pre- 
tence of a hunting match, when they were J 
to seize that princess, and immediately 
proclaim her queen. The day so long 
wished for at last approached ; the dread- 
ful secret, though communicated to more 
than twenty persons, had been religiously 
kept for a year and a half: when a few 
days before the meeting of parliament, 
lord Monteagle, a catholic, son to lord 
Morley, received the following letter, 
which had been delivered to his servant 
by an unknown hand. "My lord, out of 
the love I bear to some of your friends, I 
have a care for your preservation. There- 1 
fore I would advise you, as you tender 
your life, to devise some excuse to shift 
off your attendance on this parliament. 
For God and man have determined to 
punish the wickedness of this time. And 
think not .slightly of this advertisement ; 
but retire yourself into the country, where 
you may expect the event in safety. For 
though there be no appearance of any 
stir, yet, I say, they shall receive a terri- ^ 



ble blow this parliament; and yet they 
shall not see who hurts them. This 
council is not to be contemned, because 
it may do you good, and can do you no 
harm : for the danger is over as soon as 
you have burned this letter. And 1 hope 
God will give you the grace to make 
good use of it, to whose holy protection 
I commend you." Though Monteagle 
imagined this letter to be only a ridicu- 
lous artifice to frighten him, he imme- 
diately carried it to lord Salisbur}', sec- 
retary of state ; who laid it before the 
king on his arrival in town a few days 
after. 

The king looked upon tlie letter in a 
more serious light. From the manner iu 
which it was wrote he concluded that 
some design was forming to blow up the 
parliament house with gunpowder, and it 
was thought advisable to search the 
vaults bf'Iow. 'i'he lord chamberlain, to 
whom this charge belonged, purposely 
delayed the search till tlie day before 
the meeting of parliament. He remark- 
ed those great piles of wood and faggots 
which lay in the vault under the upper 
house : and casting his eyes upon Fawkes, 
who stood in a corner and passed for 
Percy's servant, he noticed the determin- 
ed courage which was conspicuous in his 
face, and so much distinguished this con- 
spirator. Such a quantity of fuel, also, 
for one wlio lived so little in the metro- 
polis as Percy, appeared somewhat ex- 
traordinary ; and, upon comparing all 
these circumstances, it was resolved to 
make a further search. About midnight, 
Sir Thomas Knivet, a ju.stice of peace, 
was sent with proper attendants ; and be- 
fore the door of the vault finding Fawkes, 
who had just finished all his preparations, 
he immediately seized him, and, turning 
over the faggots, discovered the powder. 
The matches and every thing proper for 
setting fire to the train were taken in 
Fawkes's pocket ; who, seeing now no 
refuge but in boldness and despair, ex- 
pressed the utmost regret that he had 
lost the opportunity of firing the powder 
at once, and of sweetening his own death 
by that of his enemies. For two or 
three days he displayed the same ob.sti- 
nate intrepidity ; but, being confined in 
the tower, and the rack shown to him, 



342 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



his courag;e failed, and he made a dis- 
covery of all the conspirators. 

Catesby, Porc-y, and the other crimi- 
nals, on hearing thai Fawkes was arrest- 
ed, hurried away to Warwickshire; where 
Sir Edward Digby, imagining that his 
confederates had succeeded, was already 
in arms, to seize the princess Elizabeth. 
.She had escaped into Coventry ; and they 
were obliged to put themselves in a pos- 
ture of defence against the country peo- 
ple, who were raised from all quaters and 
armed by the sherifls. 'i'he conspirators 
with all their attendants , never exceeded j 
the number of eighty persons : and being 
surrounded on every side, could no longer 
have any hope of escaping. Having 
therefore confessed themselves, and re- 
ceived absolution, they Iroldly prepared 
for death, and resolved to sell their lives 
as dear as possible. But even this mis- 
erable consolation was denied them. 
Some of their powder took fire, and dis- 
abled them from defending themselves. 
The people then rushed in upon them. 
Percy and Catesby, were killed. Digby, 
Rookwood, Winter, and others, being 
taken prisoners, were tried, confessed 
their guilt, and died, as well as Garnet, 
by the hands of the common executioner. 
The lords Stourton and Mordant, two 
catholics, were fined, the former 4,000Z, 
the latter 1 0,000Z, by the Star-chamber ; 
because their absence fi'om parliament 
had occasioned a suspicion of their being 
made acquainted with the conspiracy. 
The earl of Northumberland was fined 
30,000/, and detained several years a 
prisoner in the tower ; because, not to 
mention other grounds of suspicion, he 
had admitted Percy into the number of 
gentlemen pensioners, without his taking 
the requisite oaths. 

James was succeeded by Charles I, 
who ascended the throne in 1625. The 
young king inherited from his father a 
very high opinion of the royal preroga- 
tives. 

The Puritans had continued to gain 
ground during the whole reign of James, 
and now formed a great majority of the 
house of commons ; in consequence of 
which, petitions were presented to the 
king for replacing such clergymen as had 
been silenced for want of conformity to 



the ceremonies of tne established church. 
'I'hey also enacted laws for the strict ob- 
servance of Sunday, which they would 
know by no other name than the Sab- 
bath, and the different appellations of 
Sunday and Sabbath were at that time 
known symbols of the diflerent parties. 
In consequence of these disagreements, 
Charles' first parliament was dissolved 
on the 12th of August, 1625, and a new 
one called on February the 6th, 1G26. 

This parliament, however, immediately 
adopted the same views as the preceding 
one ; though they voted him a supply of 
three subsidies (168,000/.), and three 
fifteenths ; but the passing this vote into 
a law was reserved until the end of the 
session. This conduct was greatly re- 
sented by Charles ; but he was obliged to 
submit, and wait the event with patience. 
In the mean time they attacked the duke 
of Buckingham, who was also impeached 
by the earl of Bristol, on account of his 
conduct with regard to the Spanish ne- 
gotiation. The impeachment, however, 
was overlooked, and the commons were 
unable to prove any thing of consequence 
against him. The king commanded the 
house not to interfere with his minister 
and servant, but to finish in a few days 
the bill they had begun for the subsidies ; 
otherwise they must expect to end their 
sittings altogether. 

The next attack made by the com- 
mons, had it succeeded, would have re- 
duced the king to an absolute dependence 
on his parliament. They were ])repar- 
ing a remonstrance against the levying 
of tonnage and poundage without consent 
of the house. This article, together with 
the new impositions laid on merchandise 
by James, constituted near one half of 
the crown revenues ; and after having 
gained this point, they were to petition 
the king, which then would have been 
the same thing with commanding him, to 
remove Buckingham from his presence 
and councils. The king, however, being 
alarmed at the yoke they were preparing 
for him, hastily dissolved his parliament 
on the 15th of June, 1626. 

The king, under his pecuniary embar- 
rassments, was obliged to have recourse 
to means hitherto unpractised, to procure 
the necessary supplies. The demands 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



343 



of his Danish and German allies, added j 
to the difficulties he encountered at 
home, and the loss of a battle, which 
brougiit the existence of protestantism in j 
Germany to the lowest ebb, induced the ! 
king to raise a forced loan. He endeav- j 
ored to justify this arbitrary measure by i 
a promise, that every farthing thus obtain- i 
ed from' his loving subjects, should be 
returned by their grateful sovereign out ; 
of his future subsidies. Notwithstand- 
ing this declaration, the names of many , 
who refused to pay were returned to the ' 
commissioners. Of these the rich were 
imprisoned ; while the poor were ordered 
" to serve with their bodies," and were 
enrolled in the army or navy. 

Five gentlemen, however — sir Thomas 
Darnel, sir John Corbet, sir Walter Earl, 
sir John Hewenham, and John Hamp- 
den — demanded a release, not as a favor 
from the court, but as their due by the 
laws of their country. No particular 
cause was assigned for their commit- 
ment. The special command of the king 
and the council alone was pleaded ; and 
it was alleged, that by" law this was not 
sufficient reason for refusing bail or re- 
leasement to the prisoners. The ques- 
tion was brought to a solemn trial before 
the court of king's bench, and the whole 
kingdom was in a state of the greatest 
excitement during its progress. By the 
debates on this subject it appeared that 
personal liberty had been secured by no 
less than six different statutes. The 
court having ultimately determined that 
no bail could be taken, the public voice 
exclaimed that the prisoners ought to be 
instantly set free. 

At this period Buckingham appeared 
at the head of a large fleet before Ro- 
chelle. The armament, consisting of a 
hundred sail, was supposed to be destined 
against Spain, since the public order was, 
that it should act in the service of the ; 
palatine ; but the private instructions j 
directed that it should enter the harbor 
of Rochelle, and proceed to the islands ' 
of Rhe and Oleron. In palliation of this : 
appearance of hostilities where war was 
not expected, Buckingham declared that 
his royal master had no intention of con- 1 
quest, and only took up arms as an ally ; 
of the church in France The cxpedi- ; 



tion terminated in an unfortunate retreat, 
and the loss of some thousands of the 
troops. 

The mission had for its object to arm 
the protestants against the French king. 
That Charles should provoke a war with 
the brother of his consort was to all a mat- 
ter of surprise. The king had dismissed 
the foreign establishment of his (]ueen 
six months after her arrival in England, 
and had also neglected to perfonu the 
private treaty which he had made in fa- 
vor of his catholic subjects; yet harmo- 
ny had been restored by the mediation 
of Bassompierre, ambassador extraordi- 
nary from Louis to the English monarch. 
Charles having prevailed on the Rochel- 
lois to rebel, found himself bound in 
honor to support their efforts in the 
protestant cause, and proposed to his par- 
liament to raise supplies for a second 
expedition in their behalf; a means he 
would not have pursued, could he have 
obtained another loan by the royal pre- 
rogative. A third parliament, therefore, 
was called March 17, 1628. The king 
stated at the beginning of the session, 
that " if they should not do their duties, 
in contributing to the necessities of the 
state, he must, in discharge of his con- 
science, use those other means which 
God had put into his hands, in order to 
save that which the follies of some par- 
ticular men might otherwise put in dan- 
ger." This parliament behaved different- 
ly from either of the two former ones. 
They commenced by voting against ar- 
bitrary imprisonments and forced loans ; 
after which, five subsidies (280,000Z.) 
were voted to the king. With this sum, 
though much inferior to his wants, Charles 
declared himself well satisfied ; the com- 
mons, however, resolved not to pass 
this vote into law before they had obtain- 
ed from the king a sufhcient security that 
their liberties should be no longer viola- 
ted. They resolved to frame a law, 
which they were to call a "petition of 
right." The principal oppressions com- 
plained of were forced loans, benevolen- 
ces, taxes without consent of parliament, 
arbitrary imprisonments, billeting sol- 
diers, and martial law. They stated that 
they "did not pretend to possess any un- 
usual power of privileges ; nor did they 



3U 



GREAT BRITAIN. 




intend to infringe the royal prerogative 
in any respect ; they aimed only at se- 
curing those rights and privileges derived 
from their ancestors." 

The king replied to this petition by 
repeated messages to the house, in which 
he always offered his royal word that 
there should be no more infringements 
on the liberty of the subject. These 
messages, however, had no effect on the 
commons ; and therefore the petition at 
last, passed both houses, and nothing was 
wanting but the royal assent to give it 
the force of a law. The king accord- 
ingly went to the house of peers, and 
sent for the commons, when the petition 
was read to him. In answer to it, he 
said, " The king willeth, that riglit be 
done according to the laws and customs 
of the realm, and that the statutes be put 
into execution ; that his subjects may 
have no cause to complain of any wrong 
or oppression contrary to their just rights 
and liberties, to the preservation whereof 
he liolds himself in conscience as much 
obliged as of his own prerogative." 

This answer was received with great 
displeasure by the commons. At last, 
the king, finding it impossible to carry 
his point, yielded to the importunities of 



Assasssination of llie duke of Biickhigham. 

parliament. He came to the house of 



peers, and pronouncing the usual form of 
words, " Let it be law as is desired," 
gave full sanction and authority to the 
petition. The house resoimded with ac- 
clamations, and the bill for five subsidies 
immediately passed. 

But the joy was temporary ; as, in ten 
days after, an exposure of the evils said 
to be the result of an excess of power 
given to and abused by Buckingham, 
were stated in a remonstrance to the 
king — leaving it to his majesty's consid- 
eration how far it would be safe for him- 
self and for the realm that such a man 
should continue near his person. Be- 
fore another petition could be read, the 
parliament was prorogued ; but the advan- 
tages it had gained by the king's rccogni- 
. tion of the bill of rights established the 
j liberties of the nation, and rendered pos- 
' terity their debtors. 

I Buckingham having received the com- 
mand of the re-enforcements intended for 
Rochelle, proceeded to Portsmouth for 
< the purpose, when his progress was ar- 
rested by the assassin Felton, who struck 
I a knife into the duke's heart. \\'hen re- 
I preached with the crime of murder, he 
I said, the remonstrance which was pre- 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



345 



sented by the commons had convinced 
him that the duke was the cause of the 
national calamities, and that to bereave 
him of life was to serve his God, his 
king, and his country ; that he felt no 
enmity to the duke, but as he struck him 
had prayed, " May God have mercy on 
thy soul." 

That the duke of Buckingham pos- 
sessed many fascinating qualities, accom- 
panied by a graceful person and courtly 
manners, seem to have been the chief 
recommendations by which he obtained 
the partial favor of two succeeding mon- 
archs. In temper he was rash, impetu- 
ous, and obstinate ; and had he escaped 
the knife of the assassin, he would most 
probably have finished his career on the 
scaffold. His perseverance in urging 
the king to trample on the liberty of his 
subjects, and the self-confidence with 
which he braved the indignation of the 
people, had raised a hatred throughout 
the nation, which nothing but the forfeit 
of his life could have satisfied. The 
king received the intelligence of the 
duke's death with real sorrow ; he called 
him the martyr of his sovereign, he paid 
his debts, took his widow and children 
under his protection, and ordered that his 
remains should be deposited in West- 
minster Abbey. 

At the re-assembling of the parliament, 
in 1629, different petitions were again 
presented on the subject of grievances, 
and complaints of the increase of Catho- 
licism ; and while the party, named the 
" Saints," called the king's attention to 
religious objects, the patriots claimed his 
notice to the petition of right, of which 
fifteen hundred copies had been prepared 
for circulation, but which the king order- 
ed should be suppressed, to make room 
for another edition in which the royal as- 
sent was withheld. This act branded 
the character of Charles with the stigma 
of duplicity ; but the indignation of his 
subjects was so fearlessly expressed, that 
he found it prudent to moderate their an- 
ger by a conciliatory speech from the 
throne. Such was the tumult in the 
house of commons on the occasion, that 
when the speaker informed the members 
that the king had ordered an adjournment 
of the house, they compelled the speak- 
44 



er, by locking the door, and holding him 
down in his chair, to hear sir John El- 
liot read a remonstrance against the 
whole government. This conduct be- 
ing contrary to all former precedent, 
caused Charles to issue a proclamation, 
in which he showed it was his intention 
to govern in future without the interven- 
tion of his parliament. 

Scotland was the first of the three 
kingdoms to offer open force to the gov- 
ernment of Charles. The exertions of 
Laud to establish the English liturgy 
lighted the torch of dissension through- 
out Scotland ; but the publishing by royal 
authority a new code of ecclesiastical 
law, and a new form of church service, 
threw the whole country into commotion. 
Crowds of petitioners came to Edin- 
burgh, and their representatives com- 
posed a committee, who inquired into all 
questions, and exercised an authority 
which in a few weeks became formida- 
able under their leaders, Bothes, Bal- 
merino, Lindsay, Lothian, Loudon, and 
Cranston. After a succession of contest- 
ed opinions, a new covenant was com- 
posed, containing a profession of the doc- 
trine, tenets, and discipline of the kirk, 
to which was attached the vow wherein 
they bound themselves, " by the great 
name of the Lord their God," to defend 
the true religion, to resist all contrary 
errors and corruptions, and to stand in 
defence of the king. On an appointed 
day the covenanters, who in number 
were as a hundred to one of their ojjpo- 
nents, met in the church of St. Giles, 
and swore to the contents of the cove- 
nant. 

In vain did Charles issue the royal 
mandate for the covenanters to disperse. 
With the earl of Argyle at their head, 
they declared the order illegal, and de- 
termined to meet the expected army from 
England with the sword of defiance. 
Charles found his English subjects on 
that occasion very backward ; some even 
declined taking the oath of allegiance by 
which it was intended that they should 
bind themselves to oppose the covenant- 
ers as rebels. The armies met at Ber- 
wick ; Lesley headed the covenanters, 
who were 20,000 strong ; and on their 
ensigns was this motto, added to the 



346 



GREAT BRITAIN, 



Scottish arms, " For Christ's crown and 
the covenant." Charles commanded an 
equal force ; but all these warlike pre- 
parations terminated in a pacific treaty, 
conducted by Charles in person, and 
signed by the monarch and the chiefs of 
the covenanters at Berwick. The king 
engaged in this treaty to summon a parlia- 
ment at Edinburgh in the month of Au- 
gust, to consider upon civil matters ; and 
at the same time to call an ecclesiastical 
assembly, to which he should refer the 
questions on religion. Meantime Charles, 
who saw the desire of the covenant- 
ers to suppress his authority, conceived 
the only sure way to obtain their obedience 
was to use force ; but before he summon- 
ed his English parliament, he authorized 
Wentworth, whom he had created earl 
of Strafford, to vote for a subsidy in the 
Irish parliament, intending it should form 
a precedent to the English members, who 
were required to assemble soon after ; 
and as they had not met for some years, 
the people looked to the session as likely 
to afford them relief. At its opening the 
king repeated his demand, for money ; 
the commons heard his complaints with 
indifference, giving their whole attention 
to the grievances of the nation, to which 
subject they asked the co-operation of 
the lords. In vain did they maintain in 
the upper house that the wants of the 
king should be lirst supplied ; the com- 
mons would not yield, and during their 
debate Charles dissolved the parliament, 
and the hopes of the people once more 
withered in despair. 

Preparations for war were now made 
both by the English and the Scots ; but 
the poverty of Charles, and the prudent 
foresight of the covenanters, rendered 
the latter decisive and unanimous, so that 
they were ready for the attack when the 
English were only beginning their ar- 
rangements. 

The earl of Strafford, who, under the 
king, acted as commander-in-chief, or- 
dered the general of the horse to oppose 
the Scots in the passage of the Tyne : 
the attempt was made, but ended in the 
defeat of the English. Although the 
Scots were encouraged with the pros- 
pect of victory, they knew that it would mar 
their interest to rouse the spirit of re- 



J venge in their enemies ; and, therefore, 
I they resolved on presenting themselves 
] in the guise of petitioners to their sov- 
j ereign. The king signified his willing- 
ness to receive their demands, and sum- 
I moned the English peers to meet him at 
I York : as the commons had showed 
themselves refractory, he preferred this 
j mode to the calling both houses of par- 
liament ; but a series of petitions obhged 
him to pursue the usual way, and a full 
parliament was summoned. 

The members of the covenant directed 
their labors to the abolition of episcopa- 
cy, and the establishment of the presby- 
terian form of church government. But 
here opinion was much divided ; even 
when the majority was in favor of the 
anti-episcopalians, the king declared that 
his conscience would never allow him to 
put down an order which he considered 
necessary to Christianity. The debates 
between the different parties arrived at 
such a height, that the king found him- 
self obliged, in order to conciliate the 
public mind, to adopt a sort of middle 
path, by which the bishops would be de- 
prived of their legislative powers. With 
this the enemies of episcopacy professed 
themselves satisfied, and it was deter- 
mined to bring the earl of Strafford to 
trial for high-treason. 

Never, perhaps, did a statesman encoun- 
ter such open enmity. The Scots called 
for his destruction for having urged the 
king to make war upon them ; the Irish 
detailed, under sixteen heads, the oppres- 
sions they had suffered under his govern- 
ment ; and the English house of lords 
issued an order, to which the king as- 
sented, that the privy counsellors should 
be examined on oath regarding the advice 
given by Strafford at their board. As re- 
garded the latter charge, a document was 
produced containing short notes in the 
writing of the secretary, of a debate at 
the council-table, in which Strafford was 
made to say, " Your majesty, having tried 
the affection of your people, is absolved 
and loosed from all hold of government, 
and to do what power will admit. Hav- 
ing tried all ways and being refused, you 
shall be acquitted before God and man ; 
and you have an army in Ireland, that 
you may employ to reduce this kingdom 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



347 



to obedience ; for I am confident that the 
Scots cannot hold out five months." 

To obtain evidence on this charge, 
all the members were examined, except 
Windebank and Laud ; and all, with the ex- 
ception of Pym, to whom sir Henry Vane 
had privately shown the notes, declared 
they had no recollection of the words. 
When the managers found they had failed 
in this attempt, they resolved to produce 
the short notes ; and with this view, on 
the morning on which Strafford was to 
enter upon his defence, they asked leave 
to bring further evidence, to which the lords 
replied, that the same favor that should 
be granted to the accusers should be 
granted to the accused : for the lords, 
who had previously formed their opinions, 
had, during the trial, changed them in fa- 
vor of the earl. The commons, who 
formed the committee of the house, dis- 
approving of this temper in the lords, re- 
tired to their own house, where, having 
deliberated on the matter with closed 
doors, they determined to abandon the 
mode of impeachment, and adopt that of 
attainder, and brought in a bill to that 
effect. 

When the bill of attainder had passed 
the lower house, the king encouraged 
Strafford with the assurance that his life 
should be preserved. Many projects for 
this purpose were planned, all of which 
were frustrated by the treachery of the 
agents, so that Charles had recourse to 
another measure. He assured the lords 
that the contents of the document were 
false, and that with this knowledge it were ' 
impossible for him to give his assent to 
the bill ; and he required of them to 
suggest some plan by which to satisfy 
public justice, without offering violence 
to his conscience. 

The commons considered this a viola- 
tion of their privileges, and a protest, 
signed by both houses, waited on the 
king, to obtain his assent to the sentence 
of treason passed upon Strafford. He 
promised to give it on the following 
Monday. 

At the period which had been fixed 
for the king to meet his Scottish parlia- 
ment, his majesty commenced his jour- 
ney, though much solicited by his Eng- 
lish subjects to delay it. At Newcastle, 



the monarch accepted an invitation to 
dine with Lesley, and after his arrival in 
Scotland he made many concessions, 
and attended the long service of the 
kirk : by these means Charles expected 
to gain the favor of the people, and 
thought he should secure the lives of 
several who were his friends, and whom 
he had been compelled to abandon. 

During the period that his majesty was 
in Scotland, the people of Ireland stated 
that they possessed equally just claims 
with the English parliament to defend 
their rights and their religion ; and that 
part of his majesty's dominions became, 
in a few months, in a state of open re- 
bellion. It was not till things had con- 
tinued several weeks in this state, that 
a meeting was summoned to inquire into 
the causes of the rebellion. The ques- 
tion was answered that, on account of 
their religion, the natives had been sub- 
jected to cruel restraints, and excluded 
from all offices of trust, while low and 
needy persons were raised to honors be- 
cause they were protestants and English- 
men ; they also mentioned many other 
grievances, on which accounts they de- 
clared themselves firm in their resolution 
never to lay down their arms until these 
evils were redressed ; and observed, that 
in such conduct they ought not to be 
deemed more blameable than the Scots, 
whose petition had been received and 
approved by the king and the parliament. 

At this crisis, the king returned to 
England, and a remonstrance was pre- 
sented from the country party, in which 
seventy catholic gentlemen were de- 
nounced as dangerous to the state. The 
qtieen's confessor was sent to the Tower, 
and both houses passed a resolution, de- 
claring they would never consent to the 
toleration of the catholic religion in Ire- 
land, or in any part of his majesty's do- 
minions. The king resolved to retain 
the army for the support of his crown ; 
and his enemies were equally resolved 
to possess the command of it. The two 
houses had appointed a council of war 
while the king was on his way from 
Scotland, and had commissioned the earl 
of Leicester to raise men for the service 
of Ireland. Charles from this period 
commenced open hostilities with the 



348 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



most violent of his opponents, and soon 
after found it needful to fly with his fam- 
ily for safety to Hampton Court, and 
found himself so beset by his enemies, 
that he copied all the papers, sent him 
by the faithful Hyde, with his own hand, 
and burnt the originals. 

The king's subsequent retirement to 
York rendered his situation less painful, 
as the gentry sent him loyal addresses ; 
but at this time his majesty and the par- 
liament were both raising armies to op- 
pose each other. 

Hostilities commenced by the refusal 
of Colonel Goring to attend the order of 
the paliament without the permission of 
the king. The latter commanded the 
royal standard to be raised at Notting- 
ham ; on it was a hand pointing to a 
crown, with this motto : " Give to Caesar 
his due." The higher classes rallied 
round the king, whilst the country yeo- 
manry, and the merchants and tradesmen, 
gave their services to the parliament. 
The first of these parties were called 
cavaliers, and the latter round-heads, 
from their fashion of cropping the hair 
short. The royalists were commanded 
by the earl of Lindsay ; the parliamen- 
tary forces by the earl of Essex. 

The first action, at Edge-hill, was ad- 
vantageous to the royalists, though the 
united numbers of the slain on that day 
amounted to six thousand. Another bat- 
tle took place at Brentford, where the 
advantage was still on the same side ; 
but on approaching nearer the metropo- 
lis, the two armies faced each other a 
whole day on Turnham Green, without 
making a charge, and the king retired to 
Reading, and thence to Oxford. 

In Ireland a federative government 
was formed by the catholics, in which 
they professed loyalty to the sovereign, 
but claimed their right to defend their 
liberty and religion. They oflered their 
allegiance to his majesty, while at the 
same time they petitioned for the redress 
of their grievances, and asked for those 
national rights which had been granted 
both to England and Scotland. The 
king consented that an armistice should 
be formed with the insurgents, and the 
confederates contributed a considerable 
sum towards the support of the royal 



army. In less than six months after- 
wards a strenuous endeavor was made 
by the king to obtain peace, but the par- 
liament decided for war. 

A numerous army of Scotch and Irish 
assisted both parties ; and the reputation 
of the latter for courage greatly intimi- 
dated their adversaries. Several able 
generals distinguished themselves, and 
among them the celebrated colonel Monk, 
who was made a prisoner by the royalist 
army at Nantwich. The parliament de- 
clared its intention to stake the fate of 
events on one great and decisive battle, 
and for this end increased their forces, 
imder their generals Essex and Waller. 
But here, as in most national causes, the 
diversity of interests in the commanders 
prevented union in their conduct. In 
number the royalists were much inferior 
to their opponents, which rendered it im- 
portant to the king that he should rather 
evade his pursuers than give them battle. 
He succeeded in this manoeuvre, and had 
gained courage from the result, when he 
learned that the city of York was be- 
sieged. His majesty immediately sent 
his commands to prince Rupert to hasten 
to its relief. He obeyed the mandate, 
and in a few days after fought the great 
battle of Marston Moor, the result of 
which was disastrous to the royal party ; 
the city of York was compelled to capitu- 
late for the safety of its inhabitants, and 
the campaign ended by an order for the 
combined army to separate. This order, 
issued by the parliamentary committee, 
Essex did not obey ; he continued to 
pursue and harass the royalists, until his 
situation compelled him to capitulate, and 
to surrender his arms, ammunitions, and 
artillery : a circumstance which so far 
revived the hopes of Charles, that he in- 
' vited his subjects to accompany him to 
London. His adversaries again rallied, 
' and many engagements followed ; but in 
the end the parliamentary cause received 
the greatest check from the ambition of 
its own agents. The command of the 
seven associated provinces had been 
forced upon the earl of Manchester, who 
accepted the office with reluctance, as ' 

he was unaccustomed to military opera- 
tions, and he intrusted their direction to 
^ his council. His lieutenant-general was j 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



349 



Cromwell, the representative in the com- 
mons' house for Cambridge ; he was a 
relative, and had been a faithful follower 
of Hampden, and was a man of singular 
zeal, energy, and courage. Cromwell 
maintained the common right of men to 
worship God according to their own con- 
sciences, and his manners obtained him 
the entire control of the soldiers under 
his command ; this alarmed the commis- 
sioners for Scotland, and they oppointed 
Crawford, who was a rigid presbyterian, 
to the post of major-general, which cir- 
cumstance created a rivalship between 
these officers, and they accused each 
other and recriminated until their quarrel 
became matter of inquiry in the house. 
Cromwell was accused of having turned 
his back in the battle of Marston Moor ; 
and he charged Manchester with disaf- 
fection towards his party. A reform 
of the army was determined on, and a 
decree passed, called the " self-denying 
ordinance," which excluded the members 
of the two houses from all civil and mili- 
tary offices. Sir Thomas Fairfax was 
placed at the head of the army, with 
major-general Skipton as second in 
command. 

Again the question of peace became 
the subject of debate ; but in a cause 
where opinions were as diversified as 
the different interests of the parties con- 
cerned, there was great difficulty in com- 
ing to any satisfactory conclusion. 

The battle of Naseby was the first in 
which the valor of Cromwell was highly 
distinguished, and it was that in which 
the king's cabinet, containing a number 
of private letters, formed part of the trea- 
sure taken from the vanquished royalists. 

Charles now retreated to Hereford, and 
thence to Kagland castle, the seat of the 
marquis of Worcester, and then to Car- 
diff', for the purpose of holding communi- 
cation with prince Rupert at Bristol ; 
and he also lost the three fortresses, Car- 
lisle, Pontefract, and Scarborough. To 
avoid falling into the hands of his ene- 
mies, the king fled from one spot to 
another, until he arrived at Oxford, where 
he intended to spend the winter, hoping 
that, in the following spring, the victories 
of Montrose in Scotland, the peaceable 
state of Ireland, and the interest of his 



foreign allies, would all operate in his 
favor. 

The king having deemed it advisable 
to join the Scottish army, he renewed his 
correspondence with the parliament. 

When Charles received the proposi- 
tions of parliament, he again mentioned a 
personal conference, to " weigh reasons 
and come to a right understanding." 
This answer was termed evasive by the 
independents. Whilst this topic was 
discussed with much party violence, the 
two houses fixed on Holmby, near North- 
ampton, for the future residence of the 
king ; and they sent commissioners who 
conducted him thither, under a strong 
guard, but who treated him with outward 
marks of respect. 

After the king's arrival at Holmby he 
was carefully watched, and no one had 
access to the royal person without the 
leave of the parliament ; all those who 
came to be touched for the evil were 
sent back, and three months were passed 
by the monarch without any variation, 
except his occasional rides, and some- 
times a game at bowls ; the rest of the 
time his majesty passed in the retirement 
of his closet. 

At the end of that period, the king, in 
a letter to the parliament, expressed his 
readiness to yield to their requests in 
confirming the presbyterian government 
for three years, provided that liberty of 
worship should be allowed to himself 
and his household, and that, at the end 
of that term, religion should be regulated 
by himself and the two houses. He also 
expressed his willing concession in other 
points which they had deemed of im- 
portance. The lords received the letter 
with satisfaction, but the commons ne- 
glected to notice it. In the interim, 
Cromwell was moving onward towards 
the goal that was to crown his success ; 
he gained the confidence, and obtained 
an entire control over his commander, 
Fairfax — a man daring and courageous 
in the field, but easy and conceding in his 
private conduct. 

The independents pursued their own 
course ; they secretly issued their or- 
ders, and the troops were on their inarch 
towards the metropolis, before the parlia- 
ment was aware that they had left the 



350 



GREAT BRITAIN. 




Cromwell swppressing the Mutineers. 



neighborhood of Nottingham. A remon- 
strance was presented, in which the 
army required the payment of arrears 
due, and exemption from foreign service, 
and stated a long list of grievances, which 
drew from the parliament threats of pun- 
ishment that only served to increase the 
general discontent. " Should men," they 
asked, " who had fought and bled for 
their country be forbidden to state their 
grievances ?" They eidisted volunteers, 
and thus increased their numbers to many 
thousands ; they divided themselves into 
two distinct bodies : the officers formed 
one, and two privates where selected 
from each troop as representatives, who 
formed the other, under the name of ad- 
jutators, or helpers ; and these two bodies 
acted from their joint deliberations. The 
result was, that the army became the 
most powerful party. Having determin- 
ed on taking the king under its own pro- 
tection, Joyce, a cornet in the general's 
life-guard, was sent to conduct his majes- 
ty to the camp. 

The king, attended by his servants, 
proceeded to Newmarket. The army 
having so far succeeded in their views, 
the parliament treated with its command- 



ers as commissioners of a party possessing 
equal power with themselves, and hence- 
forward they acted in concert. The king 
was treated Avilh the highest respect ; 
his children and friends found easy ac- 
cess to his person. After the army had 
entered London, and the king's residence 
was fixed at Hampton Court, he profess- 
ed his readiness to treat with the com- 
missioners of the army ; and observed, 
that their plan was likely to form the 
basis of a lasting peace. 

While Charles seemed thus satisfied 
with the conduct of the army, he was in 
reality forming treaties with the commis- 
sioners of Scotland and Ireland ; and 
while his opinion fluctuated with the influ- 
ence of party, a new faction rose, with the 
avowed aim of investing the sovereignty 
in the people. The movers of this fac- 
tion called themselves levellers, and their 
number soon increased to a formidable 
height under their nominal supporters, 
colonels Pride and Rainsborough. The 
nation being now thrown into confusion, 
the king thought himself unsafe so near 
London, and fled to the countess of 
Southampton, at Tichfield House ; from 
thence lus friends solicited the protec- 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



351 



tion of Hammond, governor of the Isle 
of Wight, a man in the interest of Crom- 
well. By this officer, who acted with 
caution, the king was conducted, some- 
what reluctantly, to Carisbrook Castle. 
The levellers were irritated at his flight, 
and directed their revenge against Crom- 
well, who, considering his life in danger, 
saved it by an act of intrepidity, by insti- 
tuting a court martial, and executing 
some of the leaders on the spot. This 
summary proceeding restored subordina- 
tion in the army, though it taught him a 
lesson to keep on good terms with the 
parliament and the army. 

The royalists looked to Scotland for 
assistance ; but the army under the duke 
of Hamilton did not arrive so soon as was 
expected ; and colonel Poyer, governor 
of the castle of Pembroke, was the first 
to unfurl the royal standard. Small di- 
visions collected in different parts of the 
kingdom, who rallied at the call for " God 
and the king." Petitions daily poured 
in from all parts, praying that the army 
might be disbanded, and that the king 
might be brought back to the capital ; 
but opinions varied on the latter point, 
and the royalists began to despair of suc- 
cor, when they heard that the Scottish 
army had crossed the borders : this, how- 
ever, was only a fallacious hope. Ham- 
ilton had led his men into Lancashire in 
numbers, where they might have proved 
victorious ; but it was the duke's misfor- 
tune to feel diffident of his own powers, 
and, with a great share of personal cour- 
age, he trusted to the guidance of others, 
who allov/ed their own interests and their 
private jealousies and quarrels to super- 
sede every consideration regarding the 
service in which they had engaged. The 
complete discomfiture of the Scottish ar- 
my was the result of this misconduct, 
and Cromwell's cause proved triumphant. 

When aflairs were in this state, and 
England, Ireland, and Scotland were in 
anarchy and disorder, from the contend- 
ing influence of diHerent factions, Charles 
removed from Carisbrook to the town of 
Newport, where, surrounded by his ser- 
vants and a few friends, he enjoyed the 
outward appearance of liberty ; but in the 
negotiation then pending between him- 
self and the commissioners acting for the 



ruling powers, he was soon sensible that 
he was still a captive, and that it was 
expected he should submit, not treat. 
Before any thing conclusive was done, a 
plan for a new constitution was presented 
from the independents, as the petition of 
"thousands of well affected persons in 
and near London." The objects here 
proposed were, "that the supremacy of 
the people should be established against 
the negative voice of the king and of the 
lords ; that, to prevent civil wars, the 
office of the king and the privileges of 
the peers should be clearly defined : that 
a new parliament, to be elected of course, 
and without writs, should assemble every 
year, but never for a longer time than 
forty or fifty days ; that religious belief 
and worship should be free from restraint 
or compulsion ; that the proceedings in 
law should be shortened, and the charges 
ascertained ; that tithes for the support 
of the clergy, and perpetual imprisonment 
for debt, should be abolished ; and that 
the parliament should lay to heart the 
blood spilt and the rapine perpetrated by 
commission from the king, and consider 
whether the justice of God could be 
satisfied, or his wrath be appeased by an 
act of oblivion." 

While the petition formed the subject 
of debate in the house of commons, 
which, as the representative body, was 
I acknowledged to be the " sovereignty of 
the people," Charles, finding that his life 
was threatened, owned himself willing 
to make further concessions ; but his 
counsellors, the duke of Richmond, the 
earl of Lindsay, and colonel Coke, of- 
fered their assistance in effecting his 
escape. Charles, however, resisted every 
persuasion, because he had given his 
parole to remain twenty days after the 
treaty, and he would not forfeit his honor. 
The next evening he was lodged in Hurst 
Castle, which place was connected with 
the coast of Hampshire by a causeway 
two miles in length. During these trans- 
actions Cromwell was in Scotland, from 
whence he returned at this period, and 
was conducted to Whitehall to receive 
the thanks of the commons for his ser- 
vices. The army, being chiefly com- 
posed of independents and levellers, had 
gained the superiority of power, and may 



352 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



be said to have been the executive gov- 
ernment. In the commons, Cromwell 
declared the men traitors who proposed 
to depose the king and disinherit his 
posterity, but in tlie next sentence he \ 
professed himself reluctantly compelled 
to harsh measures in obedience to the 
will of God, who had imposed the un- 
■willing task upon him. 

General Fairfax, who had hitherto suf- 
fered himself to be led by the advice of 
Cromwell, suddenly adopted a firmer char- 
acter, and refused his concurrence to the 
trial of the king. Meanwhile his majesty 
had been removed, after a residence of 
only three weeks in Hurst castle, to the 
palace at Windsor, where the usual cere- 
monies of royalty were omitted, which so 
operated on the feelings of the king, that 
he desired to take his meals in private. 

The trifling eflbrt made by the Scots 
was soon overbalanced by the arguments 
of Cromwell, who found it an easy mat- 
ter to convince the covenanters, that 
where it became a duty to punish malig- 
nants generally, it was more imperative 
to punish him who was the chief of the 
malignants. The removal of his majesty 
to Whitehall annihilated every hope, and 
on the 20th of January, 1649, Charles 
was conveyed to Westminster-hall, by 
the serjeant-at-arms, and conducted with- 
in the bar to take his trial. " His step 
was firm, his countenance erect and un- 
moved. While the clerk read the charge, 
he appeared to hsten with indifierence ; 
but a smile of contempt was seen to quiver 
on his lips at the passage which des- 
cribed him as a 'tyrant, traitor, murderer, 
and a public and implacable enemy to the 
Commonwealth of England.' On being 
told that the court sat by the authority of 
the House of Commons, ' But where,' he 
asked, ' were the Lords ? Were the Com- 
mons the whole legislature ? Were they 
free ? Were they a court of judicature ? 
Could they confer on others a jurisdic- 
tion which they did not possess them- 
selves ? He would never acknowledge 
an usurped authority. It was a duty im- 
posed upon him by the Almighty to dis- 
own every lawless power, that invaded 
either the rights of the crown, or the lib- 
erties of the subject." 

Such was the substance of his answers 



delivered on three diflTerent days, and 
amidst innumerable interruptions from 
the president, who would not suffer the 
jurisdiction of the court to be questioned, 
and at last ordered the " default and con- 
tempt of the prisoner" to be recorded. 
After two more days, which were spent 
by the court in private deliberations, the 
king proposed to hold a conference with 
a joint committee of the lords and com- 
mons. The request was refused in harsh 
language by Bradshaw, the president, 
who informed the king that nothing now 
remained but for the judges to pronounce 
sentence ; they had learned, he said, 
from holy writ, "that to acquit the guilty, 
was as equal an abomination as to con- 
demn the innocent." The charge was 
again read, and the judgment followed, 
"that the court being satisfied in con- 
science that he, the said Charles Stuart, 
was guilty of the crimes of which he had 
been accused, did adjudge him as a ty- 
rant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy 
to the good people of the nation, to be 
put to death by the severing his head 
from his body." 

It was remarked that his majesty's 
character had becoma firm and inflexible ; 
indeed no weakness was exhibited on 
that trying occasion. The few interve- 
ning days, between his trial and execu- 
tion, were spent by the king in religious 
preparation, assisted by Dr. Juxon, bishop 
of London, who was permitted to attend 
his sovereign, at the request of Hugh 
Peters, a preacher. His majesty did not 
allow even his friends to intrude on those 
hours ; the few moments he did spare 
from this pious employment were given 
to his children, the princess Elizabeth 
and the infant duke of Gloucester, his 
brother James having escaped to Hol- 
land. In the last of those interviews, 
his majesty divided a few jewels between 
them, gave them his blessing, and hav- 
ing kissed them with strong feelings of 
affection, he retired to his chamber. The 
king slept four hours during the night 
preceding his execution. On awaking 
in the morning, he observed to Herbert, 
" This is my second marriage day ; I 
would be as trim as may be ; for before 
night I hope to be espoused to my bless- 
ed Jesus." 



GRE AT BRITAIN. 



353 



From St. James's palace the king pro- 
ceeded on foot to Whitehall, where he 
waited more than two hours, which delay 
many thought was caused by the arrival of 
ambassadors from the Hague, with whom 
was Seymour, the bearer of two letters 
from the prince of Wales ; one addressed 
to lord Fairfax, in which was a sheet of 
blank paper subscribed by the prince, to 
be filled up with the conditions for the 
life of his father, whatever they might 
be, his seal and signature were already 
fixed, so that they were granted. The 
other letter was to the king, who had the 
most consoling proof that could be expe- 
rienced of his son's aflectionate attach- 
ment to his royal parent. Colonel Tom- 
linson admitted Seymour to the presence 
of his majesty, from whence he carried 
the last instructions to his son and suc- 
cessor. No alteration, however, took 
place in the fate of Charles, who, on re- 
ceiving the fatal summons that " all was 
ready," proceeded with the same hrm 
step through the long gallery, lined with 
soldiers, whose looks sympathized with 
the mournful occasion. He was brought 
to the scaffold from one of the windows 
of the banqueting house, and met his fate 
with a degree of firmness which was 
worthy of a better cause. 

The unfortunate end of this monarch, 
filled the kingdom with consternation. 
The people sought freedom of rights, re- | 
ligious and political ; but they had no [ 
wish to shed the blood of their monarch. ! 
The pious resignation with which he ; 
bore his sufferings had greatly endeared 
him to the nation ; and the firmness with 
which he conducted himself during his 
trial drew upon him the respect of man- 
kind. 

The dissolution of the monarchical 
form of government followed the death 
of Charles, and in a few days the com- 
mons voted that the house of lords was 
both useless and dangerous, and that it 
should be abolished. They also had it 
proclaimed high treason to acknowledge 
Charles Stuart, son of the late king, as 
successor to the throne, and a great seal 
was made ; on one side of which were 
engraven the arms of England and Ire- 
land, with this inscription, "The great 
seal of England." On the reverse was 
45 



represented the house of commons sitting, 
with this motto : " On the first, year of 
freedom, by God's blessing restored, 
1649." The forms of all pubHc business 
were changed from being transacted in 
the king's name, to that of the keepers of 
the liberties of England. The court of 
king's bench was called the court oi pub' 
lie bench. 

Charles, after the death of his father, 
passed a considerable portion of his time 
at Paris ; but finding little chance of as- 
sistance from the French court, he was 
induced to accept of almost any condi- 
tions. The Scots, however, while they 
were thus professing loyalty to their king, 
were punishing his adherents with the 
greatest cruelty. Among others, the brave 
marquis of Montrose was taken prisoner, 
while endeavoring to raise the Highland- 
ers in the royal cause ; and being brought 
to Edinburgh, was hanged on a gibbet 
thirty-feet high, then quartered, and his 
limbs sent to the principal towns of the 
kingdom. Yet, with a knowledge of all 
these severities, Charles ventured into 
Scotland, and had the mortification to 
enter the gate of Edinburgh while the 
body of that faithful adherent to his house 
was still exposed on the walls. 

The young king, however, soon found 
that he had only exchanged his exile for 
imprisonment. He was surrounded and 
incessantly importuned by those who 
surrounded him to conform to their views. 
They scarcely allowed him to act for him- 
self, and as a last resource, he endeavor- 
ed to escape. But he was overtaken 
and brought back. Cromwell, in the 
mean time, who had been appointed by 
the parliament to command the army in 
Ireland, carried on the war in that king- 
dom with his usual success. He had to 
encounter the royalists commanded by 
the duke of Ormond, and the native Irish 
led on by O'Neal ; but he obtained a com- 
plete victory over these troops ; and most 
of the towns, intimidated by his success, 
opened their gates at his approach. He 
was on the point of reducing the whole 
kingdom, when he was recalled by the 
parliament to defend the commonwealth 
against the Scots, who had raised a con- 
siderable army in support of the royal 
cause. 



354 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



On the return of Cromwell to England, 
he was. chosen commander-in-chief of 
the parliamentary' forces, in the room of 
Fairfax, who declined opposing the pres- 
byterians. The new general immedi- 
ately set forward ibr Scotland with an 
army of 16,000 men, where he was op- 
posed by general Lesley, who formed an 
excellent plan for his own defence. 
Knowing his men to be inferior in valor 
and discipline, however superior in num- 
bers, to those of Cromwell, he kept him- 
self carefully in his entrenchments. At 
last Cromwell was drawn into a very 
disadvantageous post near Dunbar, where j 
his antagonist waited deliberately to take 
advantage of him. From this imminent 
danger, however, he was delivered by 
the madness of the Scotch clergy, who 
believed " that the heretical army, to- 
gether with Agag, their general, would 
be delivered into their hands." Upon 
the assurances of these visions, they 
compelled their general to descend into 
the plain, and give the English battle. 
When Cromwell saw this result, he as- 
sured his followers, " that the Lord had 
delivered them into his hands," and or- 
dered his army to sing psalms, as if al- 
ready certain of victory. The Scots, 
though double the number of the English, 
were soon put to flight, and pursued with 
great slaughter, while Cromwell did not 
lose in all forty men. 

After this defeat, Charles put himself 
at the head of the remains of his army ; 
and tliese he farther strengthened by the 
royalists, who had been for some time 
excluded from his service by the cove- 
nanters. He was so closely pursued by 
Cromwell, however, that he soon found 
it impossible to maintain his troops. Ob- 
serving, therefore, that the way was open 
to England, he immediately directed his 
march towards that country, where he 
expected to be re-enforced by all the 
royalists in that part of the kingdom. 
In this, however, he was deceived ; for 
scarcely had he arrived at Worcester 
when he was informed that Cromwell 
was marching from Scotland with an ar- 
my of 40,000 men. This news was 
scarcely told, when Cromwell himself 
arrived. He assailed the town on all 
sides ; the whole Scottish army was ei- 



ther killed or taken prisoners ; and the 
king himself, after having given many 
convincing proofs of personal valor, was 
obliged to fly. Charles, however, es- 
caped, and after encountering many difli- 
culties, Anally embarked for P>ance, 
where he arrived in safety. 

Cromwell, in the mean time, returned 
in triumph ; and his first care was to pass 
an act for abolishing royalty in Scotland, 
and annexing that kingdom as a conquer- 
ed province to the English common- 
wealth. It was, however, allowed to 
send a few members to the British par- 
liament. Every part of Great Britain 
being now perfectly subdued, the parlia- 
ment next turned their arms against the 
Dutch. In this undertaking the parlia- 
ment's principal dependence lay in the 
activity and courage of Blake their ad- 
miral, who, though he had not embarked 
in naval command till late in life, yet 
surpassed all that preceded him in courage 
and naval skill. On the other hand the 
Dutch opposed to him the celebrated ad- 
miral Van Tromp. The several engage- 
ments which followed served rather to 
show the excellency of the admirals than 
to determine their superiority. At last 
the Dutch proposed a treaty of peace, to 
which the parliament gave a very unfavor- 
able answer, as they knew that while the 
force of the nation was employed at sea, 
it would, in some measure, serve to coun- 
terbalance the formidable power of Crom- 
well by land. To prevent this, and to 
secure the attachment of the army, he 
resolved to seize the sovereign power. 
He persuaded the officers to present a 
petition for payment of arrears and re- 
dress of grievances. His orders were 
I obeyed ; a petition was drawn up and 
: presented, in which the oflicers, after de- 
I manding their arrears, desired the par- 
I liament to consider how many years they 
I had sat, and what pretensions they had 
formerly made of their designs to new- 
i model the house, and establish freedom on 
I its broadest basis. They alleged that it 
; was now full time for them to give place 
! to others ; and, however meritorious their 
I actions might have been, yet the rest of 
the nation Iriad some right in their turn to 
manifest their patriotism in defence of 
their country. The house then appoint- 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



355 



ed a committee to prepare an act which ' 
stated that all persons who presented 
such petitions for the future should be ! 
considered guilty of high treason. To 
this the officers made a very warm re- ; 
monstrance, and the parliament as angry 
a reply. Cromwell being informed of j 
this altercation, suddenly rose up, and 
turning to major Vernon, exclaimed, ; 
" that he was compelled to do a thing that 
made his hair stand on end." Then has- 
tening to the house with three-hundred [ 
soldiers, and with marks of violent indig- 
nation on his countenance, he entered, 
took his place, and attended to the de- j 
bates for some time. When the question 
was ready to be put, he suddenly rose, 
and overwhelmed the parliament with re- 
proaches for their tyranny, ambition, op- 
pression, and robbery of the public. Upon 
which, stamping with his foot, which 
was the signal for the soldiers to enter, 
the place was immediately filled with 
armed men. " It is you," said Cromwell, 
" that have forced me upon this. I have 
sought the Lord night and day, that he 
would rather slay me than put me upon 
this work." Then pointing to the mace, 
" Take away that bauble," cried he ; af- 
ter which, turning out all the members 
and clearing the hall, he ordered the 
doors to be locked, and putting the keys 
in his pocket, returned to Whitehall. 

The change of government which was 
thus effected had been anticipated by 
many of the continental powers. France 
proposed an alliance, but the pride of 
Louis would not allow him to style Crom- 
well brother, and the latter refused the 
term of cousin ; at length the distinction 
of " Monsieur le Protecteur" was adapted 
with success, and the treaty would have 
been concluded but for the massacre of 
the protestants, which took place in 
France. Meantime two armaments sail- 
ed with secret instructions. One com- 
manded by Blake was destined for the 
capture of the Spanish fleet, laden with 
treasure from the Indies ; though the pre- 
tended object of his voyage was to chas- 
tise the pirates. A discovery of his in- 
tention caused Philip to frustrate its ex- 
ecution, and Blake was compelled to be 
satisfied with having destroyed the fleet 
off" Tunis. The other expedition was 



conducted by Penn and Venables, and 
intended for the conquest of St. Domingo. 

Cromwell was aware that among his 
dependents there were many who had 
energy enough to become powerful op- 
ponents, should he assume the entire gov- 
ernment of the state at this period ; he 
therefore placed the executive authority 
in the hands of those who were entirely 
devoted to himself, to insure the return of 
that power into his own keeping. The 
period that intervened between the dis- 
solution of the long parliament and the 
election of a protector, was signalised 
by the name of the " Barebone Parlia- 
ment," from the name of one of its prin- 
cipal members. 

It was impossible such a legislature as 
this could stand ; even Cromwell him- 
self began to be ashamed of their absur- 
dities. He had carefully chosen those 
who were entirely devoted to his inter- 
ests, and these he commanded to dismiss 
the assembly. They accordingly met by 
concert ; and observing to each other 
that this parliament had sat long enough, 
they hastened to Cromwell, with Rouse 
their speaker at their head, and into his 
hands resigned the authority with which 
he had invested them. Cromwell ac- 
cepted their resignation with pleasure ; 
but being told that some of their num- 
ber were refractory, he sent colonel 
White to clear the house of such as ven- 
tured to remain there. 

This shadow of a parliament being 
thus dissolved, the officers, by their 
own authority, declared Cromwell pro- 
tector of the commonwealth of England. 
The mayor and aldermen were sent for 
to give solemnity to his appointment, and 
he was instituted into his new office at 
Whitehall. He was to be addressed by 
the title of highness ; and his power was 
proclaimed in London, and other parts 
of the kingdom. It was now, indeed, 
necessary that some person should take 
the supreme command ; for affairs were 
brought into such a situation, by the dis- 
sensions of the contending parties, that 
nothing but absolute power could prevent 
a renewal of bloodshed and confusion. 
The government of the kingdom was ad- 
justed in the following manner. A coun- 
cil was appointed, which was not to ex- 



356 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



ceed twenty-one, nor to be under thirteen ' 
persons. These were to enjoy their offi- 
ces for life, or during good behavior ; 
and, in case of a vacancy, the remaining 
members named three, of whom the pro- 
tector chose one. The protector was 
appointed the supreme magistrate of the 
commonwealth, with such powers as the 
king was possessed of. 'J'he power of 
the sword was vested in him jointly with 
the parliament when sitting, or with the 
council at other times. He was obliged 
to summon a parliament once every three 
years, and to allow them to sit five months 
without adjournmeni. A standing army 
was established of 20,000 foot and 10,000 
horse ; and fimds were assigned for their 
support. The protector enjoyed his of- 
fice for life ; and on his death, his place 
was to be supplied by the council. Of 
all these clauses the standing army was 
sufficient for Cromwell's purpose ; for 
while possessed of that instrument, he 
could mould the rest of the constitution 
to his pleasure. He chose his council 
from among his officers, who had been 
the companions of his dangers and vic- 
tories, to each of whom he assigned a 
pension of 1,000^. a year. He took care 
to have his troops, upon whose fidelity 
he depended for support, paid a month in 
advance ; the magazines were also well 
provided, and the public treasure man- 
aged with frugality and care ; while his 
activity, vigilance, and resolution, were 
so well exerted, that he discovered every 
conspiracy against his person, and every 
plot for an insurrection, before they took 
elfect. 

Cromwell continued to govern, though 
without assuming the title of king, in as 
absolute a manner as any prince in Eu- 
rope. As he was feared at home, so he 
commanded respect abroad. He granted 
religious toleration, caused justice to be : 
faithfully administered, and his officers 
of government were generally men of i 
moral and religious principles, and vice ' 
was discountenanced at his court. He 
refused the title of a king. In his private 
life he was exemplary ; though some- 
what of an enthusiast, yet he appeared i 
deeply impressed with religious feelings.] 
By some writers he has been represented i 
as a religious hypocrite ; but, as it has | 



been well observed, this supposition is con- 
tradicted by the whole tenor of his life. 
He was delivered from this life of anxie- 
ty by a tertian ague, of which he died, 
September 3, 1658, after having governed 
nine years. 

Oliver Cromwell was succeeded in his 
office of protector by his son Richard, who 
immediately called a parliament. To this 
assembly the army presented a remon- 
strance, desiring some person for their 
general in whom they could confide. 
The house voted such meetings and re- 
monstrances unlawful ; upon which the 
officers surrounding Richard's house, 
forced him to dissolve the parliament ; 
and soon after he signed an abdication 
of the government. His younger broth- 
er Henry, who had been appointed to 
the command in Ireland, followed Rich- 
ard's example, and resigned his commis- 
sion without striking a blow. 

The officers, thus left at liberty, re- 
solved to restore the rump parliament as 
it was called, consisting of that remnant 
of a parliament which had condemned 
Charles. They were no sooner reinsta- 
ted in their authority, however, than they 
began to humble the army by cashiering 
several favorite officers, and appointing 
others in whom they could have more 
dependence. The officers immediately 
resolved to dissolve the assembly. Lam- 
bert, one of the general officers, drew up 
a chosen body of troops ; and, placing 
them in the streets which led to West- 
minster-hall, when the speaker Lenthall 
proceeded in his carriage to the house, he 
ordered the horses to be turned, and very 
politely conducted him home. The oth- 
er members were likewise intercepted ; 
and the army returned to their quarters 
to observe a solemn fast, which generally 
either preceded or attended any signal 
triumph. A committee was then elected 
of twenty-three persons, of whom seven 
were officers. These they invested with 
sovereign authority ; and a military gov- 
ernment was established. 

Upon hearing that the officers had by 
their own authority dissolved the parlia- 
ment, General Monk, who was then in 
Scotland, with 8,000 veteran troops, pro- 
tested against the measure, and resolved 
to defend the national privileges. As 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



357 



soon as he put his army in motion, he 
found himself eagerly sought after by all 
parties. 

Monk now proceeded with his army 
towards London. The gentry, on his 
inarch, flocked round him with addresses, 
expressing their desire of a new parlia- 
ment ; but that general still continued his 
march to within a (ew miles of the capi- 
tal, when he sent the parliament a mes- 
sage, desiring them to remove such for- 
ces as remained in London to country 
quarters. Some of the regiments will- 
ingly obeyed this order ; and such as did 
not, Monk compelled by force ; after 
which he took up his quarters with his 
army in Westminster. The house voted 
him thanks for his services, and he in 
return desired them to call a free parlia- 
ment. He afterwards arrested eleven 
of the most obnoxious of the common 
council of the city ; broke the gates and 
portcullises, and then returned in triumph 
to his quarters at Westminster. 

The commons were now greatly 
alarmed. They tried every method to 
gain off the general from his new alli- 
ance. Some of them even promised to 
invest him with the dignity of supreme 
magistrate, and to support his usurpation. 
But Monk was too just or too wise to 
listen to their proposals ; he resolved to 
restore the secluded members, and by their 
means to bring about a new election. 

The restoration of the expelled mem- 
bers was easily effected ; and their num- 
ber was so much superior to that of the 
" rump parliament," that the chiefs of this 
last party now thought proper to withdraw 
in their turn. The restored members began 
with repealing all those orders by which 
they had been expelled. They renewed 
and enlarged the general's commission ; 
fixed a proper stipend for the support of 
the fleet and army ; and, having passed 
these votes, they dissolved themselves, 
and gave orders for the immediate as- 
sembling of a new parliament. Mean- 
while, Monk new-modelled his army for 
the purposes he had in view. Some of- 
ficers presented him with an address, in 
which they promised to obey implicitly 
the orders of the ensuing parliament. 
He approved of this engagement, which 
he ordered to be signed by all the differ- 



ent regiments ; and this furnished him 
with a pretence for dismissing all the of- 
ficers by whom it was rejected. 

The new parliament being assembled, 
the thoughts of all were turned towards 
the king ; when at length Monk gave di- 
rections to Annesly, president of the 
council, to inform them that sir John 
Granville, a servant of the king's, who 
had been sent over by his majesty, was 
now arrived with a letter to the house of 
commons. This message was received 
with the greatest joy. Granville was 
called in, the letter read, and the king's 
proposals immediately accepted. He 
offered a general amnesty to all persons 
whatsoever, and that without any excep- 
tions, but what should be made by parlia- 
ment. He promised to indulge scrupu- 
lous consciences with liberty in matters 
of religion ; to leave to the examination 
of parliament the claims of all such as 
possessed lands with contested titles ; to 
confirm all these concessions by act of 
parliament ; to satisfy the army under 
general Monk with respect to their ar- 
rears, and to give the same rank to his 
officers when they should be enlisted in 
the king's army. 

In consequence of this agreement be- 
tween the king and parliament, Monta- 
gue, the English admiral, waited on his 
majesty to inform him that the fleet ex- 
pected his orders at Scheveling. The 
duke of York immediately went on board 
and took the command as lord high ad- 
miral. The king afterwards embarked, 
and landing at Dover, was received by 
the general. He entered London on the 
29th of May, 1660, which was his birth 
day ; and was attended by an innumera- 
ble multitude of people, who testified 
their joy by the loudest acclamations. 

Charles II was thirty years of age at 
the time of his restoration, and his first 
measures were calculated to give univer- 
sal satisfaction. 

After repeated solicitations, the act of 
indemnity passed both houses, with the 
exception of those who had an immedi- 
ate hand in the king's death. Even 
Cromwell, Ireton, and Bradshaw, though 
dead, were absurdly considered as proper 
objects of resentment ; their bodies were 
dug from their graves, dragged to the 



358 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



place of execution, and, after hanging 
some time, buried under the gallows. 

The army was now disbanded that had 
for so many years governed the nation ; 
prelacy, and all the ceremonies of the 
church of England, were restored ; and 
at the same time the king pretended to 
preserve an air of moderation and neu- 
trality. 

The court now set an example of a 
very difi'erent kind in the opposite ex- 
treme to that of Cromwell's ; nothing but 
scenes of license and festivity were to 
be seen ; the horrors of the late war be- 
came the subject of ridicule ; the formal- 
ity of the sectaries was displayed on the 
stage, and even laughed at from the pulpit. 

In the midst of these scenes of dissi- 
pation, the old and faithful followers of 
the royal family were left unrewarded. 
Numbers who had fought both for the 
king and his father, and who had lost 
their whole fortunes in his service, still 
continued to pine in want and oblivion ; 
while their persecutors, who had acquired 
fortunes during the civil war, were per- 
mitted to enjoy them without molestation. 
The wretched royalists petitioned and 
murmured in vain ; the monarch fled 
from their expostulations to scenes of 
mirth and festivity ; and the act of in- 
demnity was generally said to have been 
an act of forgiveness to the king's ene- 
mies, and of oblivion to his friends. 

In 1661, the Scotch and English par- 
liaments vied with each other in their 
protestations of devotion to the king. In 
England, monarchy and episcopacy were 
raised to the greatest splendor. The 
bishops were permitted to resume their 
seats in the house of peers ; all military 
authority was acknowledged to be vested 
in the king. He was empowered to 
appoint commissioners for regulating cor- 
porations, and expelling such members as 
had intruded themselves by violence, or 
professed principles dangerous to the 
constitution. An act of uniformity was 
passed, by which it was required that 
every clergyman should be re-ordained, 
if he had not before received episcopal 
ordination ; that he should declare his 
assent to every thing contained in the 
book of common prayer, and should 
take the oath of canonical obedience. 



In consequence of this law, above 2000 
of the presbyterian clergy resigned their 
cures at once. In Scotland the right of 
the king was asserted in the fullest and 
most positive terms to be hereditary and 
divine. His creatures said that his 
power extended to the lives and posses- 
sions of his subjects, and from his ori- 
ginal grant was said to come all that they 
enjoyed. They also voted him an addi- 
tional revenue of 40,000/. 

These feelings of excessive loyalty, 
however, were dissipated by the profuse 
extravagance of the king, and the sale of 
Dunkirk to the French for 40,000/, caused 
universal discontent in the minds of the 
people. In 1662, Charles married the 
Infanta of Portugal, whose portion 
amounted to 500,000/, with the fortress 
of Tangier in Africa, and Bombay in 
the East Indies. 

At this period, a complaint from the 
merchants that they had sustained seri- 
ous injuries by the non-performance of 
the English treaty with the Dutch, led 
Charles to a declaration of war against 
the states of Holland. The step in it- 
self was an imprudent one ; but he sent 
out a fleet, such as England had never 
before brought together, and with his 
brother superintended the naval prepara- 
tions. The duke of York, as high admi- 
ral, imfurled his flag on board the Royal 
Charles, and proceeded with ninety eight 
ships of the line and four fire-ships to 
the coast of Holland. At the king's 
suggestion, that something of the order 
observed in military affairs should be at- 
tended to in naval engagements, the im- 
proved mode of fighting in a line and 
regular form of battle was adopted, and 
their first engagement, on the 3rd of 
June, 1665, proved victorious. The news 
of that victory arrived in London, when 
its inhabitants were suflering imder the 
most severe of human calamities. This 
was the great plague, which swept off" 
100,000 persons. This dire visitation 
was followed by another, still more dread- 
ful. A fire broke out in the city of Lon- 
don, and spread with such rapidity, that 
no efforts could extinguish it, till it laid 
in ashes the principal part of the city. 
This calamity, though it reduced thou- 
sands to beggary, ultimately proved bene- 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



359 




Grcal Fire in Loiidon. 



ficial to the metropolis, as it rose from ' 
its ruins in greater beauty than ever ; and ; 
it is remarkable that not a single life was i 
lost. The blame of this fire was laid on ; 
the catholics. The Dutch war was ex- 
claimed against as unsuccessful and un- 
necessary, and Charles himself became 
sensible that all the ends for which he 
had undertaken it were likely to be frus- 
trated. A treaty was, therefore, entered 
into, which was concluded at Breda, on 
the 21st of July, 1667. By this treaty 
the only advantage gained by Britain was 
the cession of the colony of New York, 
in America. 

A religious insurrection in Scotland 
gave fresh gi'ounds of uneasiness,' and 
that was no sooner suppressed than a 
greater evil was apprehended in the ex- 
hausted state of the treasury ; so greatly 
increased by the difficulty of procuring 
loans. In consequence of these embar- 
rassments, the king prudently allowed 
part of the fleet to lay by, when the 
Dutch admiral, De Witt, taking advan- 
tage of a congress at Breda, where the 
different powers were engaged in dis- 
cussing their various interests, left the 
Texcl, and proceeded with seventy sail 
to the buoy off the Nore. Their success 



in being able to ride triumphantly in the 
river, where they destroyed the Royal 
James, the Oak, and the London, was 
deeply regretted by the whole nation. 
Soon after this event, three treaties 
of peace with England, signed by the 
powers of Holland, France, and Den- 
mark, put a stop to furtJier hostilities. 

Charles' temper which at first was 
easy and careless, became arbitrary and 
cruel. His tyranny was such, that the 
party in England, that still cherished 
their former ideas of freedom, resolved to 
restore liberty to their country Ijy dethro- 
ning the king. The principal conspira- 
tors were Monmouth, Shaftesbury, Rus- 
sel, Essex, Howard, Algernon Sidney, 
and John Hampden, grandson to the 
great man of that name. Monmouth 
engaged the earl of Macclesfield, lord 
Brandon, sir Gilbert Gerard, and other 
gentlemen in Cheshire. Lord Russel 
opened a correspondence with sir Wil- 
liam Courtney, sir Francis Knowles, and 
sir Francis Drake, who promised to raise 
the western parts of England. 

Besides these there were subordinate 
conspirators, who frequently met together 
unknown to Monmouth and his council 
Among these was colonel Rumsey, an 



360 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



old republican officer ; lieutenant-colonel 
Walcot ; Goodenough, under-sheriff' of 
London ; and a number of the inhabit- 
ants of London. These men undertook 
the desperate resolution of assassinating 
the king in his way to Newmarket. 
Rumbold, one of the party, possessed a 
i'arm upon that road, called the Rye- 
house, and from thence the conspiracy 
Avas called the " Rye-house plot." 'J'hey 
intended to stop the king's coach by 
overturning a cart, and shooting him 
through the hedges. The house in which 
the king lived at Newmarket accidentally 
took fire, and he was obliged to leave 
that town eight days sooner than was 
expected ; to which circumstance he 
owed his safety. Soon after this the 
conspiracy was discovered. 

The trial of lord W. Russel was prin- 
cipally celebrated for the assistance 
which he received from lady Russel, 
who was actively engaged in his defence. 
After his condemnation his father of- 
fered 100,000Z to save his life ; and lady 
Russel also used both prayers and en- 
treaties for the same purpose. But the 
king was inflexible, and lord Russel was 
beheaded in Lincoln's Inn Fields, on the 
21st of July, 1682. 

Russel, Sidney, and Walcot, were 
executed ; Essex destroyed himself ; 
Hampden was fined 40,000/ ; and scarce- 
ly one escaped who had been in any 
manner concerned, except the duke of 
Monmouth. 

The government of Charles was now 
as absolute as that of any prince in 
Europe ; but to please his subjects by an 
act of popularity, he married the lady 
Anne, his niece, to prince George, bro- 
ther to the king of Denmark. This was 
the last remarkable transaction of this 
extraordinary reign. On February 2nd, 
1685, about eight in the morning, the 
king was seized with a fit of apoplexy. 
By being blooded, he was perfectly re- 
stored to his senses ; and there were 
great hopes of his recovery the next day. 
On the fourth day the physicians de- 
spaired of his life, and therefore sent for 
the queen. She threw herself on her 
knees, and asked his pardon for all her 
offences. He replied, that she had of- 
fended in nothing ; but that he had been 



guilty of offences against her, and asked 
her pardon. He spoke with great affec- 
tion to the duke of York ; and he advised 
him to adhere to the laws with strictness, 
and invariably to support the church of 
England. 

Having requested the bishops to with- 
draw, as well as several of the lords who 
attended his death-bed, he sent for Hud- 
dlestone, a catholic priest. In the pre- 
sence of the duke, the earl of Bath, and 
Trevannion, a captain in the guards, 
Huddlestone gave the extreme unction 
to the king, and administered to him the 
sacrament according to the rites of the 
church of Rome. The doors were then 
thrown open. Six prelates, who had 
before attended the king, were sent for 
to give him the sacrament. The bishop 
of Bath and Wells read the visitation of 
the sick, and, after he had said that 
he repented of his sins, the absolution. 
The king assisted with seeming devotion 
at the service. He professed his appro- 
val of the church of England ; and ex- 
pired on the 6th of February, 1685, 
between eleven and twelve o'clock ; hav- 
ing reigned twenty-five years. 

The first act of James IPs reign was 
to assemble the privy council ; where, 
after some praises bestowed on the mem- 
ory of his predecessor, he made profes- 
sions of his resolution to maintain the 
established government both in church 
and state ; and stated that as he had 
already ventured his life in defence of the 
nation, he Avould still go as far as any 
man in maintaining all its just rights and 
privileges. 

The king, however, soon showed, 
that he was not sincere in his promises. 
All the customs, and the greater part of 
the excise, which had been voted to the 
late king for his life only, were levied by 
James without a new act for that pur- 
pose. He went openly to mass with all 
the ensigns of royalty, and prepared the 
way for the return of Catholicism. 

But whilst passive obedience was ob- 
tained at home, a storm was gathering 
abroad which formed the prelude to that 
great revolution which forced James and 
his posterity to become exiles and aliens 
from their kingdom and home. For a 
considerable length of time the prince of 



GREAT BRITAIN, 



361 



Orange had entertained hopes of ascend- 
ing the British throne, and had even used 
all his endeavors to exchide James from 
it. Monmouth, who, aiter his last con- 
spiracy, had been pardoned, but ordered 
to depart the kingdom, had retired to : 
Holland. He was received by the prince 
of Orange with the highest marks of 
distinction. But when the news of 
Charles's death arrived, the prince appa- 
rently dismissed Monmouth, though he 
still kept up a close correspondence with 
him. The duke retired to Brussels, and 
resolved to invade England, and seize 
upon the crown for himself. He was 
seconded by the duke of Argyle, who 
intended to form an insurrection in Scot- 
land ; and while Monmouth attempted to 
make a rising in the west of England, it 
was resolved that x^rg^yde should also use 
his endeavors in the north. The gen- 1 
erosity of the prince of Orange, however, 
did not correspond with the warmth of 
his professions, as the unfortunate duke j 
derived from his own plate and jewels 
his whole supply for the war. I 

Arg}^'le Avas the first who landed in 
Scotland, where he published a manifes- 
to, put himself at the head of 2,500 men, 
and endeavored to influence the people 
in his favor. But a formidable body of 
the king's forces coming against him, his 
army fell away ; and he himself, after 
being wounded in attempting to escape, 
was taken prisoner by a peasant who 
found him standing up to the neck in 
water. He was carried to Edinburgh, 
where, after suflfering many indignities, 
he was publicly executed. 

Monmouth landed in Dorsetshire with 
scarce one hundred followers. His 
name, however, was so popular, and so 
great was the dislike of the people to 
James on account of his religion, that in 
four days he had assembled a body of 
above 2,000 men. 

Monmouth continued to make rapid 
progress, and in a short time found him- 
self at the head of 6,000 men ; but was 
daily obliged to dismiss great numbers 
for want of arms. The king was not a 
little alarmed at his success. Six regi- 
ments of British troops were called over 
from Holland ; and a body of regulars, 
to the number of 3,000, were sent, under 
4G 



[ the command of the earl of Feversham 
and Churchill, to check the progress of 
the rebels. They took post at Sedge- 
more, a village in the neighborhood of 
Bridge water, and were joined by consi- 
derable numbers of the country militia. 
Here Monmouth made a stand. He 
drove the royal infantry from their ground, 
and was on the point of gaining a com- 
plete victory, when the cowardice of 
Gray, who commanded the horse, brought 
all to ruin. This nobleman fled at the 
first onset ; and the rebels, being charged 
in flank, gave way, after three hours' 
contest. About three hundred Avere kill- 
ed in the engagement, and one thousand 
in the pursuit. Monmouth fled aboA^e 
twenty miles from the field of battle, till 
his horse sunk under him ; he then 
alighted, and, exchanging clothes with a 
shepherd, fled on foot, attended by a 
German count, who had accompanied 
him from Holland. He was, however, 
taken, and on his way to London, wrote 
a submissive letter to the king, promising 
discoveries, should he be admitted into 
his presence. He also wrote to the 
queen dowager ; he sent a letter to the 
reigning queen, as well as to the king 
himself, and begged his life, when ad- 
mitted into his presence. But all his 
entreaties and submissions Avere of no 
avail. James told him that he was much 
adjected with his misfortunes ; but that 
his crime A\^as too dangerous in its ex- 
ample to be left unpunished. In his last 
moments he behaved with a magnanimity 
worthy of his former courage. Circum- 
stances are said to have attended his 
death that created great horror among the 
spectators. The executioner missed his 
blow, and struck him slightly on the 
shoulder. Monmouth raised his head 
from the block, and looked him full in the 
face, as if reproaching him for his mis- 
take. He struck him twice again, but 
with feeble strokes ; and then threw the 
axe from his hands. The sheriff for- 
ced him to renew his attempt ; and the 
head of the duke, Avho seemed already 
dead, was at last severed from his 
body. 

Those concerned in the duke of Mon- 
mouth's conspiracy were punished with 
the greatest severity. Immediately after 



362 



GREAT BRITAIN 



the bsltle of Sedgemore, Fevcrsham hung ' 
more than twenty prisoners ; and was j 
proceeding in his executions, when the j 
bishop of Bath and Wells informed him ! 
that these unhappy men were by law I 
entitled to a trial, and that their execu- ; 
lion would be deemed a real murder. 
Nineteen were put to death in the same 
manner at Bridgewater by colonel Kirke, '. 
who laid waste the whole country with- \ 
out making any distinction between 
friend or foe. His own regiment had the j 
ironical title of Kir/ce''s lambs. It does 
not, however, appear, that these cruelties | 
were committed I)y the direction, or even 
with the approbation, of James ; any 
more than the legal slaughters that were 
committed by Judge Jefieries, who was 
sent down to tr}^ the delinquents. The | 
natural brutality of this man's temper 
was inflamed by continual intoxication. 
No fewer than eighty were executed by 
his orders at Dorchester ; and on the 
whole, at Exeter, Taunton, and Wells, 
two hundred and fifty are computed to 
have fallen by his hand ; nor were wo- 
men exempted from the general severity, 
but sufiered for aflbrding protection to 
their nearest relatives. Jefleries on his 
return was immediately created a peer, 
and soon after vested with the dignity of 
chancellor. 

James now endeavored to establish 
the catholic religion and a more absolute 
form of government. He publicly sent 
the earl of Castlemaine amljassador ex- 
traordinary to Rome, in order to express j 
his obedience to the pope, and reconcile | 
his kingdoms to the catholic communion, j 
This proceeding was too precipitate to 
be liked even by the pope himself; and 
therefore the oidy return he made to this 
embassy was the sending a nimcio to 
England. The nuncio made a public 
and solemn entry into Windsor, which 
did not fail to add to the general discon- 
tent ; and because the duke of Somerset 
refused to attend the ceremony, he was 
dismissed from his employment as one 
of the lords of the bedchamber. 

Soon after this, the Jesuits were per- 
mitted to erect colleges in different parts 
of the kingdom, and to exercise the ca- 
tholic worship in public. 

In 1668, a second declaration for lib- 



erty of conscience was published in the 
same terms as the former ; but with this 
peculiar injunction, that all divines should 
read it after service in their churches. 
The clergy disobeyed this order ; and a 
petition was presented to the king by a 
conclave of bishops, in which they sta- 
ted they could not read his declaration 
consistent with their own consciences, 
or the respect they owed to the protestant 
religion. 

As the petition was delivered in pri- 
vate, the king summoned the bishops be- 
fore the council, and there questioned 
them as to whether they would aclinow- 
ledge it, which they did ; and on their 
refusal to give bail, an order was imme- 
diately signed for their commitment to 
the Tower, and the crown lawyers re- 
ceived directions to prosecute them for a 
seditious libel. The king gave orders 
that they shoidd be conveyed to the Tow- 
er by water. The people Avere no soon- 
er informed of their danger, than they 
ran to the river, and imploring their bless- 
ing, and calling upon heaven to protect 
them, &LC. The very soldiers by whom 
they were guarded knelt down before 
them, and asked their forgiveness. 

The 29th of June, 1688, was fixed for 
the trial of the bishops ; and their return 
was still more splendidlj'- attended than 
their imprisonment. Twenty-nine peers, 
a great number of gentlemen, and an im- 
mense crowd of people, waited upon 
them to Westminster-hall. The dispute 
was learnedly managed by the lawyers 
on both sides. The jury withdrew into 
a chamber where they passed the whole 
night ; but next morning they returned 
into court, and pronounced the bishops 
not guilty. Westminster-hall instantly 
rang with loud acclamations, which were 
communicated to the whole extent of the 
city. They even reached the camp at 
Hounslow, where the king was at dinner 
in lord Feversham's tent. 

As the king found the clergymen eve- 
ry where avjerse to his measures, he next 
tried the army. He thought that if one 
regiment should promise implicit obe- 
dience, their example would induce oth- 
ers to comply. He therefore ordered 
one of the regiments to be drawn up in 
his presence, and desired such as were 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



363 



against his late declaration of liberty of 
conscience should lay down their arms. 
He was surprised to see the whole bat- 
talion ground their arms, except two 
officers and a few catholic soldiers. 

The birth of the prince of Wales in- 
creased the fears of his subjects in pro- 
portion as it raised his security and hopes. 
In the reign of a prince to be educated 
under the prejudices of such a father, 
nothing but a continuance of the same 
unconstitutional measures could be ex- 
pected. The prince of Orange was at this 
time in constant communication with the 
disafl'ected portion of the gentry, and he 
sent an envoy with instructions to apply in 
his name to every religious sect in the 
kingdom. To the church-party he sent 
assurances of favor and regard ; and pro- 
tested that his education in Holland 
had in no way prejudiced him against 
episcopacy. To the non-conformists he 
sent exhortations, not to be deceived by 
the insidious caresses of their known ene- 
my, but to wait for a real and sincere 
protector, &c. In consequence of these 
insinuations, the prii»ce soon received in- 
vitations from the most considerable per- 
sons in the kingdom. The prince had a 
lleet ready to sail, and troops provided for 
action, before the beginning of June, 1688 

The king of France was the first who 
gave James any intimation of his danger, 
and oftered to assist him in repelling it. 

James having thus declined the assist- 
ance of his friends, was struck with as- 
tonishment to find that the states of Hol- 
land not only intended to declare war, 
but were rapidly preparing a fleet to in- 
vade England. 

To avoid this storm, James oftered to 
enter into any alliance with the Dutch 
for their common security. He replaced, 
in all the counties of England, all the de- 
puty-lieutenants and justices who had 
been deprived of their commissions for 
their adherence to the test and penal laws. 

All these concessions, however, were 
too late ; they were regarded as the ef- 
fects of fear, and not of repentance. 
Indeed, it is said, he very soon gave 
proofs of his insincerity ; for hearing 
that the Dutch fleet was dispersed, iie 
recalled some concessions he had made 
in favor of Magdalen college ; and to 



] show his attachment to the catholic 

I church, at the baptism of the prince of 

i Wales, he appointed the pope one of the 

' sponsors. 

j In the mean time, William set sail 
from Helvoetsluys with a fleet of near 
five hundred vessels, and an army of 
above fourteen thousand men. He was 
driven back by a dreadful storm ; but he 

' soon refitted his fleet, and again set 
sail for England, and, after a voyage 
of two days, landed at Broxholme, in 
Torbay, on the 5th of November, and 

' the prince was quickly joined by the 

I gentry of the counties of Devon and 

j Somerset. 

These were followed by the defection 
of the army. Lord Colchester, son to the 
earl of Rivers, first deserted to the 
prince. Lord Cornbury, son to the earl 

j of Clarendon, carried off' three regiments 
of cavalry at once ; and several officers 
of distinction informed Eeversham, their 
general, that they could not in honor fight 
against the prince of Orange. Soon af- 
ter this the uidiappy monarch found him- 
self deserted by his own servants. Lord 
Churchill had been raised from the rank 
of a page, and had been invested with 
a high command in the army ; he had 
been created a peer, and owed his whole 
fortune to the king's bounty, yet even 
he deserted among the rest, and carried 
with him the duke of Grafton, natural 
son to the late king, colonel Berkely, and 
others. Even the prince of Denmark, 
and Anne, James' favorite daughter, re- 
solved to take part with the prince of 
Orange. When the king was informed 
of this, he was stung with bitter anguish. 

j " God help me," cried he, "my own 

, children have forsaken me." 

On the 30th of November, 1688, 

j James sent three noblemen to treat with 

I the prince of Orange. But though the 
latter knew that the king's commission- 
ers were in his interests, his conduct 
showed plainly that he now thought the 

', time of treating was past. For some 
time he would not admit them to an au- 
dience ; and when he did, would give 
no satisfactory answer. James now be- 
gan to fear for his personal safety. But 
what most aflfected him was the terrors 
of the queen for herself and her infant 



364 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



son. He therefore resolved to send 
fftiein abroad. They crossed the river in 
a boat, at Whitehall, in a stormy and 
rainy day. They wore carried to Graves- 
end in a coach, under the conduct of the 
count de Lauzun ; and a yacht, com- 
manded by captain Gray, which lay there 
ready for the purpose, soon transported 
them in safety to Calais. 

The king was now resolved to leave 
the kingdom at once. He threw the 
great seal into the Thames ; he left none 
with any authority to conduct affairs in 
his absence ; and vainly hoped to derive 
advantage to his affairs from anarchy and 
disorder. Notwithstanding all the en- 
treaties and remonstrances of his parti- 
zans to have him remain, he effected his 
escape into France. 

James having thus abandoned his domin- 
ions, the prince of Orange, by the desire 
of the house of lords, the only member of 
the legislature remaining, summoned a 
parliament by circular letters ; but the 
prince, unwilling to act upon so imper- 
fect an authority, convened all the mem- 
bers who had sat in the house of com- 
mons during any parliament of Charles 
II, and to these were added the mayor, 
aldermen, and fifty of the common coun- 
cil of the city of London ; and the prince, 
being thus supported by an assembly de- 
riving its authority from himself, wrote 
circular letters to the counties and cor- 
porations of Great Britain to call a new 
parliament. 

The house was principally composed 
of the whig party, and thanks were given 
to the prince of Orange for the deliver- 
ance he had brought them ; after which 
they proceeded to settle the kingdom. 
A bill was passed by both houses, that 
king James II, having endeavored to sub- 
vert the constitution of the kingdom, by 
breaking the original contract between 
the king and his people, and having, by 
the advice of Jesuits and other persons, 
violated the fundamental laws, and with- 
drawn himself out of the kingdom, had 
abdicated the government, and that the 
throne was thereby vacant. 

It was agreed that the prince and prin- 
cess of Orange should reign jointly as 
king and queen of England ; while the 
administration of government should be 



placed in the hands of the prince only. 
The marquis of Halifax, as speaker of 
the house of lords, made a solemn tender 
of the crown to their highnesses, in the 
name of the peers and commons of Eng- 
land. The prince accepted the ofl'er ; 
and on that very day, February 13th, 
1689, William and Mary were proclaim 
ed king and queen of England. 

During the troubles in England, which 
had terminated in placing William on the 
throne, the two parties in Ireland were 
kept in tranquillity by their mutual fears. 
The protestants were alarmed at the 
prospect of another massacre ; and the 
catholics expected every day to be in- 
vaded by the joint force of the English 
and Dutch. Their terrors, however, were 
ill formded ; for though Tyrconnel sent 
several messages to the prince, that he 
was ready to deliver up the kingdom to 
any force that might make a surrender ap- 
parently necessary, his off'ers were al- 
ways rejected. William was persuaded 
by the marquis of Halifax that, should 
Ireland yield, no pretence could remain 
for keeing an army in pay. These argu- 
ments induced William to so utterly ne- 
glect Ireland, that it may be considered 
one of the greatest blemishes in his 
whole reign. 

The whole military force of Ireland at 
that time amounted only to 4,000 men, 
and of these only 600 were in Dublin. 
Having no pay from the king, they sub- 
sisted by depredation, and regarded no 
discipline. The protestants in the north 
armed themselves in their own defence ; 
and the city of Londonderry, relying on 
its situation and a slight wall, shut its 
gates against the new-raised army. Prot- 
estant parties in the mean time rose every 
where, declaring their resolution to unite 
in self-defence, to preserve the protestant 
religion, to continue their dependence on 
England, and to promote the meeting of 
a free parliament. 

To preserve appearances, William now 
sent general Hamilton, an Irishman, ac- 
companied by a catholic nobleman, to treat 
with Tyrconnel ; but instead of persua- 
ding that lord to yield to William, this 
messenger advised him to adhere to 
James. In the mean time, James him- 
self assured the lord deputy that he was 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



365 



ready to sail from Brest with a powerful j 
armament. Hamilton, from the hopes of 
this aid, marched against the northern 
insurgents. They were routed with con- 
siderable slaughter at Dromore ; and 
Hillsborough, where they had fixed their 
head-quarters, was taken without resist- 
ance ; the city of Londonderry, however, 
resolved to hold out to the last extremity. 

The cause of James was sustained in 
Scotland, for a short period, by the gallant 
earl of Dundee ; his death, however, was 
fatal to the hopes of James in Scotland. 

On the 7th of March, 1689,7ames em- 
barked at Brest. The whole force of his 
expedition consisted of fourteen ships of 
war, six frigates, and three fire-ships. 
Twelve hundred of his native subjects in 
the pay of France, and 100 French offi- 
cers, composed the whole army of James. 
He landed at Kinsale, without opposition, 
on the 12th of the month, where he was 
received with the greatest joy. 

Being received at Dublin with the ap- 
pearance of universal joy, James imme- 
diately ordered, by proclamation, all pro- 
testants who had abandoned the kingdom 
to return. He commanded, in a second 
proclamation, all catholics, except those 
in his army, to lay up their arms, and put 
an end to the robberies and depredations 
which they had committed in the violence 
of their zeal. He raised the value of the 
currency by a proclamation ; and he 
summoned a parliament to meet on the 
7th of May, to settle the affairs of the 
kingdom. The protestant clergy repre- 
sented their grievances in an address ; 
and the university of Dublin appeared 
with complaints and congratulations. He 
assured the first, of his absolute protec- 
tion and a full redress ; and he promised 
the latter, not only to defend, but even to 
enlarge their privileges. 

On the 8th of April, James left Dublin, 
resolving to lead his army against the in- 
surgents in person. They retired before 
him, and the king laid siege to London- 
derry. The besieged made a vigorous 
resistance ; but being reduced to the last 
extremity, they would have been obliged 
to surrender, had not they been relieved, 
on the 28th of July, by seven ships laden 
with provisions, upon which the siege 
was immediately raised. 



The bad success of the early part of 
the campaign, and the unhappy situation 
of the protestants in Ireland, at length 
induced William to attempt their reUef in 
person. Accordingly, he left London on 
the 4th of June, 1690, and arrived at 
Carrickfergus on the 14th of that month. 
From thence he passed to Lisburn, the 
head-quarters of the duke of Schomberg. 
He reviewed at Lough-Britland his army, 
which consisted of 36,000 men, and was 
composed of English, Dutch, Germans, 
Danes, and French. Being supplied with 
every necessary, they seemed absolutely 
certain of victory. The Irish army, hav- 
ing abandoned Ardee at their approach, 
fell back to the south of the Boyne, where 
was fought the celebrated battle of the 
Boyne, July 1st, 1690, in which the forces 
of William were victorious. . 

In the beginning of the year 1692, an 
action of unexampled cruelty disgraced 
the government of William in Scotland, 
namely, the murder of the clan of Mac- 
don aid. Macdonald and his followers 
had delayed to take the oaths of allegi- 
ance till the very last day allowed was 
come. He on that day went to fort Wil- 
liam, but he found no officer empowered 
to administer them ; another day there- 
fore necessarily elapsed, before they 
could reach the sheriff of the county. 
They then took them, one day beyond 
the prescribed time, and returned to 
their homes, as they thought, in perfect 
safety. 

By the representation, however, of the 
earl of Breadalbane, the king, " whose 
chief virtue," says SmoUet, " was not 
humanity," signed the warrant for their 
deaths, and captain Campbell, with a 
party of soldiers, was sent to the glen ; 
and, on declaring upon his honor, that 
his views were friendly, he was enter- 
tained there in a most hospitable manner 
for fifteen days ; when, after passing the 
evening with the Macdonalds, he, in the 
midst of the night, ordered the dreadful 
deed to commence, and thirty-eight per- 
sons were surprised in their beds, and 
basely murdered by him, who had been 
their guest, and his soldiers. It was the 
intention to murder all the males under 
seventy, but as some portion of the troops 
did not secure the passes in time, the rest 



366 



GREAT BRITAIN 




Baltic of La Hogiic. 



escaped. The women and children, in- 
deed, were spared the bayonet ; but in 
the midst of a cokl wintry night, and in 
a waste covered with snow, they were 
all turned naked from their ho*ises, and 
left to perish. 

The total reduction of Ireland, and the 
dispersion of the Highland chieftains who 
favored his cause, did not entirely put an 
end to the hopes of James. His princi- 
pal expectations were founded on a con- 
spiracy among his English adherents, 
and in the succors promised him by the 
French king. A plot was first formed in 
Scotland by sir James Montgomery ; but 
it was discovered. 

The French resolved to make a de- 
scent upon England in favor of James. 
In pursuance of this scheme, the French 
king supplied James with an army con- 
sisting of a body of French troops, some 
English and Scotch refugees, and the Irish 
regiments which had been transported 
into France from Limerick, and were 
now become excellent soldiers by long 
discipline and severe duty. This army 
was assembled between Cherbourg and 
La Hogue, and was commanded by king 
James in person. More than 300 trans- 
ports were provided for landing it on the 



opposite coast ; and Tourville, the French 
admiral, at the head of 63 ships of the 
! line, was appointed to favor the descent. 
i Llis orders were, at all events, to attack 
j the enemy, in case they should oppose 
I him ; so that every thing promised the 
I banished king a change of fortune. 

These preparations on the side of 
i France were soon known at the English 
I comt, and everv precaution taken for a 
! vigorous opposition. All the secret 
I machinations of the banished king's ad- 
herents were discovered to the English 
' ministry by spies ; and by these, they 
found that the tories were more faithful 
than even the whigs, Avho had placed 
king William on the throne. The duke 
of Marlborough, lord Godolphin, and 
even the princess Anne herself, were vio- 
1 lently suspected of disaffection. Prepa- 
} rations, however, were made with great 
i tranquillity and resolution, to resist the 
' growing storm. Admiral Russel was 
' ordered to put to sea with all possible 
i expedition ; and he soon appeared with 
j ninety-nine ships of the line, besides 
I frigates and fire-ships. At the head of 
' this formidable fleet he set sail for the 
! coast of France ; and, near La Hogue, 
, he discovered the enemy under Tourville, 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



367 



who prepared to give him battle. The 
engagement began between the two ad- 
mirals with great bravery, and the rest 
of the fleet soon followed their example. 
The battle lasted for ten hours ; but at 
last victory declared on the side of num- 
bers : the French lied for Couquet road, 
having lost four ships in the first day's 
action. The pursuit continued for two 
(lays following : three French ships of 
the line were destroyed the next day, 
and eighteen more, which had taken re- 
fuge in the bay of La Hogue, were burnt 
by sir George Rooke. This engagement, 
which happened on the 21st of May, 
1692, put a final period to the hopes of 
James. 

William died, March, 1701, aged 52, 
having reigned thirteen years. He was 
succeeded by the princess Amie, who 
had married George prince of Denmark. 
She ascended the throne in the 38th year 
of her age, to the general satisfaction of 
all parties. William had died on the 
eve of a war with France ; and the pre- 
sent queen, who generally took the ad- 
vice of her ministry on every important 
occasion, was now urged by opposite 
councils ; a part of her ministry being 
inclined to ^war, and another to peace. 
At the head of those who opposed a war 
with France was the earl of Rochester, 
lord lieutenant of Ireland, first cousin to 
the queen, and the chief of the tory fac- 
tion ; at the head of the opposite party 
was the earl, afterwards duke of Marlbo- 
rough, and so well known for his victo- 
ries over the French. After giving the 
reasons for both their opinions, that of 
Marlborough preponderated : the queen 
resolved to declare war ; and communi- 
cating her intentions to the house of com- 
mons, by whom it was approved, Avar 
was proclaimed accordingly. In this 
declaration of war, Ivouis Avas taxed Avith 
having taken possession of a great part 
of the Spanish dominions ; with design- 
ing to invade the liberties of Europe, to 
obstruct the freedom of navigation and 
commerce ; and with having offered an 
unpardonable insvdt to the queen and her 
throne, by acknowledging the title of the 
pretender ; he was accused of attempt- 
ing to imite the crown of Spain to his 
own dominions, by placing his grandson 



upon the throne of that kingdom, and thus, 
of endeavoring to destroy the equality of 
power that subsisted among the states of 
Europe. This declaration of Avar on the 
part of England was seconded by simi- 
lar declarations by the Dutch and Ger- 
mans, all on the same day. 

The first attempt that Marll)orough 
made to deviate from the general prac- 
tices of the army was to advance the 
subaltern officers, Avhose merits had been 
hitherto neglected. Regardless of se- 
niority, wherever he found abilities, he 
Avas sure to promote them ; and thus he 
had all the upper raidis of commanders 
rather remarkable for their skill and 
talents than for their age and experience. 
In his first campaign, in the beginning 
of July, 1702, he repaired to the camp at 
Nimeguen, where he found himself at 
the head of 60,000 men, Avell provided 
with all necessaries, and long disciplined 
by the best officers of the age. He was 
opposed on the part of France by the 
duke of Burgundy, a youth of very little 
experience in the art of Avar ; but the 
acting general Avas the marshal Boufllers, 
an officer of courage and activity. But 
Avherever Marlborough adA'anced, the 
French Avere obliged to retire before him, 
leaAdng all Spanish Guelderland at his 
discretion. 

The duke of Burgimdy finding himself 
obliged to retreat before the allied army, 
returned to Versailles, leaving Boufflers 
to command alone. Boufflers retired to 
Brabant : and Marlborough ended the 
campaign by taking the city of Liege, in 
Avhich was found an immense sum of 
money and a great number of prisoners. 

At the commencement of the campaign 
of 1704, the duke of Marlborough in- 
formed the Dutch, that it Avas his inten- 
tion to march to the relief of the empire, 
Avhich had been for some time oppressed 
by the French forces ; and the states 
gave him full powers to march as he 
thought proper, Avith assurances of their 
assistance in all his endeavors. The 
French king, finding Boufffers no longer 
capable of opposing Marlborough, ap- 
pointed the marshal de Villeroy to com- 
mand in his place. But Marlborough, 
Avith about 13,000 troops, advanced by 
hasty marches to the banks of the Da- 



368 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



nube ; he defeated a body of French and 
Bavarians stationed at Donauert to op- 
pose him ; then passed the river, and 
laid under contribution the dukedom of 
Bavaria, which had sided with the ene- 
my. Villeroy, wlw at first attempted to 
follow his motions, seemed all at once to 
have lost sight of the enemy ; nor was 
he apprised of his route till informed of 
his successes. But, in the mean time, 
marshal Tallard prepared by another 
route to obstruct Marlborough's retreat 
with an army of 30,000 men. He was 
soon after joined by the duke of Bavaria's 
forces ; so that the French army in that 
part of the continent amounted to 60,000 
veterans, commanded by two of the most 
able generals in France. 

To oppose these powerful armies, the 
duke of Marlborough was joined by a 
body of 30,000 men under the celebrated 
prince Eugene. The allied army, with 
this re-enforcement, amounted to about 
52,000. After various marches and 
countermarches, the two armies met at 
Blenheim. A terrible engagement en- 
sued, in which the French were entirely 
defeated, with a tremendous loss. Soon 
after finishing the campaign, the duke 
repaired to Berlin, where he procured a 
re-enforcement of 8,000 Prussians to serve 
under prince Eugene in Italy. Thence 
he proceeded to negotiate for succors at 
the court of Hanover ; and soon after 
returned to England, where he was re- 
ceived with every possible demonstration 
of joy. 

The most remarkable transaction, how- 
ever, of this year, and indeed of this 
whole reign, was the union between the 
two kingdoms of Scotland and England. 
Though governed by one sovereign since 
the time of James I, of England, yet 
each nation continued to be ruled by its 
respective parliament ; and often profess- 
ed to pursue opposite interests to those 
of its neighbor. The union had often 
been unsuccessfully attempted before. 
In all the former proposals on that head, 
both nations were supposed to remain 
free and independent ; each Idngdom 
having its own parliament, and subject 
only to such taxes and other commercial 
regulations as those parliaments should 
judge expedient for the benefit of their 



respective states. After the destniction 
of the Darien colony, William had en- 
deavored to allay the national discontent, 
by proposing that a union should take 
place between the two nations. The 
terms now proposed were the same with 
those formerly held out, viz, a federal 
union, somewhat like that of the states 
of Holland. With this view the Scots 
were prevailed on to send twenty com- 
missioners to London ; who, with twen- 
ty-three on the part of England, met at 
Whitehall, in the month of October, 1702. 
Here they were honored with a visit from 
the queen, but the treaty was entirely bro- 
ken off, at this time, by the Scottish com- 
missioners insisting that the rights and 
privileges of their countrymen, trading to 
Africa and the Indies, should be preserv- 
ed and maintained. It was, however, re- 
sumed in the year 1706, when the com- 
missioners again met on the 1 6th of April, 
in the council-chamber of Whitehall. — 
The Scottish commissioners still propos- 
ed a federal union ; but the English were 
determined on an incorporation, which 
should not afterwards be dissolved by a 
Scottish parliament. Nothing but this, 
they said, could settle a perfect and last- 
ing friendship betwixt the two nations. — 
The commissioners from Scotland, how- 
ever, still continued to resist that article 
which subjected their country to the same 
customs, excises, and regulations of trade 
as England ; but the queen being per- 
suaded to pay two visits in person to the 
commissioners, exerted herself so effect- 
ually, that the majority was at last gained 
over ; and all the rest yielded, though 
with reluctance, excepting Lochaber of 
Carnwath, who could not be persuaded 
either to sign or seal the treaty. 

The articles of the treaty were ratified 
by parliament, with some trifling varia- 
tions, on the 25th of March, 1707; when 
the duke of Queensberry finally dissolv- 
ed that ancient assembly, and Scotland 
ceased to be a separate and independent 
kingdom. 

On the conclusion of the treaty, the 
queen informed both houses of the Eng- 
lish parliament, that the treaty of union, 
with some additions and alterations, was 
ratified by an act of the parliament of 
Scotland : that she had ordered it to be 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



369 



laid before them, and hoped it would 
meet their approbation. She observed, 
that they had now an opportunity of put- 
ting the last hand to a happy union of 
the two kingdoms : and that she should 
look upon it as a particular happiness if 
this great work, so often attempted be- 
fore without success, could be brought to 
perfection in her reign. Objections, 
however, were raised by the tory par- 
ty; but they were too weak to be heard 
with any attention, and the union was 
finally completed on the 1st of May, 
1707, when the island took the name 
of " The United Kingdom of Great 
Britain." 

The last campaign of the duke of 
Marlborough, which happened in the 
year 1711, was equally successful. He 
was opposed by marshal Villars, who had 
commanded the French in the battle of 
Malplaquet; and, by marching and coun- 
termarching, induced the enemy to quit a 
strong line of entrenchments without 
striking a blow, which he came after- 
wards and took possession of. This 
enterprise was followed by the taking of 
Bouchain, which was the last military 
achievement of this great general. From 
the beginning of the war, which had 
now continued nine years, he had per- 
petually advanced, and scarcely ever 
retreated before his enemies, nor lost an 
advantage he had obtained over them. 
He most frequently gained the enemy's 
posts without fighting ; but where he was 
obliged to attack, no fortifications were 
able to resist him. He had never be- 
sieged a city which he did not take, nor 
engaged in a battle in which he did not 
come off victorious. Thus the allies had 
reduced under their command Spanish 
Guelderland, Limbourg, Brabant, Flan- 
ders, and Hainault ; they were masters 
of the Scarpe, the capture of Bouchain 
had opened for them a passage into the 
heart of France, and another campaign 
might have made them masters of Paris ; 
but on the duke's return from this cam- 
paign, he was accused of having taken a 
bribe of 6,000Z. a year from a Jew, who 
had contracted to supply the army with 
bread ; and the queen on that account 
dismissed him from all his employments. 
On the removal of this great general, the 
47 



command of the British forces was given 
to the duke of Ormond. 

But little was effected by that general, 
and a peace was concluded in 1713. In 
this treaty it was stipulated that Philip, 
now acknowledged king of Spain, should 
renounce all right to the crown of 
France, the union of two such powerful 
kingdoms being thought dangerous to the 
liberties of Europe. It was agreed that 
the duke of Berry, Philip's brother, and 
after him in succession, should also re- 
nounce his right to the crown of Spain, 
in case he became king of France. It 
was stipulated that the duke of Savoy 
should possess the island of Sicily with 
the title of king, together with Fenes- 
trelles, and several other places on the 
continent; which increase of dominion 
was in some measure made out of the 
spoils of the French monarchy. The 
Dutch had the barrier granted them 
which they so much desired ; and if the 
crown of France was deprived of some 
dominions to enrich the duke of Savoy, 
on the other hand, the house of Austria 
was taxed to supply the Avants of the 
Hollanders, who were put in possession 
of the strongest towns in Flanders. The 
fortifications of Dunkirk were demolish- 
ed. Spain gave up Gibraltar and the 
island of Minorca. France resigned her 
pretensions to Hudson's Bay, Nova Sco- 
tia, and Newfoundland, but was left in 
possession of Cape Breton, and the lib- 
erty of drying fish upon the shore. The 
British stipulated that the French pro- 
testants, confined in the prisons and gal- 
leys for their religion, should be released. 
For the emperor it was stipulated, that 
he should possess the kingdom of Na- 
ples, the duchy of Milan, and the Spanish 
Netherlands. The king of Prussia was 
to have Upper Guelderland ; and a time 
was fixed for the emperor's acceding to 
these articles, as he had for some time 
obstinately refused to assist at the nego- 
tiation. This celebrated treaty was 
signed at Utrecht on the last day of 
March, 1713. 

This year was also remarkable for an 
attempt of the Scottish peers and com- 
mons to dissolve the union. This mo- 
tion was overruled in the house, but the 
discontent of the people still continued ; 



370 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



addresses were prepared, and matters 
were in danger of coming to extremities, 
when the attempt of Charles Stuart to 
regain his kingdom, in 1715, so divided 
the minds of the people, that no unani- 
mous effort could afterwards be made. 

The history of the latter part of this 
reign consists entirely of the intrigues of 
the whigs and tories against each other. 
The violent dissensions between these 
two parties, their unbounded licentious- 
ness, cabals, and tumults, made the 
queen's situation very disagreeable, her 
health declined, and on the 28lh of July, 
1714, she fell into a state of insensibili- 
ty. Notwhhstanding all the efforts of 
the physicians, the distemper gained 
ground so fast, that next day they de- 
spaired of her life. All the members of 
the privy council, without distinction, 
were now summoned from the different 
parts of the kingdom. A letter was sent 
to the elector of Hanover, informing him 
of the queen's situation, and desiring 
him to repair to Holland, where he would 
be attended by a British squadron to con- 
vey him to England. At the same time 
they despatched instructions to the earl 
of Strafford, at the Hague, to desire the 
states-general to be ready to perform the 
giiarantee of the protestant succession. 

On the 30th of .Tuly the queen seemed 
to be somewhat relieved by the medi- 
cines which had been given her. She 
rose from her bed about eight in the 
morning and walked a little. She was 
soon after seized with an apoplectic fit, 
from which, however, she somewhat re- 
covered, but expired the following morn- 
ing a little after seven o'clock, in the 
forty-ninth year of her age. This prin- 
cess, like all the rest of her family, 
seemed rather fitted for the duties of 
private life than a public station ; being 
a pattern of conjugal fidelity, a good 
mother, a warm friend, and an indulgent 
mistress ; and to her honor it certainly 
must be recorded, that during her reign 
none suflered on the scaffold for treason. 

The queen had no sooner resigned her 
breath than the privy council met, and 
three instruments were produced, by 
which the elector of Hanover appointed 
several of his known adherents to be 
added as lords justices to the seven great 



officers of the kingdom. Orders also 
were immediately issued out for pro- 
claiming George king of England, Scot- 
land, and Ireland. The regency ap- 
pointed the earl of Dorset to carry him 
the intimation of his accession to the 
crown, and to attend him in his journey 
to England. They sent the general of- 
ficers, in whom they could confide, to 
their posts ; they re-enforced the garrison 
of Portsmouth, and appointed the cele- 
brated Mr. Addison secretary of state. 

The king first landed at Greeenwich ; 
where he was received by the duke of 
Northumberland, captain of the life-guard, 
and the lords of the regency. From the 
landing place he walked to his house in 
the park, accompanied by a great number 
of the nobility and other persons of dis- 
tinction. George I was fifty-four years 
old when he ascended the British throne. 
His mature age and experience, his nu- 
merous alliances, and the general tranquil- 
lity of Europe, all contributed to establish 
his interests, and promise him a peaceable 
and happy reign. His virtues, though not 
shining, were solid. To firmness, reso- 
lution, and perseverance, he joined great 
application to business. 

A rebellion now commenced in Scot- 
land. The earl of Mar, assembling 300 
of his vassals in the Highlands, pro- 
claimed the pretender at Castleton ; and 
setting up his standard at Braemar, as- 
sumed the title of lieutenant-general of 
his majesty's forces. To second these 
attempts, two vessels arrived from France, 
with arms, ammunition, and a number of 
officers, together with assurances to the 
earl that the pretender himself would 
shortly come over to head his own forces. 
In consequence of this promise, the earl 
soon found himself at the head of 10,000 
men, well armed and provided. He se- 
cured the pass of Tay at Perth, where 
his head-quarters were established ; and 
made himself master of the whole prov- 
ince of Fife, and all the sea-coast on 
that side of the frith of Forth. He 
marched from thence to Dumblain, as if 
he intended to cross the Forth at Stirling 
bridge ; but there he was informed that 
the duke of Argyle, who on this occasion 
was appointed commander-in-chief of all 
the forces in North Britain, was advanc- 



GRE AT BRITAIN. 



371 



ing against him from Stirling with all 
his own clans, assisted by some troops 
from Ireland. Upon being soon joined 
by some of the clans under the earl of 
Seaforth, and others under general Gor- 
don, an experienced officer, he resolved 
to oppose the enemy, and directed his 
march towards the south. 

The duke of Argyle, apprised of his 
intentions, and to prove his attachment to 
the present government, resolved to give 
him battle in the neighborhood of Dum- 
blain. In the morning he drew up his 
army, which did not exceed 3500 men in 
order of battle ; but he found himself 
greatly outflanked by the insurgents. The 
duke, therefore, perceiving, the earl mak- 
ing attempts to surroundhim, was obliged 
to alter his dispositions, which on ac- 
count of the scarcity of general officers, 
was not done so expeditiously as to be 
finished before the rebels began the at- 
tack. The left wing of the duke's army 
received the centre of the enemy, and 
supported the first charge without shrink- 
ing. It seemed even for a while victo- 
rious, and the earl of Clanronald was 
killed. But Glengarr)', who was second 
in command, led on the troops with such 
determined bravery that they obtained a 
complete victory over that wing of the 
royal army. In the mean time, the duke 
of Argyle, who commanded in person on 
the right, attacked the left of the enemy, 
and having entirely broken that wing, 
and driven them over the river Allan, he 
returned to the field of battle ; where, to 
his great mortification, he found the ene- 
my victorious, and patiently waiting for 
the assault. However, instead of renew- 
ing the engagement in the evening both 
parties drew oft', and both claimed the 
victory. All the advantages of a victory, 
however, belonged to Argyle. He had 
interrupted the progress of the enemy ; 
and in their circumstances delay was de- 
feat. In fact, the earl of Mar soon found 
his losses and disappointments increase. 
The castle of Inverness, of which he 
was in possession, was delivered up by 
lord Lovat, who had hitherto professed to j 
act in the interest of the pretender ; and j 
many of the clans, seeing no likelihood | 
of coming to a second engagement, re- 
turned quietly home. I 



In the mean time, the rebellion was 
still more unsuccessfully prosecuted in 
England. Upon the first rumor of an 
insurrection, government imprisoned sev- 
eral lords and gentlemen of whom they 
had a suspicion. But these precautions 
were not able to stop the insurrection in 
the western counties, where it was already 
begun. All their preparations, however, 
were weak and ill conducted ; every 
measure was betrayed to government as 
soon as projected, and many revolts were 
repressed in the very outset. The uni- 
versity of Oxford was treated with great 
severity on this occasion. Major-gener- 
al Pepper, with a strong detachment of 
dragoons, took possession of the city at 
day-break, declaring that he would in- 
stantly shoot any of the students who 
should presume to appear without the 
limits of their respective colleges. 

The insurrection in the northern coun- 
ties came to greater maturity. In the 
month of October, 1715, the earl of Der- 
wentwater and Mr. Forster took the field 
with a body of horse, and being joined 
by some gentlemen from the borders 
of Scotland, proclaimed the pretender. 
Their first attempt was to seize upon 
Newcastle, in which they had many 
friends ; but finding the gates shut against 
them, they retired to Hexham. To op- 
pose these, general Carpenter was de- 
tached by government with a body of 
nine hundred men, and an engagement 
was hourly expected. The rebels had 
two methods by which they might have 
conducted themselves with prudence and 
safety. The one was to march directly 
into the western parts of Scotland, and 
there join general Gordon, who com- 
manded a strong body of Highlanders. 
The other was to cross the Tweed, and 
boldly attack general Carpenter, whose 
forces did not exceed their own. From 
the infatuation attendant on the measures 
of that party, neither of these counsels 
were pursued. They took the route to 
Jedburgh, where they hoped to leave 
Carpenter on one side, and to penetrate 
into England by the western border. 
This was the efl^ectual means to cut 
themselves oflf either from retreat or as- 
sistance. A party of Highlanders who 
had joined them by this time, at first re- 



372 



GREAT BRITAIN 



fused to accompany them in such a des- 
perate incursion, and one half of them 
actually returned to their own country. 
At Brampton, Mr. Forster opened his 
commission of general, which had been 
sent him by the earl of Mar, and there 
he proclaimed the pretender. They con- 
tinued their march to Penrith, where the 
body of the militia that was assembled 
to oppose them fled at their appearance. 
From Penrith they proceeded by the way 
of Kendal and Lancaster to Preston, of 
which place they took possession with- 
out any resistance. But this was the 
last stage of their ill-advised excursion ; 
for general Wills, at the head of seven 
thousand men, came up to attack them, 
and from his activity there was no esca- 
ping. They now, therefore, began to 
raise barricades about the town, and to 
put the place in a posture of defence, re- 
pulsing the first attacks of the royal army 
with success. Next day, however, Willis 
was re-enforced by Carpenter, and the 
town was invested on all sides. In this 
situation Forster hoped to capitualate 
with the general ; and accordingly sent 
Colonel Oxburg, who had been taken 
prisoner, with a trumpeter to propose a 
capitulation. This, however. Wills re- 
fused ; alleging that he would not treat 
with rebels, and that the only favor they 
had to expect was to be spared from im- 
mediate slaughter. They accordingly 
laid down their arms and were put under 
a strong guard. All the noblemen and 
leaders were secured, and a few of their 
officers tried for deserting from the royal 
army, and shot by order of a court-mar- 
tial ; the noblemen and considerable offi- 
cers were sent to London, and led through 
the streets pinioned and bound together, 
to intimidate their party. 

The pretender, as a last effort, resolved 
to hazard his person among his friends in 
Scotland. Passing, therefore, through 
France in disguise, and embarking in a 
small vessel at Dunkirk, he arrived, after 
a voyage of a few days, on the coast of 
Scotland, with only six gentlemen in his 
train. He passed vmknown through Ab- 
erdeen to Feteresso, where he was met 
by the earl of Mar, and about thirty no- 
blemen and gentlemen of the first quali- 
ity. There he was solemnly proclaimed ; 



and his declaration, dated at Comercy, 
was printed and dispersed. He went 
from thence to Dundee, where he made 
a public entry ; and in two days more he 
arrived at Scoon, where he intended to 
have the ceremony of his coronation per- 
formed. He ordered thanksgivings to be 
made for his safe arrival ; he enjoined 
the ministers to pray for him in their 
churches ; and, without the smallest 
share of power, went through all the cere- 
monies of royalty. Having thus spent 
some time in unimportant parade, he re- 
solved to abandon the enterprise with the 
same levity with which it was underta- 
ken. Having made a speech to his 
grand council, he informed them of his 
want of money, arms, and ammunition, 
for undertaking a campaign, and therefore 
deplored that he was obliged to leave 
them. He once more embarked on board 
a small French ship that lay in the har- 
bor of Montrose, accompanied by several 
lords, his adherents ; and in five days ar- 
rived at Gravelines. 

The rebellion being ended, the law 
was put in force with all its terrors ; and 
the commons, in their address to the 
crown, declared they would prosecute in 
the most rigorous manner the authors of 
the late rebellion ; and their measures 
were as vindictive as their resolutions 
were speedy. The earls of Derwent- 
water, Nithisdale, Carnwarth, and Win- 
town, the lords Widerington, Kenmuir, 
and Narine, were impeached ; and, upon 
pleading guilty, all but lord Wintown re- 
ceived sentence of death. No entreaties 
could prevail upon the ministry to spare 
these unhappy men. The house of lords 
even presented an address to the throne 
for mercy, but without effect ; for the 
king only answered, that on this, as on 
all other occasions, he would act as he 
thought most consistent with the dignity 
of the crown and the safety of the peo- 
ple. Orders were accordingly despatched 
for executing the lords Dernwentwater, 
Nithisdale, and Kenmuir, immediately ; 
the rest were respited. Nithisdale, how- 
ever, had the good fortune to escape. 
Derwentwater and Kenmuir were brought 
to the scaffold on Tower-hill at the time 
appointed. Both underwent their sen- 
tence with calm intrepidity, and seem- 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



373 



ingly less moved than those who beheld 
them. 

In 1721 was formed the celebrated 
South Sea Company, better known as 
the " South Sea bubble," which resulted 
similarly to that formed by John Law, in 
France, termed the " Mississippi Com- 
pany," in 1716. In a few months the 
bubble burst, — the people awaked from 
their dreams of riches, and found that all 
the advantages they expected were mere- 
ly imaginary, while thousands of families 
were involved in one common ruin.* 



♦Ever since the revolution, government had 
been accustomed to borrow from mercantile bod- 
ies, and among the rest, from the South Sea Com- 
pany. Sir Robert Walpole having conceived a 
design of lessening the interest paid to those 
companies, from 6 to 5 per cent., the several 
companies agreed to receive it ; and the South 
Sea Company accordingly, to whom the govern- 
ment owed 10 millions, were satisfied to lend it 
for 500,000/. a year. While the public was reap- 
ing this obvious advantage, Sir John Blount, a 
man who had been born a scrivener, proposed, in 
the name of the South Sea Company, to lessen 
the national burthen still further, by permitting 
the South Sea Company to buy up the debts of 
the other companies. The South Sea Company 
was to redeem the debts of the nation, out of 
the hands of the private proprietors, who were 
creditors to the government, on whatever terms 
they could make ; and for the interest of this 
money, which they had thus redeemed, and tak- 
en into their own hands, they would be content- 
ed, to be allowed for 6 years, 5 per cent., and 
then the interest should be reduced to 4 per cent., 
and be redeemable by parliament. For these 
purposes, a bill passed both houses, and, as the 
directors of the South Sea Company could not, 
of themselves alone, be supposed to be possess- 
ed of money sufficient to buy up these debts of 
the government, they were empowered to raise 
it, by opening a subscription, and granting annui- 
ties to such proprietors as should think proper to 
exchange their security, namely, the crown, for 
the South Sea Company. The bait held out to 
adopt the latter security, was the chimerical pros- 
pect of having their money turned to great ad- 
vantage, by a commerce to South America, where 
it was pretended, that settlements were to be 
granted to the English by Spain. The directors' 
subscription books were immediately crowded ; 
the delusion spread, and the subscriptions soon 
sold at a prodigious increase of price. But the 
multitude, who had paid so dearly for a stock of 
visionary value, soon awoke from their dreams of 
opulence, and thousands found themselves involv- 
ed in ruin. Parliament, however, was determin- 
ed, as far as they could, to strip the directors of 
their ill-gotten gains. All directors of the com- 
pany were removed from their seats in the House 
of Commons, or offices of state ; and after pun- 



Soon after the breaking up of the par- 
hament in 1727, the king resolved to 
visit his electoral dominions of Hanover. 
Having appointed a regency in his ab- 
sence, he embarked for Holland, and 
stopped on his first landing at a small 
town called Voet. Next day he proceed- 
ed on his journey ; and in two days more 
arrived at Delden, to all appearance in 
perfect health. He supped there very 
heartily, and continued his journey early 
the next morning ; but between eight and 
nine ordered his coach to stop. It being 
perceived that one of his hands lay mo- 
tionless, his attendants attempted to quick- 
en the circulation by chafing it between 
their own. As this had no effect, the 
surgeon who followed on horseback was 
called, and he rubbed it with spirits. — 
Soon after, the king's tongue began to 
swell, and he had just strength enough 
to bid them hasten to Osnaburgh, and 
then fell into a state of insensibility, from 
which he never recovered, but expired 
about eleven o'clock, June 10, 1727, in 
the sixty-eighth year of his age. His 
body was conveyed to Hanover, and in- 
terred with those of his ancestors. 

On the accession of George II, the 
two great parties into which the nation 
had so long been divided, again changed 
their names, and were now called the 
court and country parties. Through the 
principal part of this reign, there seems 
to have been two objects of controver.sy 
which rose up in debate at every session, 
and tried the strength of the opponents ;■ 
these were the national debt and the num- 
ber of forces to be kept in pay. The 
government, on the present king's acces- 
sion, owed more than 30,000,000/ of 
money ; and though there was a long 
continuance of profoimd peace, yet this 
sum was found constantly increasing. — 
Demands for new supplies were made 
every session of parliament, either for 
the purposes of securing friends upon the 
continent, or guarding the kingdom from 
internal conspiracies, or of enabling the 
ministry to act vigorously in conjunction 



ishing the delinquents, the legislature allotted, 
out of the profits of the South Sea scheme, seven 
millions to the ancient proprietors, while the re- 
maining capital stock was divided among all the 
proprietors, at the rate of 33/. per cent. 



374 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



with the powers in alliance abroad. It 
was A'ainly alleged that those expenses 
were incurred without prescience or ne- 
cessity ; and that the increase of the na- 
tional debt, by multiplying and increasing 
taxes, would at last become an intolerable 
burden. These arguments were offered, 
canvassed, and rejected ; the court party 
was constantly victorious, and every de- 
mand was granted with cheerfulness and 
profusion. 

In 1739 war was declared with Spain ; 
and soon after, admiral Vernon, with six 
ships only, destroyed all the fortifications 
of Porto Bello, and came away victori- 
ous with scarcely the loss of a man. 

As the war was thus successfully com- 
menced, supplies were cheerfully granted 
for its prosecution. Commodore Anson 
was sent with a squadron of ships to op- 
pose the enemy in the South Sea, and to 
co-operate with admiral Vernon across 
the isthmus of Darien. This squadron 
was to act a subordinate part to a formi- 
dable armament that was to be sent to 
New Spain ; but through the mismanage- 
ment of the ministry both these schemes 
were frustrated. The other expedition 
ended still more unfortunately. The ar- 
mament consisted of twenty ships of the 
line, and almost an equal number of frig- 
ates. The most sanguine hopes of suc- 
cess were still entertained ; but the min- 
istry kept back the fleet without any rea- 
son, till the season for action, in Ameri- 
ca, was almost over. At last, however, 
they arrived before the city of Carthage- 
na, and became masters of the strong 
forts which defended the harbor. But 
the rainy season commenced with such 
violence, that it was impossible for the 
troops to continue their encampment. — 
To these calamities was added the dis- 
sension, between the sea and land com- 
manders, who blamed each other, and 
could be only brought to agree, in one 
measure, viz, to re-embark the troops, and 
withdraw them as quick as possible. 

In the spring of 1745, prince Charles, 
the grandson of James II, took leave of 
his father at Rome. Having made a 
vow, in the presence of the pope, and 
his cardinals, that he would never for- 
sake his religion, he, with Patrick Gra- 
ham, his confessor, the marquis of TuUi- 1 



bardine, general Macdonald, and a few 
attendants, passed through France, by 
land, and vi.sited Louis in his camp. — 
He obtained from the king, four thousand 
pounds in money, and two thousand 
stand of arms, for the use of Scotland ; 
and, accompanied by the duke de Boque- 
feuille, with twenty ships of the line, was 
proceeding towards Brest, in order to 
land at the nearest English port, when 
the appearance of a superior fleet, com- 
manded by Admiral Norris, caused them 
to turn back, and a violent gale dispersed, 
and greatly damaged their shipping, so 
as entirely to frustrate the intended inva- 
sion. The prince and his friends were 
in a small vessel, in which they reached 
the western side of Scotland, and stand- 
ing for the coast of Lochaber, landed be- 
tween the isles of Mull and Skye, on the 
10th of August, 1745. 

Charles knelt down to kiss the earth 
on his landing, upon which the confessor 
cut a turf, and presenting it to him, in- 
stalled him, by authority of the pope, 
regent for his father, whom he styled 
James III. Charles was at this time 
twenty-five years of age. His appear- 
ance was prepossessing ; and to a great 
share of manly beauty he added a most 
enterprising spirit. 

When the young adventurer arrived 
at Perth, he performed the ceremony of 
proclaiming his father king of Great 
Britain. From thence proceeding tow- 
ards Edinburgh, his forces continually 
increased, and he entered the capital 
without opposition ; but was unable, from 
want of cannon, to reduce the castle. 
Here he again proclaimed his father, and 
promised to dissolve the union, Avhich 
was considered one of the great national 
grievances. In the mean time, sir John 
Cope resolved to give the enemy battle. 
The rebels attacked him near Preston- 
pans, and in a short time put him and his 
troops to flight, with the loss of 500 men. 

This victory gave the Stuart party 
great influence ; and had the prince 
marched directly to England, he might 
have accomplished his object ; but he 
was amused by the promise of succors 
which never came, and thus induced to 
remain in Edinburgh till the season for 
action was lost. He was joined, how- 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



375 



ever, by the earl of Kilmarnock, lord 
BalmerinOjlords Cromarty, Elcho, Ogilvy, 
Pitsligo, and the eldest son of lord Lovat, 
who, with their vassals, considerably in- 
creased his army. While Charles was 
thus trifling away his time at Edinburgh, 
the British ministry were taking effectual 
methods to oppose him. Six thousand 
Dutch troops, that had come over to the 
assistance of the crown, were despatched 
northward under the command of general 
Wade. The duke of Cumberland soon 
after arrived from Flanders, and was 
followed by another detachment of dra- 
goons and infantry, well disciplined and 
inured to action ; and besides these, 
volunteers offered themselves in every 
part of the kingdom. 

At last, Charles resolved upon entering 
England. He crossed the western bor- 
der, and took the town of Carlisle ; after 
which he continued his march south- 
ward, having received assurance that a 
considerable body of forces would be 
landed on the southern coasts to make a 
diversion in his favor. He established 
his head-quarters at Manchester, where 
he was joined by about 200 English 
formed into a regiment, under the com- 
mand of colonel Townley. From thence 
he pursued his march to Derby, intending 
to go by the way of Chester into Wales, 
where he hoped to be joined by a great 
number of malcontents ; but this was 
prevented by the factions among his 
followers. 

Being now advanced within 100 miles 
of London, that capital was in the utmost 
consternation ; and had he proceeded 
with the same expedition he had hitherto 
used, perhaps he might have made him- 
self master of it. But he was rendered 
incapable of pursuing this or any other 
rational plan, by the discontents which 
began to prevail in his army. In fact, 
the young prince was but the nominal 
leader of his forces ; his generals, the 
Highland chiefs, being averse to subor- 
dination, and ignorant of command. — 
They were now unanimous in their reso- 
lution to return to their own country, and 
Charles was forced to comply. They 
retreated to Carlisle without any loss ; and 
from thence crossing the rivers Eden and 
Solway, entered Scotland. They next 



marched to Glasgow, which was laid 
under severe contributions. Near Stir- 
Ung, they were joined by lord Lewis 
Gordon, at the head of some forces which 
had been assembled in his absence. — 
Other clans likewise came in ; and from 
some supplies of money received from 
Spain, and some skirmishes with the 
royalists, in which he was victorious, 
the young prince's affairs began to wear 
a more promising aspect. Being joined 
by lord Drummond, he invested the 
castle of Stirling, in the siege of which 
much time was consumed to no purpose. 
General Hawley, who commanded a 
considerable body of forces near Edin- 
burgh, undertook to raise this siege, and 
advanced towards the rebel army as far 
as Falkirk. After two days spent in 
mutually examining each other's strength, 
an engagement ensued, in which the 
king's forces were entirely defeated, 
with the loss of their tents and artillery. 

The duke of Cumberland having arri- 
ved, was put at the head of the troops 
at Edinburgh, which amounted to about 
14,000 men. With these he advanced 
to Aberdeen, where he was joined by 
several of the nobility attached to the 
house of Hanover ; the enemy in the 
mean time retreating before him. He 
next advanced to the banks of the Spey, 
a deep and rapid river, where the rebels 
might have disputed his passage ; but 
their contentions with one another were 
now risen to such a height, that they 
could scarce agree in any thing. At last 
they resolved to wait their pursuers. — 
An engagement ensued at Culloden, near 
Inverness, in which the troops of Charles 
were defeated with great slaughter, and 
a final period was put to all the hopes 
of the young adventurer. The con- 
querors behaved with the greatest cru- 
elty, refusing quarter to the wounded, 
the unarmed, and the defenceless. The 
duke immediately after the action order- 
ed thirty-six deserters to be executed : 
the conquerors spread terror wherever 
they came ; and after a short space, the 
whole country round was one dreadful 
scene of plunder, slaughter, and deso- 
lation. 

Immediately after the engagement, the 
young prince escaped with a captain of 



376 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



Fitzjames's cavalry ; and when their 
horses were fatigued, they both alighted, 
and separately sought for safety. There 
is a striking resemblance between the 
adventures of Charles II, after the battle 
of Worcester, and those of the young 
prince after the battle of Culloden. He 
was continually pursued by the troops of 
the conqueror, there being a reward of 
30,000/ offered for taking him either 
dead or alive. In the course of his ad- 
ventures, he had occasion to trust his 
life to the fidelity of above fifty individ- 
uals, not one of whom could be prevailed 
upon to betray him. 

For six months the unfortunate Charles 
continued to wander in the wilds of 
Glengary, often hemmed round by his 
pursuers, but still rescued by some pro- 
vidential accident from the impending 
danger. At length a privateer belonging 
to St. Maloes, hired by his adherents, 
arrived in Loch Nanach, in which he 
embarked with Cameron of Lochiel, his 
brother, and a few other exiles. They 
set sail for France, and after having 
been chased by two English men-of-war, 
arrived in safety near Morlaix in Bre- 
tagne. 

In the year 1749, a scheme was en- 
tered upon, which the nation in general 
imagined would be very advantageous. 
This was the encouraging those who 
had been discharged from the army or 
navy to become settlers in Nova Scotia. 
The English and French renewed the 
war, for the possession of this tract of 
country, which soon after spread with 
such terrible devastation over every part 
of the globe. 

Negotiations, followed by active hos- 
tilities, again commenced in 1756 ; four 
operations were undertaken by the Brit- 
ish in America at once. Colonel Monk- j 
ton had orders to drive the French from j 
their encroachments upon the province 
of Nova Scotia ; general Johnson was 
sent against Crown Point ; general Shir- 
ley against Niagara, to secure the forts 
on the river ; and general Braddock 
against Fort du Quesne. In these expe- 
ditions, Monkton was successful ; John- j 
son also was victorious, though he failed 
in taking the fort against which he was 
sent ; Shirley was thought to have lost 



the season for operation by delay ; and 
Braddock was defeated and killed. 

The British, however, made reprisals 
at sea ; and in this they were so suc- 
cessful, that the French navy was unable 
to recover itself during the continuance 
of the war. 

The British about this period achieved 
several splendid victories both in the eas- 
tern and western part of the world, which 
were generally ascribed to the vigorous 
administration of William Pitt, who about 
this time came into power. An expedi- 
tion was set on foot, in the American 
colonies, against Cape Breton, under 
general Amherst and admiral Boscawen ; 
another, under general Abercrombie, 
against Crown Point and Ticonderoga ; 
and a third, under brigadier-general 
Forbes, against Fort du Quesne. The 
fortress of Louisbourg, which defended 
the island of Cape Breton, was very 
strong both by nature and art. But the 
activity of the British surmounted every 
obstacle, the place was surrendered by 
capitulation, and its fortifications were 
demolished. The expedition against 
Fort du Quesne was equally successful ; 
but that against Crown Point once more 
miscarried. General Abercrombie at- 
tacked the French in their entrenchments, 
was repulsed with great slaughter, and 
obliged to retire to his camp on Lake 
George. But though in this respect the 
British arms were unsuccessful, yet, upon 
the whole, the campaign of 1758 was 
greatly in their favor. The taking of 
Fort du Quesne served to remove from 
the colonies the terror of the incursions 
of the Indians, while it interrupted the 
correspondence along a chain of forts 
with which the French had environed 
the British settlements in America ; so 
that the succeeding campaign promised 
great success. 

In 1759, it was resolved to attack the 
French in several parts of their empire 
at once. General Amherst with a body 
of 12,000 men was commanded to attack 
Crown Point ; general Wolfe was to un- 
dertake the siege of Quebec ; while gene- 
ral Prideaux and sir William Johnson 
were to attack a French fort near the cata- 
racts of Niagara. This last expedition 
was the first that succeeded. The siege 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



377 



was commenced with every appearance of 
success ; but general Prideaux was killed 
in the trenches by the bursting of a mor- 
tar, so that the whole command devolved 
on general Johnson. A body of French 
troops, sensible of the importance of the 
place, attempted to relieve it, but were 
utterly defeated and dispersed ; soon after 
which, the garrison surrendered prison- 
ers of war. On his arrival at the forts 
of Crown Point and Ticonderoga, gene- 
ral Amherst found them deserted and 
destroyed. There now remained, there- 
fore, but one decisive blow to reduce all 
North America under the British domin- 
ion ; and this was by the taking of Que- 
bec, the capital of Canada. This expe- 
dition was commanded by admiral Saun- 
ders and general Wolfe. The enterprise 
was attended with difficulties which ap- 
peared insurmountable ; but general Wolfe 
engaged and put to flight the French un- 
der Montcalm ; though, to the great re- 
gret of the British, their general was 
killed in the action. {See Canada.) 

The surrender of Quebec was the con- 
sequence of this victory, which was soon 
followed by the subjugation of all Canada. 
The following season, indeed, the French 
made an effort to recover the city ; but 
by the resolution of governor Murray, and 
the appearance of a British fleet under 
the command of lord Colville, they Avere 
obliged to abandon the enterprise. The 
whole province was soon after reduced 
by the prudence and activity of general 
Amherst, who obliged the French army 
to capitulate ; and it has since remained 
annexed to the British empire. About 
the same time also the island of Gauda- 
loupe was reduced by commodore More. 

After some inconsiderable successes at 
Crevelt, the duke of Marlborough dying, 
the command of the British forces de- 
volved on lord George Sackville. Amis- 
understanding arose between him and 
prince Ferdinand, which appeared at the 
battle of Minden that was fought shortly 
after. Lord George pretended that he 
did not understand the orders sent by the 
prince, and in consequence did not obey 
them. The allies gained the victory, 
which would have been more decisive 
had the British commander obeyed his 
orders. 

48 



After this victory it was imagined that 
one re-enforcement more of British troops 
would terminate the war in favor of the 
allies ; and that re-enforcement Avas 
quickly sent. The British army in Ger- 
many was increased to thirty-thousand 
men, and sanguine hopes of conquest 
were generally entertained. These hopes, 
however, were ill-founded. The allies 
were defeated at Corbach, but retrieved 
their honor at Exdorf. A victory at 
Warberg followed shortly after, and ano- 
ther at Zierenberg ; after which both 
sides retired into winter quarters. 

On the 25th of October, 1760, George 
II died suddenly. He had risen at his 
usual hour, and observed to his attend- 
ants, that as the weather was fine, he 
would take a walk into the gardens at 
Kensington, where he then resided. In 
a few minutes after his return, being left 
alone, he was heard to fall heavily. As 
soon as he was placed on a bed, he de- 
sired that the princess Amelia might be 
sent for ; but before she could reach the 
apartment he expired, in the seventy- 
seventh year of his age, and thirty-third 
of his reign. An attempt was made to 
bleed him, but without effect ; and after- 
wards, the surgeons, upon opening him, 
discovered that the right ventricle of the 
heart was ruptured, and a great quantity 
of blood discharged through the aperture. 

No prince ever ascended the throne of 
Great Britain under happier auspices 
than those which attended the elevation 
of George III. He had long lived se- 
questered from all participation in the 
measures of government, and in retire- 
ment, surrounded only by a few friends 
and dependents. 

One of the most remarkable transac- 
tions about this period, was the renewal 
of the charter of the bank of England,* 
in 1763, for which the latter paid the 
sum of 1,100,000/ into the exchequer as 
a present to the public, besides the ad- 
vancing a million to government upon 
exchequer bills. Another, and still more 
momentous affair, however, was the con- 
sideration of a variety of methods to raise 
a revenue upon the American colonies. 



* The bank of England was chartered in 1693, 
in the reign of William and Mary. 



578 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



The reason assigned was the defraying 
the necessary expenses of defending 
them. The colonies contained upwards 
of two millions of inhabitants, and it was 
considered that a large revenue might 
be raised from such a numerous body. 

In 1772, the parliament was principally 
employed in considering the affairs of 
the East India Company, whose servants 
had assumed the power of forming a com- 
mercial intercourse with each other ; by 
which they exclusively maintained the 
right of traffic in inland produce. They 
bought and sold at their own prices, and 
exercised such arbitrary measures as im- 
poverished the natives, and exhausted 
their resources. They even extended 
this combination so far as to deprive the 
landed proprietors of their leases, and 
dispose of the land for their own profit. 
The soil became consequently neglect- 
ed, a scarcity of food was the result of 
British avarice ; pestilence and disease 
succeeded to famine, and the company 
became embarrassed, through the rapacity 
of their agents and servants. A loan 
was granted them by government ; but 
general Burgoyne, who had been chair- 
man of the committee of inquiry, pro- 
posed the examination of lord Clive, res- 
pecting the manner in which he had ac- 
quired the sum of two hundred and thir- 
ty-four thousand pounds, during his short 
residence in India. 

The attention of government was, in 
1774, directed to certain documents and 
papers, relating to what was termed the 
republican spiritof the Bostonians, arising 
from the very measure which had been 
adopted to relieve the East India Com- 
pany — the permission for them to export 
a quantity of tea free of duly to Ameri- 
ca ; and which excited general dissatis- 
faction among the colonists, who were 
previously resolved to prevent the impor- 
tation of the article, a quantity of which 
had been thrown into the sea. In dis- 
cussing this subject, the opposition said 
that the disturbances in America had 
arisen in taxation ; and suggested a mo- 
tion for inquiry into the conduct of min- 
isters, respecting the degree of violence 
which had provoked this resistance. In- 
quiry was instituted only in regard to 
the misconduct of the Americans. The 



ministers, in taking this partial view of 
the case, considered only two points as 
essential ; to satisfy the East India Com- 
pany for their tea, and to resent the in- 
sult oflered to Britain ; for which pur- 
pose they proposed a bill to shut up the 
port of Boston. This was opposed by 
Fox, as unjust and inexpedient, without 
hearing the accused party. But this ve- 
ry obvious piece of justice was not con- 
ceded ; and the bill for closing the port of 
Boston passed the house, and another bill 
for changing the government of Massa- 
chusetts. A fleet of seA^eral ships of war 
was sent to Boston, and general Gage 
appointed governor. 

When the order of the English to 
close the port of Boston reached Ameri- 
ca, a copy of the act was circulated 
through all the provinces, and they re- 
solved to spend the first of June, the day 
appointed to put the act into execution, 
in fasting and prayer. While each pro- 
vince was framing resolutions, the other 
bills reached Massachusetts. These 
raised their irritated feelings to the high- 
est pitch, and they formed an association, 
in which they bound themselves, by a 
solemn league and covenant, to break off 
all commercial intercourse with Great 
Britain, until the Boston port bill, and 
other acts, should be repealed, and the 
colony restored to its ancient rights. 
General Gage took the precaution to 
place some regiments at Boston. All 
the colonies, except Georgia, united in 
their resolves to resist taxation. A gen- 
eral meeting of congress was fixed for 
the 15th of September, at Philadelphia, 
in which they declared their willing alle- 
giance to his majesty, and most explicitly 
explained their wish not to separate from 
the mother country ; but they maintained 
that they had a mutual right to partici- 
pate in all the rights and privileges of 
British free-born subjects. Lastly, they 
drew up a petition to the king in most 
respectful language, in which they firmly, 
but humbly, implored his majesty that 
they might enjoy liberty, and disclaimed 
all pretensions to any new privileges, 
but earnestly praying to be restored to 
their former rights, on an equality with 
other British subjects. This was sub- 
scribed by all the delegates. 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



379 



A petition from America M-^as refused 
acceptance by the king, who referred it 
to the house. The earl of Chatham, who 
had absented himself in consequence of 
declining health, now left his sick cham- 
ber to try the effect of his eloquence in 
averting the evils which threatened the 
country. He proposed a petition to his 
majesty to recall the troops from Boston ; 
but all attempts to frustrate the minister's 
favorite measure were ineffectual ; and 
on the 3rd of February, Massachusetts 
Bay was declared in the house to be in 
a state of rebellion. 

Re-enforcements were forthwith sent 
from England, under the command of 
generals Howe, Burgoyne, and Clinton. 
The first battle was fought on the 17th 
of June, on Bunker's Hill, near Charles- 
town. Here, though the English were 
victorious, the Americans, without pecu- 
niary resources or military discipline, 
showed a degree of courage and devoted- 
ness to the cause of liberty which must 
entitle them to the admiration of posterity. 

Great dissatisfaction was expressed in 
parliament at a motion for increasing the 
number of soldiers in America, it having 
been stated by ministers that the Ameri- 
cans were cowards, who would not stand 
the fire of the English army, and that 
only a small number of our regular troops 
would be sufficient to intimidate them 
into submission ; whereas they found 
they were opposed by men equally brave, 
and enthusiastically devoted to the cause 
of independence. 

The direction of the campaign in 
America had devolved on general Howe, 
from the return of general Gage to Eng- 
land. Owing to the perseverance of 
Washington, the English troops evacua- 
ted Boston in March, and sailed for Ha- 
lifax. Sir Henry Clinton, and sir Peter 
Parker, brought fresh troops, with which 
they proceeded to the Carolinas ; but 
from their lateness in leaving England, 
and other causes, did not gain the ex- 
pected advantages. The congress, which 
continued to sit and enact laws, still 
courted conciliation, and waited the re- 
sult of their petition to the king. When 
it was ascertained that nothing short of 
abject submission would satisfy the moth- 
er country, it declared the allegiance of 



America was forfeited by the deprivation 
of the king's protection, and they resolv- 
ed to form a constitution which should 
secure their rights. This resolution was 
followed by a solemn renunciation of 
their union with the British crown, and 
a declaration that they were now free 
and independent states. This took place 
July 4th, 1776. 

General Howe was joined by his 
brother, lord Howe, and the campaign 
opened with the battle of Long Island, 
on the 26th of August, from which the 
Americans effected a retreat to New 
York, without losing a man, and the Brit- 
ish troops took possession of Long Island. 
This was followed by the capture of 
New York on the 21st of September. 

In England, the attention of parliament 
was called from the state of America to 
the consideration of a conspiracy formed 
in the East Indies, against lord Pigot, 
governor of Madras, which ended in his 
recall, as also that of the members of the 
council who opposed him. 

On the 30th of May, the earl of Chat- 
ham once more appeared in the house, 
to try anew his endeavors to save his 
country. He moved an address to the 
throne, in which he stated the insidious 
conduct of France, in silently assisting 
the views of America ; and he strongly 
recommended a cessation of hostilities, 
and a removal of the grievances which 
had been practised on the Americans. 
His admonitory advice was, as before, 
disregarded. 

This session of parliament opened 
with an account of general Howe's suc- 
cess, accompanied with anticipations of 
new victories. In one month after, in- 
telligence was brought that general Bur- 
goyne and his army were prisoners of 
war at Saratoga. At the same time it 
was represented that France had signed 
a treaty with America. 

Lord Chatham, aware that it would be 
derogatory to England freely to acknow- 
ledge the independence of America, 
came to the house to perform his duty in 
delivering his sentiments on the subject ; 
he had spoken with energy, and had risen 
to speak a second time, when pressing 
his hand on his heart, he fell down in a 
convulsive fit, from which he never re- 



380 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



covered, and died a few days after, in 
his seventieth year. 

The king of Spain now followed the 
example of the French monarch, and ac- 
knowledged the independence of the 
American colonies. The ruinous ten- 
dency of the war was now so strik- 
ingly apparent, that it became neces- 
sary for those who had a just sense of 
the dangerous situation of their country, 
who wished well to its interests or even 
to prevent its destruction, to exert their 
most powerful efforts to put an end to so 
fatal a contest. Accordingly, on the 
meeting of the commons, several mo- 
tions were made to bring about a recon- 
ciliation between the two countries. 
During the debates which followed, lord 
John Cavendish remarked, that " The 
American war had been a Avar of malice 
and resentment ; without either dignity 
in its conduct, probability in its object, or 
justice in its origin." These motions 
Avere strongly opposed by the ministry, 
and every exertion made to reduce the 
colonies again to obedience. The mea- 
sures, however, that they pursued, at 
length, became unpopular with all par- 
ties, and consequently the administration 
of lord North was dissolved, and a new 
one formed, at the head of which was 
the marquis of Rockingham. Peace 
was as strongly advocated by the new 
ministry as war was by the preceding one ; 
but, before we give the result of the 
negotiations between this coimtry and 
America, a brief account of the military 
and naval events will best explain the re- 
lative situation in which the other Euro- 
pean powers stood with regard to Great 
Britain and America. The advantage 
hitherto gained by the French in their 
naval engagements with the British fleet, 
had proceeded from their keeping at a 
great distance during the time of action, 
and from their good fortune and dexteri- 
ty in gaining the wind. At last, the 
French admiral, de Grasse, probably 
prompted by his natural courage, deter- 
mined, after an indecisive action on the 
9th of April, 1782, to risk a close en- 
gagement with his formidable antagonist 
Rodney. The result of this action was 
the entire defeat of the French fleet, but 
it was universally allowed that in this 



engagement the French behaved with 
the greatest valor. De Grasse himself 
did not surrender till 400 of his men 
were killed, and only himself and two 
others remained without a wound. The 
captain of the Cssar, after his ensign 
staflf was shot away, and the ship almost 
battered to pieces, caused his colors to 
be nailed to the mast, and thus continued 
fighting till he was killed. The vessel, 
when taken, was a mere wreck. Other 
French oflicers behaved in the same 
manner. 

A great disaster befel the Spaniards, 
before Gibraltar, which happened in the 
month of September, 1782. Thus all 
parties were taught that it was high time 
to put an end to their contests. The af- 
fair of Cornwallis had shown that it was 
impossible for Britain to conquer Ameri- 
ca ; the defeat of De Grasse had ren- 
dered the reduction of the British pos- 
sessions in the West Indies impracticable 
by the French ; the final attack on Gib- 
raltar, and its relief afterwards by the 
British fleet, put an end to that favorite 
enterprise, in which almost the whole 
strength of Spain was employed. {See 
Spain.) 

Immediately after the change of min- 
istry, negotiations for a general peace 
were commenced at Paris. Mr. Gren- 
ville was invested with full powers to 
treat with all the parties at war ; and 
was also directed to propose the inde- 
pendence of the thirteen United Provin- 
ces of America, in the first instance, 
instead of making it a condition of a 
general treaty. Admiral Digby and 
general Carleton were also directed to 
acquaint the American congress with the 
pacific views of the British court, and 
with the off'er to acknowledge the inde- 
pendence of the United States. The 
independence of the United vStates was 
acknowledged by Great Britain, and pre- 
liminary articles of peace were signed, 
Novemijer 30, 1782, which were ratified 
by the two governments, January 20, 
1783. At the same time peace was 
concluded between Great Britain, France 
and Spain. 

In the year 1785, Mr. Pitt introduced 
a plan of parliamentary reform, which 
bid fair to be successful. It proposed 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



381 



that one Imndred members should be 
added to the popular interest, and the 
right of election extended to 100,000 
persons who were previously disqualified. 
But as the majority of the house were 
averse to this plan, the bill was not per- 
mitted to be formally brought in. In the 
month of June of this year, Mr. Pitt laid 
before the house the amount of the claims 
of the American loyalists who had been 
reduced to poverty by their adherence to 
Great Britain during the American war ; 
they amounted to 471,000/, and Mr. 
Pitt proposed that 150,000/ should be 
granted to the claimants for present re- 
lief, and a future and permanent provision 
to be made by lottery. 

In the ensuing spring Mr. Pitt propo- 
sed a plan of financial regulation, which 
had long engaged his attention, and which 
has since been a fruitful source of spec- 
ulation and argument with statesmen and 
pohticians. The outline of this plan was 
to establish a sinking fund for the grad- 
ual liquidation of the national debt. One 
million was the sum annually to be placed 
in the hands of the commissioners, in 
quarterly instalments of 250,000/ each. 
This fund was not to be alienated to any 
other purpose. The debates on the sub- 
ject were long, and conducted with great 
ability by both parties, but at length it 
was adopted. 

A remarkable event took place on the 
2nd of August, 1786, which might have 
been attended with very serious conse- 
quences. As the king was alighting from 
his carriage at the gate of St. James's 
palace, a woman named Margaret Nich- 
olson, who was waiting there under pre- 
tence of presenting a petition, struck at 
him with a knife, but without inflicting 
any injury. The woman was immedi- 
ately taken into custody, and appearing, 
on several examinations, to be insane, 
was sent to Bethlehem hospital. This 
affair excited a very general expression 
of loyalty ; the city of London address- 
ed the throne in terms of congratulation, 
and the example was followed by all the 
corporations and public bodies of the 
kingdom. 

This year the prosecution against 
Warren Hastings, for his misconduct 
while governor in India, was commen- 



ced, which terminated in an impeach- 
ment of that gentleman. The conductor 
of this prosecution was Edmund Burke. 

The French revolution produced great 
excitement in England, but little, how- 
ever, of historical interest occurred until 
the declaration of the war between the 
two nations. 

England, at the commencement of her 
long contest with France, took into her 
pay a large body of German troops, and 
the duke of York joined the allies, who 
confided to him the care of the army, 
which in the summer of 1793 besieged 
Valenciennes. The trenches were open- 
ed on the 14th of June, 1793. The in- 
habitants wished to surrender ; but the 
violence of the bombardment prevented 
their assembling. Much of the labor of 
the siege consisted of mines and coun- 
termines. Some of these having been 
successfully sprung by the allies, the 
town surrendered on the 27th of July by 
capitulation to the Duke of York, who 
took possession of it in the name of the 
emperor. The siege of Mentz was going 
on, but it suffered so much from famine, 
at last, that, after an unsuccessful attempt 
by the French for its relief, it surrendered 
on the 22nd of July. 

The leading people of Toulon, in the 
south of France, now entered into a ne- 
gotiation, and submitted to Lord Hood, 
under condition that he should preserve 
the town and shipping for Louis XVII, 
and assist in restoring the constitution of 
1789. The siege of Toulon was com- 
menced by general Cartaux, in Septem- 
ber. Neapolitan, Spanish, and English 
troops, were brought by sea to assist in 
its defence. In November, Cartaux was 
removed to the army in Italy, and Dugom- 
mier succeeded him. General O'Hara 
arrived with re-enforcements from Gibral- 
tar, and took upon him the command of 
the town under a British Commission. 
On the 30th of November, the garrison 
made a powerful sally to destroy some 
batteries erecting upon the heights. The 
allies succeeded in their object ; but, 
elated by the facility of their conquest, 
rushed forward in pursuit of the flying 
enemy, and were met by a strong French 
force that was drawn out to protect the 
fugitives. O'Hara now came from the 



382 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



city to bring off his troops ; but was 
wounded and taken prisoner. The total 
loss of the allies in this affair was esti- 
mated at nearly 1 ,000 men. The French 
had now mustered in full force around 
Toulon, and prepared for the attack. It 
was begun on the 19th of December, and 
was chiefly directed against Fort Mul- 
grave, defended by the British. This fort 
was protected by an entrenched camp, 
thirteen pieces of cannon, ihirty-six and 
twenty-four pounders, &c, five mortars, 
and 3,000 troops. Such was the ardor 
of the assault, that it was carried in an 
hour, and the whole garrison destroyed 
or taken. The allies, finding it impossi- 
ble to defend the place, in the course of 
the day embarked their troops, after hav- 
ing set on fire the arsenal and ships. A 
scene of confusion ensued, unparalleled 
in the history of modern wars. Crowds 
of the inhabitants, of every rank and age, 
hurried on board the ships, to avoid the 
vengeance of their enraged countrymen. 
Some of the inhabitants began to fire upon 
their late aUies ; others in despair plunged 
into the sea, making a vain effort to reach 
the ships ; thirty-one ships of the line 
were found by the British at Toulon ; 
thirteen were left behind, ten were burnt; 
four had been previously sent to the 
French ports of Brest and Rochefort, 
with 5,000 republicans who could not be 
trusted ; and Great Britain obtained by 
this expedition three ships of the line 
and five frigates. 

At this siege first appeared in com- 
mand, as lieutenant of artillery, Napoleon 
Bonaparte, who was destined to form so 
prominent a figure in the future direction 
of the kingdom of France. 

After this, the seat of war was princi- 
pally in the Netherlands. The British 
forces under the command of the Duke 
of York, the Austrian and Dutch armies, 
opposed the French forces, under the 
command of Pichegru and Jourdan. — 
The allied armies experienced a series 
of defeats, and the duke of York escap- 
ed being made prisoner only by the 
fleetness of his horse. On the Rhine, 
the war was equally successful on the 
part of the French. 

During the course of this summer, 
Corsica was subdued by Great Britain : 



and the whole of the French West India 
islands, except a part of Gaudaloupe, 
yielded to the British troops, under sir 
Charles Grey and sir John Jervis. On 
the 1st of June, 1794, the British fleet, 
under earl Howe, gained a most splendid 
victory over the French fleet, to the west 
of Ushant. The French committee of 
safety had purchased, in America, im- 
mense quantities of grain and other stores. 
These were embarked on board 160 sail 
of merchantmen, convoyed by six sail of 
the line. Lord Howe sailed to intercept 
this valuable convoy. The French fleet 
sailed to protect it. On the morning of 
the 28th of May, the fleets came in sight 
of each other. Lord Howe had prev- 
iously despatched six ships of the line, 
under admiral Montague, to intercept the 
French convoy, M'hile he should engage 
and detain the grand fleet. The French 
despatched eight sail to compete with 
the British, in this attempt. In the course 
of the 29th, lord Howe got to windward 
of the French fleet. His force was 
twenty-five, and theirs twenty-six sail of 
the line. The following day he bore 
down upon them and broke their line. — 
The engagement was one of the sever- 
est ever fought. The French admiral, 
in less than an hour after the close ac- 
tion commenced in the centre, crowded 
off with twelve of his ships. The Brit- 
ish fleet was so much disabled, or sepa- 
rated, that several of the French disman- 
tled ships got away under sails raised 
on the stump of their foremast. Seven 
sail of the line, however, remained in 
possession of the British, and two were 
sunk. In the mean time, admiral Mon- 
tague fell in with the French convoy, 
but it was now guarded by fourteen sail 
of the line. As he could not encounter 
such a force, he returned home, and it 
was safely conveyed into port. Thus, 
by one of those contradictions which of- 
ten occur in human affairs, the British 
fleet was victorious, and yet the French 
were left masters of the sea, and obtain- 
ed their great object — provisions. 

The French towards the close of 1796, 
attempted an invasion of Ireland ; but 
the plan was ill-concerted, and conse- 
quently failed. At the opening of the 
session, in the end of 1796, his majesty 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



383 



took notice of the invasion which the 
enemy had projected against England. — 
Mr. Pitt brought forward the business in 
the house of commons, and pointed out 
the means by which he proposed to raise 
15,000 men, to be divided between the 
land and sea service ; to raise a supple- 
mentary number, or levy, of 60,000 for 
the militia, and 20,000 cavalry, which, 
with a few alterations and amendments, 
were agreed to. But, in mentioning the 
supplies for the year, which amounted to 
27,647,000/, and explaining the different 
articles of expenditure, the minister al- 
luded to an expense of a particular na- 
ture, which had been incurred during the 
interval of parliament. As it would have 
been a matter of very great delicacy, to 
have brought forward a public discussion 
on the propriety of advancing a sum to a 
foreign court in the critical situation of 
the country, ministry had granted to the 
emperor, without a public discussion, 
the sum of 1 ,200,000Z. This transaction 
was canvassed soon after, and the popu- 
lar party reprobated it with the utmost 
acrimony. While the parliament were 
thus divided, an alarming mutiny broke 
out in the navy, which has ever been the 
pride and glory of the British nation. — 
The seamen had addressed several let- 
ters to earl Howe, soliciting a redress of 
grievances, particularly as to provisions, 
in which, it seems, they had been impos- 
ed upon, both as to quantity and quality ; 
but as these letters were anonymous, his 
lordship paid no attention to them. This 
apparent neglect, produced a general cor- 
respondence by letter, through the whole 
fleet; and on the 14th of April, when 
the signal was made to prepare for sea, 
a general revolt ensued ; and, instead of 
weighing anchor, the seamen of the ad- 
miral's ship gave three cheers, which 
were echoed by the other ships. Dele- 
gates were then appointed for each ship, 
to represent the whole fleet ; and the 
cabin of the admiral's ship was appoint- 
ed as the place of their deliberation. — 
Petitions were drawn up and presented 
to the admirals upon the spot, stating 
their demand of an increase of wages, 
and of some regulations for their benefit 
with respect to the ratio of provisions. 
On the 18th, a committee of the admiral- 



ty arrived at Portsmouth, who made sev- 
eral propositions to reduce the men to 
obedience ; the lords of the admiralty 
next conferred with the delegates, who 
assured their lordships, that no arrange- 
ment would be considered as final, until 
it should be sanctioned by the king and 
parliament, and guarantied by a procla- 
mation for a general pardon. Matters 
remained in this situation till the 23rd, 
when earl Howe returned to his ship, 
hoisted his flag, and, after a short address 
to his crew, informed them that he had 
brought a redress of all their grievances, 
and his majesty's pardon for the off'end- 
ders : after some deliberation, these offers 
were accepted, and every man returned 
to his duty. 

All disputes seemed now to be settled, 
but it was quickly circulated among the 
sailors that the government deluded them 
with vain hopes. The flame of mutiny 
was rekindled ; and on the 7th of May, 
when lord Bridport made the signal to 
weigh anchor, every ship at St. Helen's 
refused to obey. A meeting of the dele- 
gates was ordered on board the London ; 
which vice-admiral Colpoys opposed, 
and gave orders to the marines to level 
their pieces at them ; a skirmish ensued, 
in which five of the seamen were killed. 
The whole crew of the London now 
turned their guns towards the stern, and 
threatened to blow all aft into the water, 
unless their commanders surrendered ; 
which they reluctantly did, and admiral 
Colpoys and captain Grifliths were con- 
fined for several hours. The seamen 
continued in this mutinous state till the 
14th of May, when lord Howe at length 
arrived from the admiralty with plenary 
powers to inquire into and settle the 
matters in dispute ; he was also the wel- 
come bearer of an act of parliament, 
which had been passed on the 9lh, grant- 
ing an additional allowance, as well as 
his majesty's proclamation of pardon for 
all who should immediately return to 
their duty. Matters being thus adjusted, 
the sailors appeared satisfied ; the offi- 
cers were generally reinstated in their 
commands, the flag of disaffection was 
struck, and the fleet prepared to put to 
sea to encounter the enemy. Such, 
however, is the propensity of the human 



384 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



mind, when gratified in one point, to 
entertain new desires, that the success 
of the seamen on this occasion encour- 
aged another part of their body to make 
farther claims. The sailors at the Nore 
insisted on a more punctual discharge of 
arrears, a more equal distribution of 
prize-money, and a general abatement of 
the severity of discipline. They chose 
delegates from every ship, one of whom, 
a seaman named Richard Parker, being 
appointed president, assumed the com- 
mand of the fleet. The flag of admiral 
Buckner Avas struck on the 23rd of May, 
and the red flag, the symbol of mutiny, 
hoisted in its stead, while they transmit- 
ted a statement of their demands to the 
admiralty. At this alarming height of 
the mutiny, a deputation of the lords, 
with earl Spencer at their head, pro- 
ceeded to Sheerness ; but finding the 
sailors rather increasing in disobedience 
than inclined to submission, they depart- 
ed, after stating that they need expect no 
concessions whatever further than what 
had been already made by the legislature. 
The mutineers now proceeded to force 
a compliance with their demands, by 
blocking up the Thames, and refusing a 
free passage up and down the river to 
the London trade. Two merchantmen 
ships were robbed of provisions, and 
some ships of war, that refused to accede 
to the combination, were fired upon. — 
Ships of neutral nations, however, col- 
liers, and a few small craft, were allowed 
a passport, signed by Richard Parker, 
president of the delegates. No hopes 
of accommodation appearing, every ne- 
cessary measure was taken to compel 
the seamen to return to their duty. An 
act of parliament was passed for prevent- 
ing all intercourse with the mutinous 
ships, and government ordered all the 
buoys to be removed from the river 
Thames and the neighboring coasts. — 
Preparations were also made at Sheer- 
ness against an attack from the mutineers, 
who seemed to meditate the bombard- 
ment of the place ; and, after the rejection 
of the last attempt at a reconciliation 
through the medium of lord Northesk, 
measures were taken by lord Keith and 
sir C. Grey to attack the fleet from the 
works with gun-boats. Happily, how- 



ever, the defection of some of the ships, 
with other strong s^miptoms of disunion, 
rendered the application of force unne- 
cessary ; and on the 10th of June, several 
ships having pulled down the red flag, 
the rest followed their example within a 
few days, and went under the guns of 
the fort. Admiral Buckner's boat was 
then sent to the Sandwich, with a picket 
guard of soldiers, to arrest Parker, who 
was very peaceably surrendered to them, 
with about thirty other delegates. They 
were soon after brought to trial ; several 
were executed, but the greater part re- 
mained under sentence till the signal 
victory of admiral Duncan, in the month 
of October, when they were pardoned. 

In the beginning of this year the pub- 
lic mind was considerably agitated also 
by another event, which at first threaten- 
ed to overwhelm in ruin the pecuniary 
resources and commerce of the country : 
the bank of England stated that it must 
suspend its payments in specie. Though, 
doubtless, the large sums of money sent 
abroad as subsidies to foreign princes by 
government had diminished the quantity 
of gold and silver in Great Britain, one 
powerful cause for this event seems to 
have been the terror of invasion : this 
induced persons at a distance from the 
metropolis, to withdraw their money from 
the hands of those bankers with whom it 
was deposited; and from the country 
bankers the demand for specie soon 
reached the capital. In this alarming 
state government found themselves com- 
pelled to interfere, and an order of the 
privy council was issued on the 26th of 
February, prohibiting the directors from 
issuing any cash in payment till the 
sense of parliament could be taken on 
that subject. The business was imme- 
diately laid before parliament, when the 
most violent debates ensued. Measures 
were adopted for maintaining the means 
of circulation, and supporting and main- 
taining the public and commercial spirit 
of the kingdom ; and the ferment and 
alarm which had been raised by this 
unexpected event was soon allayed. — 
During this year the war on the part of 
Great Britain was almost exclusively 
confined to naval operations, in which 
the skill and activity of her seamen were 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



385 



displayed to great advantage, and was in- 
variably crowned with victory. Through 
the influence of the French, Spain had 
been induced to declare war against 
England, and a Spanish fleet of twenty- 
seven sail of the line, while attempting 
to join a French armament, was attacked 
by sir John Jervis with fifteen sail ; the 
issue of which obtained for the English 
commander the title of earl St. Vincent, 
and the thanks of the parliament. 

At no period of British history were 
there so much zeal and courage displayed 
by all ranks of the British nation. Be- 
fore the spring the enemy finally aban- 
doned the threat of invasion, and directed 
their fleet to sail for Egypt, accompanied 
by a great number of transports. This 
formidable armament was closely pur- 
sued by admiral Nelson, and though the 
French troops had eff'ected a landing 
before he came up with it, he overtook 
their fleet in the bay of Aboukir, and 
obtained, 1st August, 1798, tlie menaora- 
ble victory of the Nile. 

About this time an extensive and dan- 
gerous conspiracy was formed for erect- 
ing Ireland into an independent republic. 
About this time, also, the French fitted 
out an expedition for the invasion of Ire- 
land. Their forces consisted of one ship 
of eighty guns, eight frigates, a schooner, 
and a brig. Being discovered by the 
squadron under sir J. B. Warren, after 
an action of nearly four hours, the La 
Hoche with three other ships struck to 
the British. They were full of men, and 
every thing necessary for the establish- 
ment of a formidable force in Ireland. 
Parliament assembled on the 20th of 
November, 1798, when his majesty, in a 
speech from the throne, noticed particu- 
larly the late victory obtained by the fleet 
under admiral Nelson. Scarcely any 
victory ever produced consequences of 
such importance. The grand seignior, 
who had paid little attention to the first 
invasion of Egypt, now declared war, in 
the name of all mussulmans, against "the 
host of infidels who had invaded the land 
from whence the sacred territory of 
Mecca is supplied with bread." The 
powers on the continent were inspired 
with fresh vigor ; and a coalition was 
formed between the emperors of Russia 
49 



and Germany and the king of Great 
Britain. On the Rhine the French were 
j repeatedly defeated and pursued by the 
j Austrians ; g:eneral Suwarrow drove them 
from all their conquests in Italy. 
I About the end of this year a niisunder- 
standing took place between the Austrians 
and Russians, in consequence of which 
' the emperor Paul abandoned the coali- 
j tion. About the same time Bonaparte, 
j hearing of the reverse of fortune which 
I the French armies had suffered in Eu- 
rope, left his army in Egypt, returned to 
j France, and, abolishing the directory, 
obtained the appointment of an executive 
commission of three consuls, of which he 
I himself was the chief or first. To ren- 
j der himself popular in this high station, 
{ and to cast the odium of continuing the 
war upon others, he addressed a letter 
to the king of Great Britain on the sub- 
ject of a general peace ; but the British 
cabinet conceiving that the new French 
government could as yet give no security 
for terms of peace, refused to enter into 
any negotiation for that purpose. This 
refusal occasioned several violent debates 
in the British parliament ; but the minis- 
try had still a great majority, and prepa- 
rations were made for prosecuting the 
war. Austria also continued the contest ; 
but Bonaparte was now ( 1 800) at the 
head of the French army, Avhich quickly 
retrieved the losses of the preceding 
campaigns, and, after the decisive battle 
of iyiarengo, in the month of June, Aus- 
tria was obliged to sue for peace ; while 
the northern powers, in consequence of 
Bonaparte's victorious career, seemed 
eager to court his favor by forming de- 
signs against Britain. The emperor 
Paul, naturally fickle and hasty, formed 
a close alliance with him ; and, in con- 
junction with the Danes, Swedes, and 
Prussians, began to renew their former 
engagements for establishing a new code 
of maritime laws, inconsistent with the 
rights, and hostile to the interests of Bri- 
tain. Towards the end of this year a 
scarcity of provisions pressed heavily 
on all ranks of people in Britain. By a 
long and almost constant series of rainy 
weather, the crop of 1799 was materially 
injured, and the harvest retarded. The 
crop of 1800 was nearly as deficient. 



386 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



The people, who had now expected re- 
lief, felt persuaded that the scarcity was 
not altogether occasioned by the failure 
of the crops, but by artful combinations, 
so that a general odium was raised 
against all who traded in grain, or any of 
the necessaries of life ; they were held 
up to popular obloquy as monopolists and 
forestallers ; the sole authors of the mis- 
eries of the people ; men for whose 
crimes it was impossible to devise an 
adequate punishment. Parliament was 
summoned, principally for the purpose of 
taking the subject into consideration ; 
and by prohibiting the exportation of 
grain, and granting a bounty on imported 
corn, &LC, the dread of famine was averted. 

Although a change had now taken 
place in the British cabinet, the new 
ministry, who had always given their 
most decided and strenuous support to 
the measures pursued by Mr. Pitt, pro- 
fessed to have the same views, and to 
act upon the same principles. They re- 
peatedly affirmed that the dispute with 
the northern powers was so important to 
the prosperity and glory of Britain, that 
it could neither be relinquished nor com- 
promised ; that, since the combined pow- 
ers were determined to persist in their 
unwarrantable pretensions, it became 
necessary for Britain to assert her rights 
by force of arms. A formidable fleet 
was assembled at Yarmouth, which was 
entrusted to sir Hyde Parker, and under 
him to lord Nelson, and rear-admiral 
Greaves. They sailed from Yarmouth 
on the 20th of March, and, forcing the 
passage of the Soimd, anchored before 
Copenhagen on the 30lh of the same 
month. The Danes had made very for- 
midable preparations for their reception : 
the battle commenced at ten o'clock on 
the 2nd of April, and continued with 
great fury for four hours. The result 
was the capture or destruction of eighteen 
sail of Danish ships. This victory struck 
the members of the confederacy with 
terror, and they were further weakened 
by the death of the emperor Paul, as his 
successor, Alexander, refused to join in 
the league against Britain. 

While the British arms were thus em- 
ployed before Copenhagen, accounts of 
the final success of her troops in Egypt 



reached England the day after the pre- 
liminary articles of peace had been sign- 
ed in London, by M. Otto on the part of 
the French republic, and lord Hawkes- 
bury on that of his Britannic majesty. 
By these. Great Britain agreed to restore 
all her conquests except the island of 
Trinidad, and the possession of Ceylon : 
the Cape of Good Hope was to be a free 
port to all the contracting parties ; the 
island of Malta was to be restored to the 
order of St. John of Jerusalem ; Egypt 
was given back to the Ottoman Porte, 
and Portugal was to be maintained in its 
integrity ; the territory of Rome and 
Naples was to be evacuated by the 
French, and France was to recognise the 
republic of the Seven Islands ; the fishery 
of Newfoundland was to be established 
on its former footing ; and, lastly, the 
contracting parties were to name the 
plenipotentiaries to meet at Amiens, for 
the formation of a definitive treaty. The 
definitive treaty was ratified in March, 
1 802, and in the meanwhile the first con- 
sul displayed his restless ambition by 
sending a large armament to St. Domin- 
go, which obliged the British to send a 
powerful fleet to watch its motions. 

Towards the conclusion of this year, 
the subjugation of Switzerland by the 
consular armies of France, attracted gen- 
eral attention. Britain loudly remonstra- 
ted with the rider of France on his con- 
duct towards the brave Swiss. These 
remonstrances, however, as they were 
unaccompanied by any Avarlike disposi- 
tions, produced no efl^'ect ; and Switzer- 
land was placed in the hands of the first 
consul's dependents. About this time 
the French nation declared Bonaparte 
consul for life, with the power of nomi- 
nating his successor. 

On the 23rd of July, 1803, an insur- 
rection broke out in Ireland, which, from 
its supposed connection with the projects 
of the enemy, created considerable, and, 
as it appeared afterwards, undue alarm. 
Its instigators were a band of political 
enthusiasts, whose director and principal 
mover was Robert Emmett, a young man 
of distinguished talents. They had form- 
ed the design of establishing an inde- 
pendent Irish republic ; and hoped to 
accomplish it by striking a decisive blow 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



387 



in the capital, possessing themselves of 
the seat of government, and proclaiming 
a new constitution which they had pre- 
pared. An armed mob collected for this 
purpose, which marched through the 
principal streets of Dublin, unresisted, 
on their way to the Castle. They, how- 
ever, soon lost all sense of subordination 
to their leaders, and meeting a carriage 
in which were lord Kilwarden and his 
nephew Mr. Wolfe, they dragged them 
from it, and butchered them on the spot. 
One circumstance attended this act of 
atrocity which showed that the infatua- 
tion of popular fury could not wholly 
extinguish the inherent generosity of the 
Irish character. The daughter of the 
venerable and ill-fated nobleman was 
likewise in the carriage, and, to his 
earnest appeal to their humanity, they 
replied, that they would sacrifice him and 
his male companion, but they would spare 
the lady. They then allowed her to pass 
through their entire column without in- 
jury or interruption. The insurgents 
were at length dispersed, and the whole 
insurrection was speedily extinguished. 
On the communication of this event to 
parliament, a bill was passed for trying 
the rebels by martial law, and another 
for suspending the habeas corpus act in 
Ireland. Several of the leaders of the 
insurrection, among whom was Emmett, 
having been apprehended, were tried for 
high treason in Dublin, by a special 
commission, and underwent the sentence 
of the law. 

In consequence of the seizure of Han- 
over by the French armies, and the in- 
terruption of British commerce on the 
Elbe and Weser, a squadron now block- 
aded the mouths of these rivers ; and af- 
terwards compelled the French to aban- 
don the once important colony of St. Do- 
mingo. The negro chiefs, on this, issued 
a proclamation declaring the indepen- 
dence of the island. 

In the East Indies, under the able 
management of the marquis of Wellesley, 
Great Britain triumphed still more deci- 
dedly. To counteract any danger from a 
possible union of the Mahratta against 
the British interest, the marquis Corn- 
wallis, as early as 1789, had concluded 
the treaty of Poonah, which was after- 



wards frustrated by the ambition and ra- 
pacity of Dowlut Rao Scindia, who had 
succeeded Madhagee Scindia, in 1794, 
and whose conduct tended to favor the de- 
signs of France against the British em- 
pire in India. 

After a brilliant campaign of five 
months, a powerful confederacy was dis- 
solved by a treaty which extended and 
consolidated the dominions of the British, 
while it annihilated the influence of the 
French in India. 

The king, early in February, 1804, 
became seriously indisposed, and the 
country was agitated and alarmed at the 
sudden incompetency of the sovereign. 
His illness continued avowedly from the 
14th of February to the 14th of March, 
when the lord chancellor declared that 
" the king was in such a state as to warrant 
the lords commissioners in giving the royal 
assent to several bills." A further proof 
of his convalescence was given by his 
appearance in public, and by the change 
of his ministers early in May, by which 
Mr. Pitt was placed at the head of the 
administration. 

Napoleon had for a considerable time 
been making extensive preparations for 
the invasion of Great Britain. But the 
result of the battle of Trafalgar, one of the 
most brilliant achievements in the annals 
of naval war, soon rendered his designs 
on that island almost hopeless. The 
commencement of hostilities with Spain, 
at the close of 1804, extended the circle 
of maritime war and victory to the Brit- 
ish navy. The French admiral, Ville- 
neuve, commanding the combined French 
and Spanish fleets, early in 1805, was 
pursued by lord Nelson, from the Medi- 
terranean to the West Indies. Villeneuve 
on his return to Europe, fell in with the 
British squadron commanded by sir R. 
Calder, oft' Cape Finisterre ; and after an 
engagement in which he lost two ships, 
made his way unmolested to Cadiz. On 
the 19th of October admiral Villeneuve 
came out of Cadiz with the combined 
French and Spanish fleets, and on the 
21st was defeated by Nelson in a gen- 
eral engagement off" Trafalgar. This 
victory cost England the life of her 
greatest admiral, but utterly ruined the 
naval power of France and Spain. After 



388 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



r:=^-:r ^-^ z====. ===^^^^^^ ,^;,tji 








ipg^g 


Kl^^i^'l*: 


1111^3^: ■■ 


^l^^fr% 



Death of lord Nelson. 



the battle, the body of Nelson was brought 
home in the Victory, which he had com- 
manded in person, and in which he died. 
His funeral was solemnized at the public 
expense. 

The victory of Trafalgar, momentous 
as it was, only destroyed the weaker arm 
of France. It was not a coimterpoise 
to the triumph of Napoleon over Mr. 
Pitt's third and last coalition. He quit- 
ted Paris on the 24th of September, 
1805, to join his army ; took Ulm on the 
17th of October, with its artillery, maga- 
zines, and garrison of 30,000 men, and 
entered the capital of Austria, without 
resistance, on the 15th of November ; 
pursued the fugitive court of Vienna, 
and the allied armies of Austria and 
Russia, into Moravia ; and on the 2nd 
of December obtained the decisive A'ic- 
tory of Austerlitz, which put an end 
both to the campaign and the coalition, 
and made Napoleon the dictator of con- 
tinental Europe. These events are said 
to have hastened the death of Mr. Pitt, 
who expired a short time after the vic- 
tory of Trafalgar. A new administra- 
tion was in consequence formed, and Mr. 
Fox and lord Grenville were placed at 



the head of it. After this the prince of 
Wales took a more prominent station in 
the political events of the period. 

England and France now negotiated, 
for the first time since the revolution, in 
a tone of mutual conciliation and courtesy. 
Mr. Fox's hopes were not sanguine. His 
blended firmness and mildness, however, 
did much and might have done more, if 
his health had not given way before he 
had been four months in the ministry. 
The late hours and fatigue to which he 
was subjected as leader in the house of 
commons may be said to have proved 
fatal to him. A system of vexatious de- 
bate was organized against him in that 
house. Lord Castlereagh rose to debate 
"the princijjle" of the clause for limited 
service in the mutiny bill, after the prin- 
ciple had been already under discussion 
for eleven hours ; and between frivolous 
divisions and speaking against time, the 
house was kept sitting from four till seven 
in the morning. The ministers were 
released, even then, only by a sort of 
capitulation. Sheridan, when this sys- 
tem became apparent, proposed that the 
ministerial members, distributed into par- 
ties of twenty, should go home to rest, 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



389 



and come back to relieve guard after they 
had slept and breakfasted. 

Notwithstanding the severe illness of 
Mr. Fox, he continued to direct the ne- 
gotiations and dictate the despatches from 
his couch, until the progress of his disease 
rendered all application to business not 
only dangerous but impossible. On the 
13th of September, 1806, he expired. 

The British campaigns of the penin- 
sular war, one of the most memorable in 
the annals of mutual destruction among 
nations, and decidedly the most memora- 
ble and glorious in the annals of Eng- 
land, began in the summer of this year. 
It is necessary, however, to recur for a 
moment to Napoleon's army, which was 
under the command of his favorite gene- 
ral, Junot, who at this period was in pos- 
session of Portugal, and had, by a master 
stroke of policy, obtained complete pos- 
session of Portugal without firing a single 
gim. The insurrection in Spain, how- 
ever, soon communicated itself across the 
frontier to his Spanish auxiliaries. Six- 
teen Spanish battalions revolted at Opor- 
to, and were disarmed by him, with the 
rest of their countrymen. His force was 
thus reduced to about 25,000 men. In- 
surrections now broke out in the north of 
Portugal ; he was threatened in his com- 
munications with France. The Spanish 
insurrection of Andalusia and Estrema- 
dura,and the appearance of a British force 
at Ayamonte, disturbed the province of 
the Algarves in the south. The French 
garrisons and detachments were, after a 
short time, generally enveloped in insur- 
rection, and in some minor conflicts over- 
powered by numbers ; Junot's position, 
already critical, seemed desperate upon 
the appearance of a British fleet in the 
Tagus, with general Spencer and his 
division on board. He called a council 
of officers ; the result of this and a second 
military council was, that Junot should 
concentrate his force upon Lisbon, with 
a view to defend the capital and left bank 
of the Tagus to the last extremity ; se- 
curing, at the same time, his retreat by 
Elvas, on Madrid, Segovia, or Valladolid. 
Whilst general Spencer, who had aban- 
doned Portugal, very opportunely for the 
French, was seeking, but not meeting, 
adventures in the south, and sir Arthur 



Wellesley, who had sailed from Cork on 
his first peninsular expedition, with from 
9,000 to 10,000 men, was conferring with 
the junta of Gallicia and the Bishop of 
Oporto, Junot had time to execute the 
essential, and by far the most difficult 
part of his design — that of concentrating 
his forces towards Lisbon. Sir Arthur 
Wellesley began the landing of his troops 
on the 1st, at the little fortress of Figueira, 
but did not complete it until the 8th, and, 
being re-enforced by general Spencer, 
commenced his first movement on the 9th 
of August. The French general Laborde, 
with a force short of 3,000 men, advanced 
from Lisbon to watch and retard, rather 
than resist, the march of the British, gave 
battle on the 17th, at the village of Roli- 
ca, signalised himself in this unequal 
contest, and fell back in good order. On 
the 1 9th the British commander took a 
position in advance at the village of Vi- 
miera, where he halted twenty-four hours. 
On the night of the 20th, or rather at 
day-break on the 21st, a stafli'-officer has- 
tily announced to him the advance of 
Junot with his main army. Tlie British 
general would not believe it ; day-light, 
however, convinced him of the fact. An 
advanced guard of French cavalry was 
seen moving from Torres Vedras. The 
surprise of sir Arthur Wellesley was natu- 
ral; Junot's disposable force was scarcely 
half sir Arthur's, now further re-enforced 
by the divisions which had just landed 
under generals Acland and Anstruther ; 
but with extraordinary activity and bold- 
ness he had left Lisbon, concentrated his 
disposable forces at Torres Vedras, and, 
at the head of only 9,200 men, tried the 
hazard of a battle with 16,000 British 
troops, supported by Portuguese auxil- 
iaries. The French charged impetuously 
at several points, were foiled in the first 
shock by the steadiness and numbers of 
the British, and after a short but gallant 
conflict retreated on Torres Vedras, with 
the loss of ten pieces of cannon, and 2,000 
killed, wounded, and prisoners. 

Sir Harry Burrard had arrived to take 
the chief command on the 20th ; witness- 
ed the battle of the 21st as a spectator; 
took the command after the engagement, 
and overruled sir Arthur Wellesley's pro- 
posal for an immediate pursuit. He had 



390 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



also checked the advance of Sir Arthur 
the preceding day. The still formidable 
organization of the French in their re- 
treat, their great superiority in cavalry, 
the expectation of re-enforcements under 
sir John Moore, and the utter deficiency 
of the British in cavalry, cavalry and 
artillery horses, vv^ere the grounds of his 
opinion. The question between the two 
British commanders is speculative, un- 
certain, and purely military ; but the tide 
of opinion has run in favor of the great 
captain. 

Junot halted at a short distance from 
the field of battle, before the defile of 
Torres Vedras, re-formed his battalions 
with quickness and facility, and called a 
council of war. He held a second coun- 
cil next morning (the 22nd). Upon a 
comparison of his resources with those 
of the British, his position was judged 
untenable. It was resolved that nothing 
remained but to fall back upon Lisbon, 
and defend it to the last extremity, or 
obtain "an honorable capitulation." Ac- 
cordingly general Kellerman, son of the 
marshal, was sent to the British head- 
quarters, under pretence of conferring 
respecting the prisoners and wounded, 
with written terms of capitulation. 

Sir Harry Burrard, who had superseded 
sir Arthur Wellesley on the evening of the 
21st, was himself superseded by sir Hew 
Dalrymple on the 22nd. The folly of 
such arrangements is obvious ; but it was 
ascribed to the ministers at home, who 
unwisely dictated points of attack, and 
the plan of the campaign, without an ade- 
quate knowledge of the country. Sir Hew 
had hardly assumed the command, when 
Kellerman was seen approaching with an 
escort of cavalry, and a flag of truce ; 
the result was the conclusion of an ar- 
mistice, and of the celebrated convention 
of Cintra, in pursuance of which the 
French were to be conveyed with their 
arms, baggage, and military honors, in 
British ships to France. 

Sir Hew Dalrymple was recalled, sir 
Arthur Wellesley returned on leave of ab- 
sence ; and after some time sir Harry Bur- 
rard resigned his command, and also came 
to England, and was succeeded by sir 
John Moore, who was now elevated to the 
chief command of the troops in Portugal. 



On the 6th of October sir John Moore 
received orders from England to advance 
with 25,000 men, into Spain, where he 
should be joined by 10,000 more, ac- 
tually on their way from England to 
Corunna, under the command of sir Da- 
vid Baird. It was left to his discretion 
whether he should enter Spain by sea or 
land. He chose the latter, set out on the 
26th of October upon his fatal, but not in- 
glorious, expedition, reached the frontier 
at Almeida on the 8th, and occupied 
Salamanca with his advanced posts on 
the 13th of November. Supposing this 
direct route impossible by gun carriages 
and cavalry, he sent his artillery and 
cavalry with an escort by the circuitous 
route of Elvas, Badajos, Merida, and 
Talavera, to fall into and rejoin him by 
the great road of Madrid and Valladolid. 
This division of his force, and the addi- 
tional march of 150 leagues, has been 
severely judged by French military wri- 
ters ; not, however, as the fault of sir 
John Moore, but as part of the system 
of slow and safe movements adopted by 
the British generals. Sir John Moore 
ought, perhaps, to have staked the lives 
and eflbrts of his men with less caution 
and humanity. The French generals 
gave more to hazard, and drew more 
recklessly upon the stamina of human 
effort and endurance. Sir John Moore 
halted at Salamanca. His situation was 
one of the most discouraging. He found 
the course of operations dictated to him 
ill-chosen, the Spanish armies with 
which he was to co-operate dispersed, 
the Spanish junta ignorant, incapable, 
perverse, and Napoleon with his lieuten- 
ants bearing upon him with an over- 
whelming force ; his opinion wavered. 
This, in a great emergency, is more fatal 
than resolute error ; he determined to fall 
back upon Portugal, and sent the neces- 
sary orders to sir David Baird in Gallicia. 

Intelligence reached him that Madrid 
was imitating the resistance of Saragos- 
sa ; the junta and Mr. Frere urged upon 
him the enthusiasm of the Spaniards, 
and the necessity of operating to relieve 
" the heroic capital ;" he abandoned his 
intention of a retrograde movement, and 
formed the design of advancing upon 
Valladolid, so as to menace the enemy's 



i 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



391 



communications. An intercepted des- 
patch fortunately discovered to him an 
error which would have proved fatal, and 
the real position of the enemy. Madrid 
had held out but a single day ! A French 
corps was advancing by Talavera upon 
Badajos, under Lefebvre, to cut off his 
retreat upon Portugal ; another under 
Soult was marching to intercept the route 
to Corunna ; and Napoleon himself was 
advancing upon Valladolid with the corps 
of Ney, and the cavalry of the imperial 
guard under Bessieres, to manceuvre ac- 
cording to circumstances, with the hope 
of making the British lay down their 
arras. Moore, thus formidably pressed, 
marched upon Toro, formed a junction 
with Baird on the 21st of December, 
and concerted with the Spanish general, 
Romana, an attack upon the corps of 
Soult. Lord Paget distinguished him- 
self, in passing, by a brilliant affair of 
cavalry at Sahagun. The British troops 
supposed themselves approaching a de- 
cisive battle, and looked with confidence 
to the result. Napoleon, on the other 
hand, who was aware of the British 
movement against Soult, announced in an 
order of the day, " that the hour was at 
last arrived when the Engli.sh leopard 
sliould fly before the French eagles," 
and had his head quarters on the 25th at 
Tordesillas. 

Intelligence had, in the mean time, 
reached sir John Moore, that Soult, re- 
enforced by the corps of Junot, which 
had capitulated in Portugal, was advanc- 
ing upon Astorga, while Napoleon him- 
self was moving upon the same point by 
the great road of Madrid, with the corps 
of Ney and the cavalry of Bessieres. 
To risk a battle under such circumstan- 
ces could only have been folly. Di- 
viding his force, he retreated by two 
routes, upon Benevente, where he arrived 
on the 26th ; his rear-guard separated 
from the advanced-guard of the French 
only by the river Esla. The British 
had broken down the bridge in their rear. 
General Lefebvre Desnouettes forded the 
river at the head of three squadrons of 
the chasseurs of the imperial guard, at- 
tacked the British pickets, whom he 
thought unsupported, soon found himself 
enveloped by the British cavalry under 



Lord Paget and general Charles Stew- 
art (lord Londonderry,) retreated, and 
was wounded and made prisoner, with 
about seventy men, in his attempt to cross 
the Esla. The French again formed 
themselves on the opposite bank for a 
desperate charge to rescue their com- 
mander, when they found their return ef- 
fectually checked by the advance of five 
light field-pieces, which opened upon 
them with grape-shot. They fought gal- 
lantly, and retreated in good order from 
an overwhelming superiority of num- 
bers. 

Sir John Moore continued his retreat 
upon Villa Franca. It was now the end 
of December. The weather and roads 
were dreadful. Baggage, ammunition, 
and guns, were destroyed and abandoned, 
and horses shot by their riders, to pre- 
vent their falling into the hands of the en- 
emy. The army threw aside all discip- 
line, and the horrors of the retreat be- 
came indescribable. The men deserted 
their colors, abandoned themselves to 
pillage, and were left behind to perish by 
hunger, cold, drunkenness, the sabres of 
the enemy, or the rage and vengeance 
of the Spanish peasantry, infuriated by 
the excesses of the British on their route. 
The superior officers lost all control, and 
the inferior shared the excesses of the 
men. But the chief officers, in the first 
instance, had assumed the freedom of 
opinion, of a civil democracy ; and the 
body of the army, corrupted by their ex- 
ample, now committed the excesses of 
military anarchy. Sir John Moore un- 
happily lost his temper, and issued angry 
orders of the day, in a case demanding 
the sternness of Roman discipline. After 
a march of twenty-five leagues in forty- 
eight hours, sir John Moore arrived at 
Lugo, on the 6th of January. The en- 
cumbered state of the roads, occasioned 
by the quantity of baggage, ammunition, 
carts, guns, and slain horses, abandoned 
by the British, fortunately retarded the 
march of the French. Napoleon having 
ordered Marshal Soult to " drive the 
j English into the sea," bad fallen back 
upon Valladolid, whence he reached 
Paris on the 23rd of January, to prepare 
against the storm which had gathered 
I against him in Germany. 



392 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



Sir John halted his troops at Lugo, from | 
the 6th to the 9th. On the 8th, both ar- 
mies prepared for action. A partial af- 
fair took place, and sir John Moore con- 
tinued his retreat next morning. On the 
11th, the British advanced-guard beheld 
the walls of Corunna and the sea with 
a cry of joy, like that which burst 
from the Greeks in the retreat of the 
10,000. From the r2th to the 16th, sir 
John Moore was occupied in strengthen- 
ing his position and embarking his sick, 
wounded, cavalry, and part of his artille- 
ry ; ready to give battle, but unmolested 
by the French. On the 16th, marshal 
Soult, being now joined by the columns 
of his rear-guard, attacked the British. 
He charged the right with great impetu- 
osity ; but w^as repulsed by Moore's ju- 
diciously placed reserves. Sir David 
Baird, who commanded the right, had 
his right arm shot away ; and sir John 
Moore himself, Avhilst directing and 
cheering a charge of the forty-second, 
was mortally wounded by a cannon ball ; 
sir John Hope succeeded to the com- 
mand. The French were repulsed at 
all points. Night separated the combat- 
ants ; and next day the British troops 
were embarked for England. 

After the British army had embarked 
from Corunna, the French emperor bent all 
his eftbrts to the subjugation of Spain. A 
number of fugitives from the army of 
Castanos, which was defeated at Tudela 
on the 23rd of November, 1809, had re- 
treated to Saragossa, and, together with 
its martial citizens and armed peasants 
from the country, composed a body of 
50,000 men, under the command of the 
renowned Palafox. The siege was con- 
ducted by the duke of Montebello, one of 
the ablest of the French generals. On 
the 26th of January the French made 
their grand attack. About noon on the 
following day the breach was practi- 
cable, and the assailants entered the 
city. General Lacosta, and a great 
number of their bravest officers and men, 
fell in the assault. The determined re- 
solution of the inhabitants, who disputed 
every inch of ground, and converted 
every house into a fortress, reduced the 
French to the necessity of mining and 
blowing up the houses. The Spaniards, 



on their part, had recourse to counter- 
mining ; and the effects of this subter- 
ranean war were dreadfully destructive. 
During these operations the batteries 
kept up an incessant fire ; and, by mining 
and blowing up the houses as they pro- 
ceeded, the French, on the 17th of Feb- 
ruary, at length became masters of the 
city. No fewer than 20,000 of its brave 
defenders were at this time buried under 
its ruins. 

A series of disasters now occurred to 
the patriot cause. The French army in 
Catalonia made three powerful attacks 
on that of the Spaniards under general 
Reding. In the last of these the Span- 
ish general, after an obstinate conflict, in 
which he was severely wounded, was on 
the 12th of March, driven from his posi- 
tion, and compelled to retire to Tan-ago- 
na. Soon after general Cuesta was de- 
feated on the 29th of March, at Medel- 
lin, and obliged to retreat to Monasterio. 
The patriots about this time recovered 
Vigo ; but their casual advantages were 
sunk in the long train of disasters which 
followed, and the French made them- 
selves masters of the centre of Spain. 

On the 22nd of x\pril, sir Arthur Wel- 
lesley landed at Lisbon, with large re-en- 
forcements. Instantly repairing to Coim- 
bra, he put himself at the head of the 
allied forces, and advanced against Opor- 
to, at the same time detaching marshal 
Beresford to occupy the fords of the Up- 
per Douro. Here marshal Soult, finding 
himself in danger of being attacked, 
judged it necessary to retreat into Galli- 
cia. Meanwhile, marshal Victor had 
made himself master of Alcantara ; upon 
which the British commander returned 
to the south, and Victor retired to his for- 
mer station on the Gaudiana. 

Sir Arthur Wellesley, on the 20th of 
July, effected his junction with Cuesta at 
Oropesa ; but marshal Victor, aware of 
his danger, had by this time crossed the 
Tagus. The British and Portuguese ar- 
my now marched along the banks of the 
river towards Olalla, and took an advan- 
tageous position near Talavera de la 
Reyna. Early, on the morning of the 
28th, the enemy attacked the 13ritish in 
force, making a demonstration also on 
the opposite quarter. The battle contin- 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



393 



ued at intervals during the whole day, 
and ended in the final repulse of the 
French. 

Marshals Ney, Soult, and Mortier, then 
advanced in great force upon the rear of 
the allies, and it became necessary for 
them to retreat to Badajos. On the east- 
ern side of the peninsula, general Blake, 
after a fruitless attempt to recover Sara- 
gossa, was attacked and totally routed by 
the duke of Albufera (marshal Suchet) 
on the 1 9th of June ; and this disaster 
was followed by a much greater : for the 
central army, said to consist of 50,000 
men, under the marquis Anizaga, advanc- 
ing upon Madrid, with the view of pass- 
ing the Tagus at Aranjuez, was encoun- 
tered on the 19th November, by the 
French, under king Joseph, assisted by 
the marshals Soult, Mortier and Victor, 
at O^ana, near the south bank of that 
river, when the action terminated in a 
signal victory on the part of the French. 
The vanquished army retreated in con- 
fusion beyond the mountains. In the 
month of December the strong and im- 
portant fortress of Gerona, after a long 
resistance, surrendered to marshal Au- 
gereau. 

An undertaking of some moment oc- 
cupied the attention of the British min- 
istry during the summer of 1 809 : the 
memorable Walcheren expedition. To- 
wards the end of July an army of 40,000 
men was collected under the command 
of the earl of Chatham, assisted by a na- 
val force, under the direction of sir Rich- 
ard Strachan. The principal object of 
the expedition was to gain possession of 
the islands commanding the entrance of 
the Scheldt, and the port of Flushing. 

The armament invested Flushing on 
the 1st of August. A dreadful cannon- 
ade and bombardment commenced on the 
13th, which on the 15th produced from 
the commander of the garrison, general 
Monnet, a request for a suspension of 
arms. This was followed by the surren- 
der of nearly 6,000 men prisoners of war. 
During the sieg-s of this place, a great 
number of troops from the Belgic and 
nearest French provinces, were assem- 
bled for the defence of Antwerp ; so 
that an attack upon that important place, 
and the fleet lying under its fortifications, 
50 



whatever might have been its success at 
the commencement of the enterprise, was 
now thought too hazardous. The troops 
Ukewise were becoming sickly, and lord 
Chatham was induced to depart for Eng- 
land on the 14th of September, with 
the greatest part of his army. In the 
middle of September, a requisition was 
made for a number of the peasantry of 
the island to repair and strengthen the 
fortifications of Flushing ; and, near the 
end of October, a hundred artificers ar- 
rived from England with building materi- 
als. Towards the middle of November, 
however, the demolition of the works 
and basin for shipping was begun ; and 
on the 23rd of December, Walcheren 
was completely evacuated by the British 
army, one-half of which were either dead 
or on the sick list. 

Lord CoUingwood, who had succeed- 
ed Nelson in the chief command of the 
ships in the Mediterranean, having pro- 
posed to general Stuart an expedition 
against the islands of Zante, Cephalonia, 
and others, whilst the French should be 
occupied with the defence of Naples, a 
joint force from Messina, Malta, and Cor- 
fu, was arranged for this purpose, and on 
the first of October, it anchored in the 
bay of Zante. On the following day, a 
capitulation was agreed on, by which all 
that group of islands surrendered to the 
British arms, and the old government was 
restored. 

Mr. Jefferson having been succeeded 
in the office of president of the United 
States of America, by Mr. Madison, in 
1809, the embargo, which had been se- 
verely felt from its long continuance, was 
repealed, and an act substituted prohibit- 
ing all intercourse with France and Eng- 
land, with a proviso, that, if either na- 
tion rescinded its obnoxious decrees, the 
prohibition relative to that nation should 
cease. Mr. Erskine, the English envoy 
in America, was consequently empower- 
ed to promise, that, if the American in- 
terdiction of July, 1807, were withdrawn, 
the commerce of America with the 
French colonies, should be placed on the 
same footing as in times of peace, the 
British cruisers being allowed to capture 
all vessels trading contrary to this re- 
striction. But Mr. Erskine ventured also, 



394 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



without proper authority, to declare the 
orders in council rescinded from the 10th 
• of June, 1809, on the general engage- 
ment " that an envoy extraordinary would 
be received by the president, with a dis- 
position correspondent to that of his 
Britannic majesty." The British gov- 
ernment, however, refused its ratification 
to this agreement. 

At the commencement of 1 8 1 the cause 
of Spanish independence, as far as it de- 
pended on the people of Spain, was al- 
most hopeless. The most interesting 
events of the campaign occurred on the 
side of Portugal. I'he great eftbrt of 
France was to obtain entire possession of 
that country. For this purpose it had 
been determined to commence with the 
reduction of the fort of Ciudad Rodrigo 
and Almeida. As soon, therefore, as 
the capture of Oviedo and Astorga had 
set at liberty a part of the French troops 
employed to keep in check the Spaniards 
of the northern provinces, marshal Ney 
began to invest the former, and it sur- 
rendered July 10th. In the mean time 
marshal Massena arrived from France, to 
take the command of the army destined 
for the conquest of Portugal, and con- 
sisting of about 80,000 men. 

Almeida was next invested, and the 
trenches were opened in the middle of 
August. It was garrisoned by 5,000 men, 
partly English and partly Portuguese, 
commanded by British oihcers, and its 
governor was brigadier-general Cox. 
The vigor of the defence would proba- 
bly have long retarded its fall, had not a 
bomb alighted on the principal magazine, 
which occasioned a terrible and most 
destructive explosion. Massena now 
withheld his fire, and sent a flag of truce 
offering terms of capitulation, which, on 
the 27th of August, were acceded to. 
The great contest for the possession of 
the country was now to commence. Dur- 
ing the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo the prin- 
cipal post of the British army was at 
Guarda, whence the French lines might 
be described, but nothing of consequence 
could be undertaken for its relief. After 
the surrender of Almeida, lord Welling- 
ton concentrated the different divisions of 
the allied army, and began his retreat 
towards Lisbon. He had formed a de- 



fensive plan, to which he steadily ad- 
hered. At the same time he put fully 
into practice the efficacious though severe 
policy of entirely destroying all the re- 
sources of the coimtry in the line of 
march. On the 21st of September all 
the force under Massena was concentra- 
ted at Viseu, where he halted for a time ; 
during which lord Wellington passed to 
the right of the Mondego, and occupied 
with his centre and left wing the Si- 
erra Busaco, which extends to that river. 
Massena, on arriving in front of his po- 
sition on the 26th, resolved upon an at- 
tack. The French pushed up the 
heights with great courage in different 
parts, and one division reached the sum- 
mit of the ridge ; they were, however, 
met with equal resolution at the point of 
the bayonet, and were finally repulsed 
with great loss, 2,000 men being left on 
the field. The loss of the English and 
Portuguese was also considerable. Mas- 
sena now made a circuitous march upon 
Coimbra ; but lord Wellington anticipa- 
ted his object, and arrived there before 
him. The place, however, affording no 
advantages for defence, he continued his 
retreat to the strong lines of Torres 
Vedras. 

The isles of Bourbon and France, in 
the Indian Ocean, which had so long 
been a great annoyance to the East India 
trade, were this year brought under the 
dominion of Great Britain. Lord Minto, 
governor-general of India, having laid 
the plan for their reduction, a body of 
Europeans and Sepoys, about 1,600 of 
each, sailed from Madras, and, being 
joined by about 1 ,000 more from another 
settlement, the whole under the command 
of lieutenant-colonel Keating, with a fleet 
of men-of-war and transports, the expe- 
dition arrived early in July off the island 
of Bourbon. Dispositions were made for 
an attack on the principal town, St. 
Denis, but it was prevented, on the 8th, 
by an offer to capitulate on honorable 
terms, Avhich were granted. The other 
town, St. Paul, was taken possession of 
on the 10th, and the whole island sub- 
mitted. 

In the month of November, a body of 
troops, consisting of 8,000 or 10,000, 
from India and the Cape of Good Hope, 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



395 



commanded by major-general sir John 
Abercrombie, and a fleet mider admiral 
Bertie, took possession of the Mauritius, 
or Isle of France. The garrison was 
sent to France, and to be at their own 
disposal. This was the most valuable 
of the remaining French possessions to 
the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope. 
Three frigates were afterwards des- 
patched to destroy the French batteries 
on the coast of Madagascar, which being 
eftected, there was not left to France, at 
the beginning of the following year, any 
portion of land in either the East or West 
Indies, nor yet any in the Indian Ocean. 

The differences between the govern- 
ments of Great Britain and the United 
States of America still remained unad- 
justed. On the recall of Mr. Erskine, 
Mr. Jackson had been sent to succeed 
him ; but the firm and unyielding tone 
taken by him, with the disavowal of Mr. 
Erskine's agreement, contributed to ren- 
der him unacceptable ; and the American 
plenipotentiary in London was instructed 
to demand his recall. Mr. Galatin, 
treasurer of the States, now sent letters 
to the different collectors of the customs, 
announcing the abolition of the restric- 
tions with regard to France, she having 
revoked her edicts, but declaring that 
they would be revived in full force with 
regard to Great Britain on the ensuing 
2nd day of February, should she not in 
like manner have revoked her decrees. 
By a second letter he gave his opinion that 
in the case above mentioned, all British 
goods arriving subsequently to the 2nd 
of February would be forfeited. 

The princess Amelia expired on the 
2nd of November, 1810, and the king's 
mind received a shock from the illness 
and death of the princess, from which 
he never recovered. The Prince of 
Wales now took upon himself the execu- 
tive duties as regent. The regency par- 
liament was opened on the 12th of Feb- 
ruary, 1811. 

The British campaign of 1812 in the 
peninsula was signalised only by the 
victory of Salamanca and the retreat of 
Burgos. The British troops occupied 
the frontier of Portugal, in an attitude 
which menaced Ciudad Rodrigo, whilst 
the French were disposed in an extended 



line from Salamanca to Toledo. Lord 
Wellington, taking advantage of the want 
of concentration of the French, and the 
detachment of two French corps on par- 
ticular services, invested Ciudad Rodrigo 
on the 8th, took it by assault on the 1 9th 
of January, and was created by the cortes 
duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, and a grandee 
of the first class. Having put this place 
in a state of defence, he re-occupied for a 
moment his position on the Coa ; and 
invested the stronger place of Badajos 
on the 16th of March. The garrison 
was still commanded by the French gen- 
eral Philippon, who had distinguished 
himself by his successful defence of the 
place in the preceding year. The trench- 
es were opened by the British on the 
night of the 17th. Part of the works 
were destroyed by an impetuous sally of 
the garrison on the 1 9 th. On the morn- 
ing of the 26th a fort, called La Picurina, 
was furiously cannonaded, and taken by 
storm in the evening. The garrison 
made a desperate, but ineffectual sally to 
recover it. On the 6th of April the bat- 
teries had effected three practicable 
breaches. At ten at night three columns 
advanced to the breaches, whilst another 
division proceeded to escalade a castle 
to the right, on the Giiadiana. The as- 
sault at all points was terrible. After 
two hours' carnage the castle and the 
breaches were carried, and the besieged 
driven in from the outworks. The fight- 
ing continued nearly two hours more in 
the streets, until general Philippon, who 
had retreated into a church with what 
remained of the garrison, surrendered. 
The loss was so dreadful on the side of 
the assailants as to render it doubtful 
whether the capture was a sufficient 
compensation. Marshal Soult was in 
the mean time marching from Seville for 
the relief of Badajos, and already within 
two days' march, when he received news 
of its fall. He immediately turned back 
upon Andalusia, and was pursued and 
harassed in his rear-guard by a division 
of British cavalry under sir Stapleton 
Cotton. 

Lord Wellington, having left the Gua- 
diana, proceeded with his main army 
against marshal Marmont,who had cross- 
ed the frontier into Beira. Marmont 



396 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



having made a demonstration against 
Almeida, advanced to Sabugal ; but in- 
formed of the movement of Wellington, 
repassed the Agiieda on the 23rd of April. 
While Marmont w^as engaged in making 
corresponding dispositions, general Hill 
Avas despatched by lord Wellington to 
attack the strong fort and bridge of Alma- 
rez, on the Tagus. General Hill exe- 
cuted this service by a brilliant coup-de- 
main, and having destroyed the bridge 
and forts, cut ofl" the communication be- 
tween Marmont and Soult. 

On the 12th of June, lord Wellington 
crossed the Agueda, and encamped on 
the 16th within two leagues of Salamanca. 
Marshal Marmont at the same time aban- 
doned Salamanca, moved upon the Douro, 
and crossed it on the 29th at Tordesillas, 
where he received a strong re-enforcement. 

After various movements and partial 
affairs, the two main armies, under Wel- 
lington and Marmont, came to a general 
engagement, on the 22nd of July, at the 
heights called Arapiles, near Salamanca. 
The time from day-break to one o'clock 
passed in preliminary movements, and 
partial attacks. Marmont then opened a 
heavy fire upon the allied front, and the 
Portuguese gave way. This advantage 
was followed on the part of Marmont by 
complicated movements, executed with- 
out that unison and vivacity which could 
alone cover their irregularity and compli- 
cation. A French division separated and 
committed itself by a rash movement in 
advance against the British right. Lord 
Wellington perceived both errors, and 
took advantage of them by strengthening 
his right, and making an impetuous attack. 
This masterly movement decided the 
battle, and has obtained the praise of all 
the French historians of the campaign. 

On the 23rd the retreating French met 
the advanced guard of king Joseph, on 
his way to join Marmont. That general 
had precipitated the engagement under 
very disadvantageous circumstances, and 
it had in consequence failed. Clausel 
retreated through Valladolid upon Burgos. 
liOrd Wellington having continued in hot 
pursuit of the enemy to Valladolid, which 
he occupied on the 30th, had his head 
quarters on the 4th of August at Cuellar, 
where he posted a strong detachment to 



observe the line of the Douro, arrived at 
Segovia on the 5th, and marched through 
the mountain roads and passes to Madrid. 

The Spanish capital was evacuated by 
king Joseph on the 1 1th ; and entered by 
lord Wellington, amidst enthusiastic de- 
monstrations of joy, on the 12th of Au- 
gust. The army of Marmont was still 
disorganised, and that of king Joseph too 
weak to make head against lord Welling- 
ton. Soult saw that nothing short of a 
concentration of the French armies could 
compel lord Wellington to fall back upon 
Portugal, and accordingly raised the 
siege of Cadiz, with the intention of 
abandoning Andalusia, on the 25th of 
August. This event was more important, 
and created a greater sensation, than even 
the flight of Joseph from the capital. 
The cortes, so long pent up in the Isle 
of Leon, were now free, and with a wis- 
dom rarely exercised in moments of ex- 
ultation, conferred on lord Wellington 
the command in chief of the Spanish 
armies. The capture of Ciudad Rodrigo 
and Badajos had raised him from a vis- 
count to an earl ; the victory of Sala- 
manca and occupation of Madrid, made 
him a marquis. 

General Clausel, finding that lord 
Wellington no longer pursued him, and 
had bent his course upon Madrid, re-oc- 
cupied ValladoUd on the 19th of August; 
re-organised his army ; was re-enforced 
by general Souham, and sent out a strong 
detachment, which compelled general 
Anson to recross the Douro. Lord Wel- 
lington, startled by this offensive attitude 
of an army which he had thought wholly 
incapacitated, left Madrid on the 1st, and 
arrived at Valladolid on the 5th of Sep- 
tember. Clausel again retreated upon 
Burgos. Souham here took the command 
in place of Clausel, who was suflering 
from his wound received at the battle of 
Salamanca, left a garrison of 1 ,800 or 
2,000 men in the castle of Burgos, and 
removed his head-quarters to Briviesca. 

Lord Wellington had not the neces- 
sary battering train for a regular siege ; 
but Burgos was the only dep6t which 
remained to the French army of Portugal, 
and he determined to attempt the capture 
of this fortress by breaches, mines, and 
assaults. After thirty-five days' siege, 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



397 



during which he sprang four mines, made 
five breaches, aud as many assaults, and 
encountered two vigorous sallies, he 
abandoned the enterprise, and commen- 
ced a retreat, which proved nearly as 
disastrous as that of sir John Moore, and, 
by his own account, still more disorderly. 
Lord Wellington threw away time, and 
above 2,000 men, upon the castle of Bur- 
gos, with a fatal pertinacity ; he found at 
last the united armies of king Joseph 
and Soult bearing upon him, the army of 
Marmont (under Souham) threatening 
his communications, and nothing left to 
him but a precipitate escape back to the 
Douro. 

This retreat continued from the 20th 
of October to the 24th of November, 
when Wellington arrived at his former 
head-quarters on the frontier of Portugal. 

King Joseph returned once more to 
Madrid ; Soult, who took the chief com- 
mand of the combined French armies, 
established his head-quarters at Toledo, 
with his right resting on Salamanca ; and 
lord Wellington took up his winter quar- 
ters in a strongly protected line upon the 
frontier. The campaign was now ended. 

Whilst the lieutenants of Napoleon 
were thus engaged with the British in 
the peninsula, he pursued in person his 
career of valor, victory, and military 
genius, from Wilna to Moscow, and at 
the close of the Spanish campaign was 
already surrounded with the horrors of 
his Russian retreat. 

The campaign of this year in Spain 
commenced with an attack of Suchet's 
(13th of April) on the line of the allies, 
in which, however, he was repulsed. 
Before the end of May, lord Wellington 
moved in great force by the route of Sal- 
amanca towards Madrid ; the new king 
once more quitting the capital. On the 
approach of the British, the enemy con- 
tinued his march towards the Ebro. The 
allies, by a sudden movement to the left, 
having crossed that river near its source, 
found the French encamped in front of 
the town of Vittoria, under the command 
of Joseph Bonaparte and marshal Jour- 
dan ; Soult having been summoned to 
the aid of Napoleon. On the 21st of 
June, lord Wellington resolved upon at- 
tacking them. The battle began with a 



severe contest for the heights of Arlan- 
zon, on the left of the French. These 
being at length carried by general Hill, 
he passed a rivulet which ran through 
the valley, as did general Picton at the 
head of another division. Nearly at the 
same time general Graham, on the oppo- 
site wing, forced his passage over two 
bridges thrown across the stream ; on 
which, after a severe contest, the whole 
French army retreated in good order on 
Vittoria, whence they continued their 
march towards Pampeluna. A great 
number of cannon, and stores of all kinds 
to a vast amount, now fell into the hands 
of the allies, and the retreat of the 
French became so rapid as not to permit 
them to carry off their baggage; 115 
pieces of cannon, and 415 wagons of 
ammunition, fell into the hands of the 
victors. 

The centre of the French retreating 
army having maintained itself on the 
Spanish side of the frontier, general Hill 
made an attack upon them with a com- 
bined force of British and Portuguese, 
and obliged them to withdraw into France. 
Marshal Soult joined the army on the 
13th of July. On the 24th, he collected 
his right and left wings, and a part of 
his centre, at St. Jean Pied de Port, to 
the amoimt of 30,000 or 40,000 men, 
and made an attack on an English post 
at Roncevalles, in which he was victo- 
rious, and the neighboring posts were 
consequently withdrawn. Various ope- 
rations of attack and defence were now 
carried on. The siege of St. Sebastian 
had, in the meantime, been proceeding 
under sir Thomas Graham ; and an un- 
successful attempt to storm the place had 
been made on the 25th of July, which 
occasioned severe loss. On the 31st of 
August it was again stormed by order of 
lord Wellington, and though attended 
with peculiar and unforeseen difficulties, 
the effort succeeded, at the cost of 2,300 
in killed and wounded. 

On the 7th of October, lord Welling- 
ton entered France, by crossing the Bi- 
dassoa at different fords. The strong 
fortress of Pampeluna, which had been 
blockaded from the time of the battle of 
Vittoria, was induced to accept of a ca- 
pitulation on the 31st. Lord Wellington 



398 



GREAT BRITAIN, 



now put into execution a plan which he 
had projected to force the centre of the 
enemy, and estabUsh the alhed army in 
the rear of their right. The attack was 
made on the 10th of November, and af- 
ter a variety of actions, which occupied 
the whole day, the purpose was attained. 
The French, during the night, quitted all 
their works and posts in front of St. Jean 
de Leon ; and, being pursued on the 
next day, retired to an intrenched camp 
in front of Bayonne. On the 9th of De- 
cember the river Nive was crossed by a 
part of the allied army ; and on the four 
following days several desperate attacks 
were made by the French during the 
completion of this passage, which were 
finally repelled, and the enemy, after 
great loss, withdrew to his intrench- 
ments. The British and Portuguese, 
during these days, lost between 4,000 
and 5,000 in killed, wounded and miss- 
ing. The year closed with lord Wel- 
lington's obtaining a firm footing on the 
French territory. 

In 1812, war was declared by the 
United States against Great Britain. 
The Americans directed their principal 
efforts against Canada. They were, 
however, unable to effect any thing of 
importance in the way of conquest. On 
the ocean they were much more success- 
ful. A treaty of peace between the two 
powers was signed at Ghent, December 
25th, 1814. 

The great battle of Waterloo was 
fought June 18th, 1815. (See Nether- 
lands.) This is one of the most impor- 
tant events in British history. It decided 
the fate of Napoleon, and gave peace to 
Europe. The marriage of the princess 
Charlotte, on the 3rd of May, 1816, was 
an event which excited the greatest joy. 
All the circumstances tended to give un- 
alloyed satisfaction. It was a marriage 
of choice, in which political calculations 
had no weight. The chosen husband 
was the third son of a minor German 
prince, a captain of cavalry in the Aus- 
trian service, with hardly any other for- 
tune than his sword. His advantages of 
person, the reputation of an amiable 
character, and an accomplished mind, 
and, above all, his being the choice of 
the princess, made him the popular idol 



of the hour. At nine in the evening, the 
marriage was solemnised with extraor- 
dinary magnificence in the apartment 
called the crimson chamber, in Carlton 
House. The duke of Clarence introdu- 
ced the bride, and the prince regent gave 
her away. In the course of the ensuing 
summer it was observed that the princess 
and her father did not meet as frequent- 
ly as they had previously done. This 
circumstance was ascribed to their hav- 
ing again disagreed about the princess 
of Wales, it being then the intention of 
the regent to separate himself from his 
wife by a divorce. But the plan was 
abandoned through the spirited conduct 
of her daughter, and no open act of hos- 
tility was entered into against the prin- 
cess of Wales during the life of the 
princess Charlotte. The death of the 
young princess took place on the 18th 
of November, a few hours after having 
given birth to a still-born child. 

On the 23rd of January, 1820, died the 
duke of Kent, fourth son of George III, 
a prince of humane and manly character, 
leaving behind him an infant princess, a 
few months old, since become heir pre- 
sumptive to the crown. On the following 
28th of the same month died George III, 
and it is pleasing to observe that he had 
scarcely a moment of physical pain to 
disturb his last hour. 

George IV went through the usual for- 
malities on his accession to the throne ; 
and the ministers of the regent, having 
resigned their seals of office to the king, 
received them back as a matter of course. 
The remains of George III were deposit- 
ed in that last abode of royalty in Eng- 
land, the vauh in St. George's Chapel at 
Windsor, on the 16th of February. 

Parliament had adjourned from the 2nd 
to the 1 7th of February. On that day 
lord Castlereagh presented a message 
from the crown, announcing a speedy 
j dissolution, and recommending an imme- 
1 diate provision for the indispensable exi- 
gencies of the state, in the interval be- 
tween the dissolution of the present and 
> the return of a new parliament. A simi- 
j lar communication was made by lord Liv- 
' erpool to the house of lords. After ad- 
j dresses of condolence had been voted to 
, the king and the duchess of Kent, some 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



899 



strictures had been passed by the oppo- 
sition on the singularity of making parlia- 
ment formally acquainted with the period 
of its duration beforehand, and the sup- 
plies had been brought under discussion, 
a topic by far the most marked, not alone 
of the year, but of the age, in this coun- 
try, was incidentally touched on. The 
late princess of Wales, now queen of 
George IV, was no longer prayed for in 
the liturgy. Mr. Hume condemned this 
omission. Lord Castlereagh deprecated 
the discussion of so delicate a matter. 
The members of the opposition, who 
were in the confidence and interest of 
the queen, either from want of communi- 
cation with her, or the fear of acting 
prematurely, maintained a guarded re- 
serve. 

About this period a conspiracy was 
discovered to have been formed by 
an individual named Thistlewood, and a 
band of about a dozen murderous despe- 
radoes. Their plot was to murder the 
ministers of the crown whilst sitting at a 
cabinet dinner at the house of Lord Har- 
rowby, then rush out, raise the standard 
of insurrection, and constitute themselves 
the heads of a provisional government. 
The plot was disclosed to the ministers, 
who made arrangements for surprising 
the savage criminals in their den, at the 
moment when they were to issue from it 
for the perpetration of their crime. They 
were captured on the 23rd of February, 
by the police and military, in Cato-street 
near the Edgware road, and after a strict 
examination and trial, several of them 
were executed. 

The public mind was now engaged and 
excited by one engrossing topic — the dis- 
sensions between George IV and his con- 
sort. The queen's movements from the 
Alps towards England, during the latter 
part of the month of May, were announced 
by her friends with menacing triumph, and 
watched by her husband and his party 
with much bravado, but with manifest 
signs of fear. It may here, however, be 
expedient, to advert for a moment to some 
preceding circumstances. 

The degradation of the princess of 
Wales had been contemplated two years 
before, and abandoned only through the 
remonstrances of her daughter. Scarcely 



however had the princess Charlotte de- 
scended into the grave, when the sub- 
ject was secretly revived. In 1818, two 
emissaries had been sent to Italy, charged 
with a secret commission to collect evi- 
dence respecting the conduct of the prin- 
cess of Wales. Arrived at Milan, these 
persons (Messrs. Coke and Powel) were 
joined by two other agents — colonel 
Browne, an Englishman well acquainted 
with the language and character of the 
people, and an Italian named Vimercati. 
This commission sat for a considera- 
ble time, and collected a great mass of 
evidence. 

The accession of her husband placed 
the princess in a new and curious situa- 
tion. She had ceased to be princess of 
Wales, and not having been duly an- 
nounced, was not recognized as queen of 
England. But neither the forms of diplo- 
macy abroad, nor the regal power and 
hatred of her husband at home, could de- 
prive her of the new and important rights 
with which she became invested as queen 
consort. The accession of George IV, 
had but recently taken place when he 
proposed to his cabinet to commence 
proceedings against her. His object was 
a divorce ; but by the process contem- 
plated, she would be put upon her trial 
for high treason. The ministers had be- 
fore them at this time the whole of the 
evidence taken by the Milan commission- 
ers, but they still declined proceeding ; 
and, finding the king intractable, tendered 
their resignations. For twenty-four hours 
the crown was without responsible min- 
isters ; an attempt made to form an ad- 
ministration under lord Wellesley failed, 
and the former ministers were reinstated. 
The first overt act against the queen was 
the exclusion of her name from the liturgy 
in its new form. 

After a fruitless negotiation between 
lord Hutchinson and Mr. Brougham, the 
queen at once returned to England. She 
landed at Dover on the 6th of June. Nei- 
ther the king nor his ministers contem- 
plated her arrival, and the commandant 
received her with a royal salute. Had 
this ceremony been omitted, the vast 
multitude, the banners, the shouts, and 
the real enthusiasm which met her on 
the beach, would have consoled her. 



400 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



From Dover to London, her journey was 
a continually increasing triumphant pro- 
cession. The metropolis poured out her 
vast population, as if to give her assu- 
rance that she had friends. The proces- 
sion w^ent along Pall Mall, — halted for a 
moment, accidentally or from design be- 
fore Carlton House, and shouted its cla- 
morous exultation in the ears of her hus- 
band. It was said that he saw her from 
one of the upper windows, and remarked 
in terms of levity and aversion, how well 
she looked. No residence was prepared 
for her ; and she proceeded to the house 
of alderman Wood, in South Audley- 
street. 

Parliament was sitting at the time. The 
king went in state to give the royal assent 
to such bills as had passed both houses ; 
and, having gone through this ceremony, 
left lord Liverpool charged with the fol- 
lowing message, to be immediately on 
his departure delivered to the house of 
lords : — 

" The king thinks it necessary, in con- 
sequence of the arrival of the queen, to 
communicate to the house of lords certain 
papers respecting the conduct of her ma- 
jesty since her departure from this king- 
dom, which he recommends to the imme- 
diate and serious attention of this house. 

" The king has felt the most anxious 
desire to avert the necessity of disclo- 
sures and discussions, which must be as 
painful to his people as they can be to 
himself; but the step now taken by the 
queen leaves him no alternative. 

" The king has the fullest confidence 
that, in consequence of this communica- 
tion, the house of lords will adopt that 
course of proceeding which the justice 
of the case, and the honor and dignity of 
his majesty's crown may require. 

" George R." 

The papers referred to were laid on 
the table under seal, in a green bag. A 
similar message and sealed bag were pre- 
sented to the house of commons by lord 
Castlereagh. Both ministers announced 
the intention to move an address to the 
king, and the reference of the papers to 
a secret committee on the following day. 
A solemn silence was observed by the 
lords, probably from an impression that 



their house would be constituted a high 
court to try the queen. 

In the house of commons several op- 
position members expressed themselves 
with great vehemence on the subject. 

The proceedings of both houses on the 
7th, were looked to with the deepest in- 
terest. Lord Liverpool having moved a 
ceremonial address, which contained no 
pledge or opinion, proposed that the pa- 
pers on the table should be submitted to 
a secret committee of fifteen peers, to be 
appointed by ballot. It was hitherto pre- 
sumed, that the course to be pursued 
against the queen, was an impeachment 
for treasonable conspiracy. Lord Liver- 
pool announced that such a course could 
not be adopted. The queen's alleged 
partner in guilt, Bergami, an alien, was 
not amenable as a traitor to the crown 
of England : to constitute conspiracy 
there must be at least two criminals ; 
and the queen, therefore, could not be 
accused of having conspired. The pro- 
ceeding by impeachment was understood 
to have been already adopted in the cab- 
inet, when this new and obvious light 
fortunately crossed the mind of the chan- 
cellor. The address was agreed to with- 
out opposition, and the secret committee 
appointed by ballot the following day. 

On the 26th of June, whilst the secret 
committee were still sitting, lord Dacre 
presented a petition from the queen, in 
which she protested against any secret 
inquiry, demanded time to bring her wit- 
nesses from abroad, and requested to be 
heard by her counsel. Messrs. Brougham, 
Denman, and Williams, afterwards pre- 
sented themselves at the bar. The first 
two spoke with great energy of the hard- 
ships of the queen's case, and the neces- 
sity of delay. On the 4th of July the 
secret committee made its report. Lord 
Dacre next day presented a petition from 
the queen, to be heard against it by her 
coimsel. This was refused; and lord 
Liverpool, in pursuance of the report, 
brought in a bill of pains and penalties. 
It was entitled " An act to deprive her 
majesty queen Caroline Amelia Elizabeth 
of the title, prerogatives, rights, privileges, 
and exemptions of queen consort of this 
realm, and to dissolve the marriage be- 
tween his majesty and the said Caroline 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



401 




Tnal of Queen Caroline. 



Amelia Elizabeth." The bill was read a 
first time, and a copy ordered to be sent 
to the queen. 

The first reading having taken place, 
counsel were heard on behalf of the 
queen ; but with the restriction that they 
should limit themselves to the time and 
mode of proceeding. The second read- 
ing was fixed for the 17th of August. — 
On the 1 1th of July the queen petitioned, 
and on the 14th lord Erskine moved that 
she should be furnished with a list of the 
witnesses against her. This advantage 
she would have had of right, in common 
with every other British subject, were 
the form of proceeding an indictment or 
impeachment for high treason. But the 
majority of the lords, under the direction 
of lord Eldon, took advantage of a legal 
technicality to withhold from her the great 
aegis of the subject against perjured wit- 
nesses and the abuse of the power of the 
crown. 

A specification of the charges, which 
she declared was necessary for enabling 
her to produce defensive evidence, was 
also refused. 

On the 19th of August, lords Grey 
and King made successive and ineffec- 
tual attempts, by motions, to quash the 
51 



investigation ; after which the attorney- 
general stated his case in support of the 
bill. This statement occupied two days, 
the 1 9th and 2 1 st of August. The close 
of it was drowned by drums, trumpets, 
and tumultuous acclamations, which an- 
nounced the approach of the queen. The 
examination of the witnesses immedi- 
ately began, and soon produced a re- 
markable incident. The queen upon 
hearing the clerk of the house call the 
name of Theodore Majocchi, the third 
witness, started from her seat with an indis- 
tinct cry, and retired from the scene. He 
had long been her confidential servant ; 
and her cry no doubt originated in surprise 
and indignation at his ungrateful treachery. 
The limits of this article will not per- 
mit us to detail the records of the inves- 
tigation. On the 7th of September the 
case against the queen was closed. An 
adjournment took place, to allow the ne- 
cessary time for preparation to the other 
side. On the 3rd of October Mr. Broug- 
ham stated the queen's defence at great 
length, and with surpassing power. He 
was ably followed by Mr. Williams on 
the same side. The examination of 
the queen's witnesses continued to the 
24th of October. 



402 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



The evidence against the bill being 
closed, Mr. Denman went over the case, 
not only with distinguished eloquence, 
but with a freedom and fearlessness 
which reached the utmost license of 
defence. 

The kings's attorney and solicitor oc- 
cupied four days, the' 27th, 28th, 29th, 
and 30th, in replying. All the counsel 
on both sides who spoke, eminently dis- 
tinguished themselves. The examina- 
tion of witnesses and the addresses of 
counsel having been brought to a close 
the discussion on the second reading of 
the bill began on the 2nd, and continued 
by adjournment to the 6th of November. 
It was then read a second time, by a ma- 
jority of 123 to 95. Lord Dacre was 
charged by the queen with a protest, 
which he presented to the house. The 
queen not having appeared in person at 
the bar, it was received only as her rep- 
resentation of her case. The house 
having gone into committee, a discussion 
took place on the divorce clause. Some 
bishops, and other supporters of the bill, 
resisted this clause from religious scru- 
ples, or the dread of recrimination by 
the queen upon her husband, of which a 
significant menace was thrown out at 
the commencement of the proceedings 
by Mr. Brougham. But the opposition 
peers voted for it, and it was carried by 
a majority of 120 to 62. This majority, 
the result of a parliamentary manoeuvre, 
proved fatal on the third reading. Many 
peers, who would have voted for the bill 
without, voted against it with the divorce 
clause ; and, on the 10th of November, 
it was read a third time by a dishearten- 
ing majority of 108 to 99. The queen 
petitioned to be heard by counsel against 
its passing. Lord Liverpool, in reply, 
declared that, with so small a majority, 
in the actual state of the public feeling, 
he and his colleagues abandoned the bill. 
The house adjourned over to the 26th of 
November. In the interval the queen 
demanded, and was refused, a royal pal- 
ace for her residence. On the 26th, af- 
ter the routine business of the house of 
commons had been gone through, Mr. 
Denman rose to present a message from 
the queen on the subject of this refusal. 
He h^d but just commenced reading it, ! 



when the usher of the black rod present- 
ed himself at the bar. His appearance 
caused an explosion of loud and tumult- 
uous murmurs. His lips moved, but not 
a word spoken by him could be heard. 
The speaker, however, left the chair, 
paced the floor amidst cries of shame, 
and other exclamations of more distinct 
import, proceeded to the house of lords, 
with the ministers and their friends in 
his train, and was informed that the ses- 
sion of parliament was prorogued. Thus 
ended, in defeat and disgrace, the do- 
mestic war which George IV carried on 
for twenty-five years against his consort. 

The next session of parliament com- 
menced on the 22nd of January, 1821, 
and it was opened by the king in person, 
with a speech characterized by a great 
degree of moderation. In the mean 
time the queen enjoyed a protracted tri- 
umph over her husband and her enemies, 
for days and even weeks after the evi- 
dence had been closed against her, per- 
sons of rank and character, who had 
previously stood aloof, now made her 
visits of respectful attention, whilst the 
road to her residence at Brandenburgh 
House was thronged with processions, 
bearing addresses of support and con- 
gratulation, and the tables of the houses 
of both lords and commons at the same 
time were loaded with petitions in her 
favor. The pretensions of her majesty 
were supported by strong minorities, and 
lord Tavistock moved a resolution of 
censure on the general system of meas- 
ures pursued against her, which, although 
not carried, tended to show the power 
she still had over the minds of the peo- 
ple. On the 11th of July, 1821, the 
house of commons was once more, and 
for the last time, occupied with the sub- 
ject of the queen. Mr. Hume moved an 
address to the king, the object of which 
was to secure the queen's participation 
in the honors of the approaching corona- 
tion ; the usher of the black rod knocked 
at the door whilst he was reading his 
resolution, and the session was immedi- 
ately prorogued. 

The coronation was fixed to take place 
on the 19th of July, and a correspond- 
ence took place between the queen and 
lord Liverpool, in which she demanded, 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



403 



and the minister refused her, participa- 
tion in the ceremony. She next memo- 
riahzed the privy council in support of 
her claim. A committee of the privy 
council, after hearing Mr. Brougham and 
Mr. Denman on her side, and the attor- 
ney-general on the other, decided against 
her. She then demanded, without effect 
from lord Sidmouth, the home secretary, 
and lord Howard of Effingham, the dep- 
uty earl marshal, a suitable place to view 
the ceremony ; and her last appeal was 
to the archbishop of Canterbury, by whom 
she desired to be crowned a day or two 
after the king, but the archbishop said 
that he could act only in obedience to his 
majesty. 

The morning of the 19th shone brightly 
upon the splendid ceremonial of the cor- 
onation, when the queen, unmoved by 
the entreaties of her friends, proceeded 
to the door of the Abbey, but was refused 
admittance by the officers on duty, and 
she was compelled to retire amidst ming- 
led expressions of disapprobation and 
applause. The proud spirit and mascu- 
line energy of the queen supported her 
but a short time longer ; and on the 30th 
of July, whilst at Drury Lane Theatre, 
she was taken seriously ill, and on the 
17th of August closed her troubled life 
at Brandenbiurgh House, having directed 
in her will that the words, " Here lies 
Caroline the injured queen of England," 
should be her epitaph. On the 14th of 
the same month, the officers of the 
throne entered into a disgraceful contest 
with her majesty's executor for the pos- 
session of her mortal remains ; and they 
were conveyed fromBrandenburgh House 
to Hanover, after having been treated 
with every indignity which the govern- 
ment could devise. 

Whilst these events were carried on, 
the king was on his way to visit Ireland, 
and the news reached him on board the 
Irishpacket. It was said, that on receiving 
the intelligence of his wife's death, that he 
wished to land privately. He left Ireland 
on the 5th of September, arrived in Lon- 
don, on the 16th, and, on the 24th, left 
England for Hanover, where he made 
his public entry on the 11th of October. 
On the 5th of May, 1821, Napoleon 
Bonaparte departed this life at St. He- 



lena? It may be proper to observe that 
his confinement on that island — ^the treat- 
ment he received — the unsparing rigor 
with which he was watched by sir Hud- 
son Lowe — and his immoveable firmness 
under all his sufferings, have disarmed 
the hatred of most of his cotemporaries, 
and increased the respect of his adhe- 
rents. He maintained his character in 
the miseries of exile as in the palace of 
the Tuilleries. 

The last session of the reign of George 
IV was opened by commission, on the 
4th of February, 1830. He did not live 
to witness its close, or the great political 
events which rendered this a memorable 
year. For the two previous years, he 
had almost wholly secluded himself at 
Windsor. His infirmities had been 
growing rapidly upon him. He had fre- 
quent attacks of gout, tendency to in- 
flammation, oppressed breathing, and 
depression of spirits ; his person had 
also reached a most remarkable degree 
of corpulency. 

His illness became serious at the be- 
ginning of the year, but was studiously 
concealed, and, if mentioned in the news- 
papers, authoritatively denied. About 
the middle of April, however, his state 
was such that the court physicians were 
called in, and bulletins of his health were 
periodically made piiblic. These an- 
nouncements were vague and reserved, 
and passed, it -was said, under his own 
eye. At one period he was declared 
convalescent, and the bulletins discon- 
tinued, by his authority over the physi- 
cians, against their judgment; — such was 
the self-delusion with which he clung to 
life. But his disease was not merely 
dangerous, it was incurable, being gen- 
erally considered as an ossification of the 
heart. Seized with a fit of coughing, he 
burst a blood-vessel, and expired, leaning 
on the arm of an attendant, at three 
o'clock in the morning of the 26th of 
June, 1830. 

The close of this monarch's life, af- 
forded an apt illustration of the fact that 
" kings have no friends," — tLat is to say, 
in their regal capacity; and the monarch 
whose life we have thus briefly chroni- 
cled, was but little likely to excite inter- 
est for his real welfare as a man. His 



404 



GREECE. 



manners were admitted by all to be those 
of the most finished gentleman ; and yet 
•we find him early in life selecting the 
very refuse of society for his boon com- 
panions. He thus accumulated debts to 
an enormous amount, which were after- 
wards defrayed by the national purse. 
In his father's quiet circle he might have 
benefitted by the example of every do- 
mestic virtue ; but he commenced the 
duties of a wedded life by sending his 
own kept mistress to be the companion 
of the future queen of England. She 
was for a time protected by the straight- 
forward right-heartedness of her father- 
in-law, and it is not at all singiUar, that 
after his death she should have fallen a 
victim to a persecution almost unheard of 
in the annals of English historj', — if, at 
least, we except those originating in the 
tender mercies of Henry the Eighth. 
But the end of this king furnishes a fear- 
ful example to those who imagine that 
high rank and station supply an apology 
for neglecting the ordinary duties of life. 
He who had ruled the sceptre of three 
kingdoms, found but one companion to 
soothe the pain and agony of his dying 
hour, and that companion was one of his 
humblest menials, while the titled mis- 
tress, who had been for years the inmate 
of his palace, and the recipient of his 
bounty, was the first to fly from the scene 



of horrors which she had assisted in 
creating. 

William IV, brother of the late king, 
came to the throne on the 26th of June, 
1830. On the 2nd of November, 1830, 
the session of parhament was opened by 
the king in person. In the house of 
lords, the marquis of Bute moved an ad- 
dress in answer to the king's speech, in 
the course of which the duke of Welling- 
ton took occasion to declare his firm 
determination to oppose every species of 
parliamentary reform. This uncalled-for 
declaration appears to have at once de- 
cided the fate of the administration, as 
we find his grace and sir Robert Peel, 
on the 16th of November, respectively 
announcing to the two houses the resig- 
nation of the ministry. The new ad- 
ministration, which was immediately 
formed, illustrated the extraordinary 
change which had thus been rapidly 
brought about in the government of the 
country, by the late ministry's attempt at 
resisting reform of every kind. High 
tory principles of the most uncompromis- 
ing character were at once swept before 
the tide of popular indignation, and the 
political, literary and scientific knowledge 
which took the place of mere rank and 
aristocratic pretension, furnishes a new 
and splendid era in the history of Great 
Britain 



GREECE 



The early history of Greece, like that 
of mo.st other countries, is involved in 
obscurity and fable. Its original inhabit- 
ants, generally considered as the de- 
scendants of Javan, son of Japhet, ap- 
pear to have led a migratory and savage 
life, sheltering themselves in caves and 
huts, feeding upon acorns, clothing them- 
selves with skins, and gradually associa- 
ting in small bodies for their mutual sup- 
port against the wild beasts of the woods 
and mountains, by which they were every 
where surrounded. Many different wan- 
dering hordes, of whom the Greek wri- 
ters give no satisfactory account, seem 
to have successfully overrun the coun- 



try ; sometimes mixing with the ancient 
inhabitants, and sometimes driving them 
from their possessions. These, in their 
turn, expelled and plundered others ; and 
a state of petty piratical warfare character- 
ized the first ages of every Grecian set- 
tlement. These plundering excursions 
became so general, that all the shores, 
both of the continent and the islands, are 
said to have been deserted, and the lands 
cultivated only at a considerable distance 
from the sea. From this state of barba- 
rism, the inhabitants of Greece began to 
emerge at an earlier period than those of 
any other country in Europe ; and this 
advantage they seemed to have owed 



GREECE. 



405 



entirely to their communication with the 
civilized nations of the East. Its islands 
were visited by the Phenician navigators, 
who introduced the knowledge of the 
precious metals. A people, named Pe- 
lasgi, apparently from Asia, extended 
their dominion over all the northern parts 
of the country ; and various contempo- 
rary colonies from Egypt, (of whose 
migration the cause is not known, 
but for which the supposition of some 
political revolution may easily account,) 
appear to have founded the principal 
Grecian states. The island of Crete, 
which seems to have been occupied, and 
its inhabitants enslaved by some of these 
adventurers, first attained a considerable 
degree of civilization under Minos, about 
1 000 years before the christian era ; and 
became the general foundation of legisla- 
tion and jurisprudence to the other set- 
tlements. Of these, Sicyon and Argos 
are considered as the most ancient, and 
as having been founded nearly at the 
same time, about 80 years before the 
reign of Minos, and 1080 before the 
christisin era. 

Of the provinces without the peninsu- 
la, Thessaly (next to Crete, the most an- 
cient scene of Grecian story,) first be- 
came celebrated for the wisdom of its 
princes, who extended their sway at an 
early period as far as the Corinthian 
Isthmus. In that country, always fam- 
ous for its horses, the Centaurs were 
first known, who are supposed to have 
been a band of foreign adventurers of 
superior attainments to the more southern 
Greeks of their time. From a port in 
Thessaly, sailed the expedition of the 
Argonauts under Jason, who may be con- 
sidered as merely the leader of one of the 
most considerable piratical expeditions 
which had hitherto been undertaken. Bce- 
otia, though a country originally subject to 
earthquakes and inundations, yet, from its 
great fertility, attracted at an early period 
the attention of adventurers ; and a Phe- 
necian colony under Cadmus is under- 
stood to have founded its principal city 
of Thebes. The numerous fabulous sto- 
ries relating to its history, comprehending 
the adventures of Bacchus, Amphion, 
Amphitryon, Hercules, Laius, (Edipus, 
Eteocles, and Polynices, serve at least 



to prove that it must soon have become 
a flourishing and powerful state ; and the 
war, which it sustained against seven uni- 
ted potentates, the subject of the Thebaid 
by Statins, presents the first instance of a 
political league, and a regular warfare, 
recorded in the annals of Greece. Mio- 
lia, though not inferior to the adjoining 
countries in early civilization, and though 
sufficiently celebratad in the histories of 
its heroes Tydeus, Meleager, and others, 
yet, from the dangers of its seas, being 
much excluded from the intercourse of 
more civilized nations, made little compa- 
rative progress in political improvement, 
and for several centuries, even after the 
Trojan war, had little communication 
with the rest of Greece. Phocis, Doris, 
and Locris, also afford no materials for 
history at this early period ; and the only 
remaining state, whose origin is worthy 
of being narrated from tradition, is that 
of Attica. The first king of this coun- 
try is said by some to have been Ogyges, 
whose name, however, is not mentioned 
by the older Greek historians, and who 
is conjectured at the utmost to have been 
only the leader of a band of Boeotians, 
who, having been driven from their own 
country by an inundation, had taken re- 
fuge in the adjoining districts of Attica. 
The first, at least, who introduced regu- 
lar government and the arts of civiliza- 
tion among the Athenians, was Cecrops, 
the leader of a colony from Egypt, who 
introduced the worship of the goddess 
Athena, or Minerva ; and thus gave a 
name, if not also a beginning, to the city 
of Athens. He is considered as the 
founder of the celebrated court of Areo- 
pagus ; and, in consequence of his wise 
institutions, aided by the natural security 
of the country from invasion, strangers 
were attracted, population increased, and 
civilization made more rapid progress 
than in any other province of Greece. 
Of his successors, little is recorded even 
by tradition, till the time of iEgeus, con- 
temporary with Minos, king of Crete, 
and the father of the renowned Theseus, 
whose romantic history bears no incon- 
siderable resemblance to that of the 
Gothic knight-errants, and whose wise 
measures as king of Athens laid the foun- 
dation of its future greatness. By the 



406 



GREECE. 



united influence of persuasion and au- 
thority, he consolidated, in one well re- 
gulated government, the independent dis- 
tricts in Attica, and endeavored to se- 
cure the stability of his improvements, 
by procuring the approbation of the Del- 
phic oracle. Though well entitled, by 
his political regulations, to be ranked 
among the most illustrious patriots of 
ancient times, he is nevertheless repre- 
sented, in his future history, as having 
forfeited the esteem of his subjects, and 
having at last died in exile. After him 
the sovereignty of Attica was held by 
Menestheus, a descendant of the royal 
family, and the leader of the Athenian 
troops in the Trojan war. 

These petty states, each of which was 
governed by its respective sovereign, and 
all of them independent of one another, 
were continually at war among them- 
selves, and exposed to he incursions of 
foreign barbarians. To obviate these 
evils, and to secure, as far as possible, 
the general tranquillity, an assembly was 
formed of deputies from the different 
countries of Greece, whose business it 
was to decide all disputes between the 
states of which the association was com- 
posed, and to concert measures of defence 
against their common enemies. This was 
called the council of the Amphictyons, 
from its supposed founder Amphictyon, 
one of the sons of Deucalion, and king of 
Attica ; but its original constitution, and 
the period of its commencement, cannot 
be satisfactorily ascertained. It is sup- 
posed by sir Isaac Newton to have com- 
menced about a century before the Trojan 
war. Besides its primary object of es- 
tablishing a kind of national law among 
the Greeks, its attention was principally 
occupied in managing the concerns of 
the Delphian oracle. But, though its 
decrees were respected, its power was 
not very efficacious. It contributed to 
restrain the violence of wars, but was not 
able to prevent their frequent occurrence. 
It derived its greatest consequence from 
the increasing fame of the oracle at Del- 
phi ; and the superintendence of the 
religious institutions of Greece became 
ultimately its principal office. It is 
not mentioned by Homer ; but its ex- 
istence seems to be implied in the ready 



union of the Grecian states against 
Troy. 

Frequent piratical excursions appear 
to have been carried on between the in- 
habitants of the eastern and western 
coasts of the ^Egean sea ; and the rape 
of Helen by Paris, the son of Priam, 
may be considered, according to Hero- 
dotus, as an act of retaliation for some 
similar injury received from the Greeks 
by the Trojan people. An outrage, how- 
ever, so nearly affecting one of the great- 
est princes of Greece, and aggravated 
by a breach of the rights of hospitality, 
was considered as demanding the united 
vengeance of the Grecian chiefs ; and 
the hope of returning home enriched 
with the spoils of Asia, presented no 
small incentive to the expedition. The 
extensive influence also of Agamemnon 
king of Argos, and brother of the injured 
Menelaus, urged on the general confed- 
eracy; and, under his supreme command, 
the chosen warriors of every Grecian 
state, from the southern extremity of 
Peloponhesus to the northern regions of 
Thessaly, assembled at the port of Aulis 
in Bceotia. The fleet, consisting of 1200 
open vessels, conveyed to the Trojan 
coast an army of 100,000 men, who 
speedily compelled the enemy to take 
refuge within the walls of their city ; but, 
unable to surmount its strong and well 
defended fortifications, they attempted its 
reduction by excluding every kind of 
succor and supplies. Obliged, however, 
to detach large bodies from their army 
to procure subsistence for themselves, 
they were unable to prevent the Trojans 
from again taking the field, and receiving 
every requisite relief to their wants. In 
this way the siege was prolonged for the 
space often years : and even at the last, 
the house of Priam was not overthrown 
without the aid of stratagem and treach- 
ery. But, while the allied Greeks tri- 
umphed over Troy, it was to each of 
them a victory dearly purchased. Few 
of the princes, who witnessed the suc- 
cessful termination of their expedition, 
were permitted to enjoy, in their native 
country, the renown and repose which 
their exertions had earned ; but, having 
made no provision for the administration 
of their affairs during their absence, were 



GREECE. 



407 



either murdered at their return by some 
usurper of their power, or compelled to 
re-embark with their adherents, in quest 
of distant settlements. The Athenian 
state, which seems to have made the 
nearest approach to a settled government, 
suffered least by the absence of the com- 
mander of their army ; and regular mag- 
istrates supplied the place of their chief. 
In this city, Orestes, the son of Agamem- 
non, obtained an asylum ; and, after re- 
maining seven years in exile, found 
means to avenge his father's death, and 
to recover the throne of Argos, which he 
held with great power and reputation till 
his death. 

Here terminates the history contained 
in the vsTitings of Homer, who seems to 
indicate, that the concluding events which 
he records were within the reach of his 
own memory ; and whose works, in fact, 
contain almost the only materials for an 
account of the heroic age. He afibrds 
at least the best and most authentic view 
of the political and domestic state of the 
Greek people, during the period which 
preceded his death ; and to his poems 
we may refer for a description of the 
religion, government, arts, and manners 
of the early Greeks. The ancient Pe- 
lasgian inhabitants of Greece are said by 
Herodotus to have prayed and sacrificed 
to gods, to whom they gave no name or 
distinguishing appellation; and the works 
of Hesiod still more clearly prove tkat 
they drew their first notions on the sub- 
ject of religion from Oriental traditions. 
Their future system of polytheism seems 
to have been imported by the Egyptian 
colonists ; but to the principal divinities 
thus introduced, their own lively fancy 
soon added a multitude of other imagin- 1 
ary beings, presiding over every mountain 
and river, every season and production ; 
and these were arranged by Hesiod and 
Homer into a kind of system of the most 
extravagant and inexplicable description. 
There is neither omnipotence nor omni- 
presence among the attributes which the 
last mentioned poet ascribes even to the 
father of the gods ; neither perfect good- 
ness nor perfect happiness in the heaven, 
which he assigns as their residence. — 
An incomprehensible power, denomina- 
ted Fate, is represented as directing all 



events ; and it seems to have been the 
principal office of Jupiter to superintend 
the execution of its decrees. Idolatry, 
as denoting the worship of visible objects, 
was at this period unknown ; and even 
temples appear to have been rare. — 
Prayers were addressed as to invisible 
deities ; and sacrifices, the only duty 
which they seem to have been considered 
as expecting from their worshippers, 
were offered upon altars erected in the 
open air. A few crimes are sometimes 
denounced as exposing to the vengeance 
of the gods, but morality in general finds 
very little support in the religion of this 
period. Soothsayers, who professed to 
foresee future events, were sufficiently 
numerous ; but fixed oracles had not yet 
attained any extensive celebrity. The 
salutary doctrine of the immortality of 
the soul, and a future state of rewards 
and punishments, was taught in those 
days ; but the ridiculoiis absurdities, 
with which it was clothed, tended, when 
men had learned to despise the fables, to 
throw contempt also upon the momentous 
truth which they had veiled. The form 
of government was monarchical, and in 
some degree hereditary; but the authority 
of the kings was extremely limited, and 
always controlled by established cus- 
toms. It was the universal prerogative 
of the prince to exercise the judicial 
power, to superintend the institutions of 
religion, to command the armies, and to 
direct the ordinary business of the com- 
munity ; but, in any extraordinary or very 
important measure, he was required to 
consult, not only a council of the princi- 
pal men, but also an assembly of the 
people ; and a high degree of personal 
strength and accomplishments seems to 
have been always necessary to maintain 
his authority. 

It is generally admitted that letters 
were introduced into Greece from Phos- 
nicia by Cadmus, the founder of Thebes, 
at the lowest calculation, 1045 years be- 
fore Christ ; but it is equally ascertained, 
that the use of writing had not become 
common till more than 400 years after 
his time ; and nothing, in the whole his- 
tory of the ancient Greeks, is more 
difficult to be explained than the high 
state of excellence, which the language 



408 



GREECE. 



had attained in the days of Hesiod and 
Homer, while so Uttle of it could have 
been reduced to Meriting. In the absence 
of letters, poetry seems to have been in- 
vented, or at least to have been originally 
employed for the assistance of memory. 
Laws, among the early Greeks, were 
always promulgated in verse, and fre- 
quently sung in public. Morality was 
taught, and history related in the same 
manner. All, who wished either to in- 
struct or amuse their fellow-citizens, 
were thus necessarily poets ; and they 
who possessed so important a talent, 
were considered as sacred characters, 
favored and inspired by the gods. The 
first poetry of the Greeks was uniformly 
accompanied with music, and both string- 
ed and wind instruments are mentioned 
by Homer. But there are no means of 
ascertaining its peculiar features ; and, 
however powerful may have been its ef- 
fects, it appears to have been extremely 
simple and inartificial in its composition. 
Their agriculture appears to have been 
carried on with considerable regularity ; 
and the practice of manuring, as well as 
ploughing and sowing, is expressly men- 
tioned by Homer. Wine was made from 
the vine, and oil from the olive ; but the 
principal source of wealth was found in 
pasturage ; and cattle were made, in place 
of coin, the usual measure of the value 
of commodities. Commerce was chiefly 
carried on by an exchange of articles ; 
and the foreign trade of the Grecian cities 
was principally in the hands of the Phoe- 
nicians. There were Greeks, indeed, 
in the days of Homer, who pursued a 
kind of coasting traffic among them- 
selves ; but the profession of a merchant 
for gain was not held in much estimation, 
and was less respected than even that of 
pirate. Their navigation was very im- 
perfect ; and they used oars more fre- 
quently than sails. Their ships had no 
decks ; and the largest that went to Troy, 
contained only 120 men. Anchors were 
unknown ; and the vessels, when in 
port, were either moored to large stones 
on the shore, or were actually drawn out 
of the water upon the beach. The early 
Greeks, in short, were rather boatmen 
than seamen ; and, indeed, to this day, 
the skill of the navigator is of little avail 



in their narrow and tempestuous seas. 
They had little knowledge of astronomy ; 
and marked the length of the year by 
twelve revolutions of the moon, reckon- 
ing the months to consist of twenty-nine 
and thirty days alternately. But, in 
progress of time, they learned to fix the 
seasons more correctly by the rising and 
setting of the stars ; and had arranged 
them in constellations, much in the same 
manner, and with the same names as at 
the present day. They considered in- 
ternal diseases as inflicted by the imme- 
diate hand of the Deity, and as therefore 
beyond the reach of human skill. Their 
medical art was thus restricted to the 
practice of surgery, which was held in 
high esteem ; but which seems to haA'e 
extended no farther than the extraction 
of a weapon, or any other extraneous 
body, from a wound, and the application 
of a few simples to stop a hcemorrhage, 
or to assuage inflammation. Their archi- 
tecture was more improved than most 
other arts ; and Homer speaks of houses 
built of polished stone, with large and 
numerous apartments. Other mechanic 
arts were not exercised as distinct trades ; 
and even princes were frequently their 
own carpenters. Ornamental works, 
however, in metals, wood, &c, were not 
uncommon in those days ; but the greater 
part of the trinkets and more luxurious 
utensil's in use among the early Greeks 
appear to have been procured from the 
Phoenician merchants. Their principal 
study, and most constant practice, was 
the art of war ; and they seem to have 
improved considerably upon that tumult- 
uary warfare, which is generally prac- 
tised among barbarous nations. Their 
infantry were commonly heavily armed 
with helmet, breastplates, greaves, and 
shield ; and were regularly drawn up in 
close ranks or phalanxes, marching in 
steady silence under their respective 
leaders. Cavalry were not yet employ- 
ed in their battles ; but chariots were 
generally used by the chiefs, as the 
means of conveying them more rapidly 
along the line, and of annoying more 
eflTectually a flying army. The skirmish- 
ing of the commanders, however, in front 
of the troops, and their mixing with the 
soldiers in the heat of the fight, left little 



GREECE. 



409 



room for the exercise of generalship ; 
and their fashion of stopping in the midst 
of the action to strip the slain, sufficient- 
ly marks their want of military discipline 
and skill. They encamped with much 
regularity, sleeping under their cloaks, 
or sheltering themselves with huts ; and 
generally fortified their post, when ex- 
posed to the attack of a powerful enemy; 
but, though a small guard might be pla- 
ced at an outpost, they were unacquaint- 
ed with the important precaution of 
stationing and relieving a line of sentinels. 
In the frequency of war, courage was 
regarded as the highest virtue ; and the 
manners of the early Greeks were deci- 
dedly barbarous. Quarter was rarely 
granted to a fallen enemy ; and the cap- 
ture of a city was succeeded by the 
massacre of all the men who were able 
to bear arms, and by the captivity of the 
women and children. The spirit of hos- 
pitality, however, was generally diffused, 
and tended often to alleviate the miseries 
of military devastation. Women appear, 
as well as men, to have united the high- 
est rank with the humblest occupations, 
but evidently enjoyed a greater degree of 
influence and freedom, than has been 
usual in subsequent ages among oriental 
nations. There has been supposed to 
exist, a striking resemblance between 
the manners and sentiments of the 
Greeks in the heroic age, and those of 
the Gothic nations of Europe, except 
that the latter displayed more generosity 
in war, and gentleness towards the fe- 
male sex, than their ancient prototypes. 
The period immediately succeeding 
the Trojan war, affords few lights to his- 
tory, and is even involved in deeper ob- 
scurity than the heroic age. Supposing 
Homer to have lived within half a century 
of the Trojan war, his works maybe allow- 
ed to supply a tolerable record of the 
previous events best authenticated by 
tradition, and of the most important oc- 
currences which took place during his 
own life. His history terminates with 
the accession of Orestes to the throne of 
Argos ; and total darkness thenceforth 
rests upon the historian's path, relieved 
only by a few uncertain glimmerings, till 
the first Persian invasion of Greece. 
About 80 years after the destruction of 
52 



Troy, a great revolution took place, 
which dissipated ancient traditions, stop- 
ped the progress of civilization, and 
changed the governments, and even the 
population, of most of the Grecian states. 
The descendants and partizans of the 
celebrated Hercules had found a refuge 
in Doris from the persecutions of Eurys- 
theus ; but had never ceased to prefer 
their claims to the kingdom of Argos, and 
even to the dominion of all Peloponnesus, 
Twice had they attempted, without suc- 
cess, to make their way through the isth- 
mus. But at length, the great grandson of 
Hyllus, the oldest son of Hercules, cross- 
ed the Corinthian gulf with a powerful 
armament, and speedily overran the whole 
peninsula, with the exception of Arcadia 
and Achaia, where Tisamenus, son of 
Orestes, made a resolute and successful 
stand. All the rest of the conquered 
country was divided among the princes 
of the Heraclides, and their allies from 
Doris and iEtolia ; and the greater part 
of the old inhabitants either emigrated 
from the oppressions to which they were 
subjected, or were reduced by the inva- 
ders to a state of servitude. A new dis- 
tinction of the Grecian people was the 
consequence of tliis revolution. 

The Pelasgian name, which had pre- 
vailed on the continent, and the Lelegian 
in the islands, had, at an early period but 
for reasons not clearly ascertained, given 
place to the -^Eolian and Ionian ; the lat- 
ter designation being applied principally 
to Attica with its colonies, and the former 
to all the rest of Greece, both within and 
without the peninsula. Out of these two 
four distinctions of the Grecian people 
arose, after the irruption of the Heracli- 
des. In all the immediate establishments 
and distant colonies of these invaders, 
the Doric name and dialect prevailed. 
The Athenians rose to such pre-eminence, 
as to give rise to a new designation, 
namely, the Attic. Excepting them and 
the Megarians, who retained the Doric 
name, all the other Greeks, without the 
isthmus, claimed ^'Eolic origin ; and the 
Ionian name and dialect was retained 
only by those lonians who had migrated 
to Asia and the Islands. Except in the 
rugged province of Arcadia, nothing re- 
mained unaltered : and the Dorian inva- 



410 



GREECE. 



ders brought every thing back to that 
ruder state, in which they had lived 
among their native mountains. Disputes 
soon arose among these allied princes, 
respecting the partition of the conquered 
countries. Internal dissensions, occa- 
sioned by their turbulent subjects, were 
continually raging in their respective 
governments. The enterprising Arca- 
dians seldom suffered them to rest from 
external hostilities. And, by all these 
concurring causes, Peloponnesus was 
rapidly falling back into that state of an- 
archy and barljarisni, in which it had been 
before the time of Pelops and Hercules. 
Nothing tended so effectually to resist 
this tendency to disunion and turbulence, 
as the revival and regular establishment 
of the public games, by Iphitus, sovereign 
of Elis. These athletic games, as is 
evident from the writings of Homer, had 
been occasionally celebrated, under the 
superintendance of different princes ; and 
at the funerals of eminent men, many 
traditions prevailed, that Eleia and Pelo- 
ponnesus had frequently been the chosen 
scene of these contests, and the resort of 
princes from various parts of Greece. 
Iphitus, therefore, having procured a fa- 
vorable response from the oracle at Del- 
phi, established a regular festival for that 
purpose, to be held every four years at 
Olympia, in the territory of Elis. Solemn 
sacrifices were to be offered to Jupiter 
and Hercules, and games celebrated in 
honor of these divinities. In these games, 
all Greeks were free to partake ; and for 
a certain period, before their commence- 
ment, as well as after their conclusion, 
a general annistice was ordained to take 
place. The territory of Eleia, particu- 
larly, was to be at all times counted sa- 
cred, and secured from every hostile en- 
croachment. This Olympian meeting, 
instituted about half a century after the 
return of the Heraclides, served as a 
common capital to the Grecian people, 
and contributed more effectually than 
could possibly have been anticipated, to 
the advancement of arts, science, and 
civilization, in all the different states. 
A general revolution in the government 
of every state, began about the same pe- 
riod to take place, from causes very im- 
perfectly known. The republican spirit, 



which seems to have existed in all of 
them, even under their early monarchical 
constitutions, acquired so much strength, 
that, in a few ages, monarchy was every 
where abolished, and the name of tyrant 
applied to all Avho attempted its support, 
even under the mildest form. 

In the reign of Darius, the son of Hys- 
taspes, the power of the Persian arms 
was extended on every side of that vast 
empire. All was subdued to the west, 
as far as Macedonia. Amyntas, the king 
of that country, acknowledged subjection 
to the Persian monarch ; and the Gre- 
cian isles soon began to feel his ambi- 
tious and overwhelming influence. Cy- 
prus, Samos, Lesbos, Chios, and most 
other islands on the Asiatic coast, were 
either persuaded or compelled to admit 
his supremacy. Most of them, accord- 
ing to the uniform policy of the Persians, 
were nevertheless allowed to retain their 
own magistrates and laws. One of their 
own nation was appointed to preside as 
governor ; and this person, whatever was 
his personal character, was always, from 
his official situation, denominated Tyrant 
by the Greeks. Athens itself, hard press- 
ed by the powerful alliance Avhich the La- 
cedemonians had formed against them, 
had begun to solicit the protecting aid of 
Persia ; but Artaphernes, satrap at Sar- 
dis, having patronised the pretensions of 
the tyrant Hippias, whom they had driven 
from his power, they were filled with de- 
testation of the Persian name, and the 
more readily consented to assist the lo- 
nians in Asia, who had revolted against 
the authority of Darius. These, how- 
ever, were speedily reduced ; and the 
Persian monarch, in order to punish 
Athens and Eretria, who had given aid 
to the insurgent states of Asia, or rather 
prosecution of his ambitious views for 
the enlargement of his dominions, sent 
a powerful army into Greece, under the 
command of his son-in-law Mardonius. 
Darius had previously despatched he- 
ralds to each of the Grecian States, 
demanding earth and water as an ac- 
knowledgment of his supremacy ; and, 
if wholly independent of each other, the 
greater part would probably have soon 
submitted to the Asiatic yoke. But, hap- 
pily for Greece its little commonwealths 



GREECE. 



411 



were at that time so united together by 
reciprocal treaties and obligations, and 
especially by a formal confederacy under 
the Lacedemonians, that a kind of gen- 
eral tribunal existed for the punishment 
of treachery or cowardice, which enabled 
them, in a great measure, to act as one 
nation. Macedonia, which had formerly 
paid homage, was more effectually sub- 
dued, and compelled to pay tribute to the 
Persian king. Thebes, by the influence 
of a faction, and a few other cities, par- 
ticularly iEgina, made submission to his 
demands ; but the Lacedemonians and 
Athenians were so indignant at the requi- 
sition of Persia, that, forgetting the law 
of nations and of humanity, they put the 
heralds to death with the utmost ignominy 
and barbarity. The Athenians, who had 
been at war with the ^gineiae, and were 
thus the more excited to adopt opposite 
measures to their hostile neighbors, ac- 
cused them at Sparta of desertion from 
the common cause of Greece ; and the 
chief persons of that state were instantly 
ordered to be seized as traitors to their 
country. Little progress was made by 
the invading army. The Persian fleet 
lost nearly three hundred vessels by a 
storm in doubling the promontory of 
Athos ; and the land forces suffered so 
severely from the Brygians, a people of 
Thrace, that the season for military oper- 
ations was lost, and the whole armament 
was led back to winter in Asia. A se- 
cond army, under the command of Ar- 
taphernes, son of the late satrap of that 
name, and of Datis, a Median nobleman, 
avoiding the circuitous march by Thrace 
and Macedonia, sailed from Cilicia in 
a numerous fleet, reduced every island 
and appurtenance of Greece in their way, 
and approached the frontiers of Attica, 
with the exiled tyrant Hippias as their 
guide, before any measures had been con- 
certed by the Greeks for the general 
security. 

A messenger was now despatched from 
the Athenians to Sparta, with the intelli- 
gence of the capture of Erelria, and, at 
the same time, with a request for assist- 
ance to themselves. The Lacedemonians 
readily promised their utmost aid ; but, in ' 
conformity to a superstitious law, unwor- 
thy of their boasted political wisdom, j 



declared that they could not take the field 
before the full moon, of which it then 
wanted five days. Lnmediate assistance 
from Sparta being thus denied, it became 
a question with the ten generals, whom 
the Athenians had chosen to command 
their army, whether they should venture 
to meet the enemy in the field, or apply 
their whole exertions to prepare for a 
siege. Opinions were equally divided, 
and the decision was, by ancient custom, 
referred to the polemarch Archon, who 
was persuaded by Miltiades to recom- 
mend an immediate engagement ; a mea- 
sure obviously contrary to all principles 
of defensive war, but rendered necessa- 
ry by the dread of internal factions in 
the city. The Persian army, amounting, 
according to the lowest calculation, to 
100,000 infantry, and 10,000 cavalry, 
accustomed to conquer, and having fre- 
quently engaged the Greeks of Asia and 
Cyprus, advanced with confidence as to 
certain victory. The amount of the 
Athenian force has been stated as low as 
9,000 heavy-armed infantry, and 1,000 
Plataeans, who had bravely hastened to 
share the desperate struggle for the free- 
dom of their country. Various consid- 
erations, however, make it probable, that 
the regular Grecian troops, now opposed 
to the Persians, were not much less than 
20,000, with about an equal number of 
armed slaves. With this army, still fear- 
fully inferior to the invading host, the 
genius of Miltiades, who was well ac- 
quainted with the nature of the Persian 
troops seconded by the determined brave- 
ry of his soldiers, gained, on the plain of 
Marathon, a most decisive victory, and 
drove the routed Persians to their ships 
with great slaughter. But this distin- 
guished commander, having failed in a 
subsequent expedition against the iEgean 
islands, which had submitted to the Per- 
sians, was, by the base machinations of 
party spirit, condemned to pay a fine of 
fifty talents, and died in prison of the 
wounds which he had received. 

The death of Darius, the revolt of 
Egypt, and the disputes which arose 
about the right of succession to the throne 
of Persia, procured to the Greeks a re- 
spite of several years from any farther 
attempts against their independence. But 



412 



GREECE 



Xerxes, the young Persian monarch, was 
sufficiently ardent to revenge the disgrace 
which the arms of his nation had sus- 
tained, and to prosecute those schemes 
of conquest which his predecessors had 
planned. Four years are said to have 
been employed in preparations for the 
punishment of Athens, and the reduction 
of Greece ; and an army was collected, 
more numerous than had ever before, or 
than has ever since, been known in the 
annals of the world. To prevent the dis- 
asters, which might attend the convey- 
ance of armament by sea, as well as to 
provide for the future security of the in- 
tended conquest, a canal, navigable for 
the largest gallies, was, (according to the 
united testimony of all the Greek histo- 
rians and geographers,) actually formed 
across the isthmus, which joins mount 
Athos to the continent of Thrace. Two 
bridges of boats also, the one to withstand 
the winds and the other the current, were 
extended across the Hellespont nearly 
between Abydos and Sestos, where the 
strait is about seven furlongs in breadth. 
Early in the spring, the army moved from 
Sardis, the principal place of rendezvous ; 
and seven days and nights are said to 
have been occupied in passing the bridges 
of the Hellespont. The land and sea 
forces met at Doriscus, near the mouth 
of the Hebrus, where, according to Hero- 
dotus., the Persian monarch reviewed his 
enormous army, which is said to have 
been composed of twenty-nine different 
nations. This historian estimates the 
effective strength of the infantry at 
1,700,000 fighting men, and the cavalry 
at 80,000, exclusive of attendants and fol- 
lowers, whose number defied calculation. 
The fleet consisted of 1 ,207 galleys of 
war, carrying about 277,600 men ; be- 
sides transports, store-ships, and a variety 
of smaller vessels, amounting, at a gross 
calculation, to 3,000, and their crews to 
240,000. The land forces marched from 
Doriscus in three columns, every where 
adding to their numbers, by compelling 
the youth of the countries through which 
they passed, to follow their standards. 
They met again at Acanthus, where they 
were joined by the fleet, which then pro- 
ceeded through the canal of Athos, into 
the bay of Therme, where the whole 



army coming up, formed an encampment, 
extending from Therme and the borders 
of Mygdonia to the river Haliacmon, near 
the confines of Thessaly. The Greeks, 
in the mean time, were slow in concert- 
ing any measures for their common de- 
fence ; and many of the smaller republics 
readily made the required submission to 
the Persian monarch, whose sway had 
been experienced by many Grecian states 
to be much less oppressive than that of 
the domineering rule of the Spartan oli- 
garchy, to which the greater part of them 
had long been subjected. The deter- 
mined resistance of the Athenian people 
first arrested the progress of the Asiatic 
host; and to them chiefly belongs the 
honor of having preserved Greece from 
a foreign yoke. To this daring resolu- 
tion they were prompted, not entirely by 
the love of freedom, but by the dread of 
certain punishment. The whole arma- 
ment was ostensibly prepared for their 
destruction, and their courage therefore 
was nearly that of despair. Their suc- 
cess at Marathon may have thrown a ray 
of hope through the gloomy prospect be- 
fore them ; and, at this critical moment, 
they happily possessed in Themistocles 
a leader of extraordinary talents, pecu- 
liarly fitted for conducting the arduous 
contest. Deputies from the confederated 
states at length assembled at Corinth, to 
consult respecting the conduct of the war; 
and an attempt was at first made to defend 
the passes into Thessaly. An army of 
10,000 men from the different states, 
joined by all the Thessalian cavalry, was 
actually sent to occupy the vale of Tempe ; 
and was competent to have defended the 
pass against any number of assailants. 
But the Grecian leaders, alarmed by the 
accounts which they received ol' the mul- 
titude of their invaders, and understand- 
ing that there was another opening into 
Thessaly, which they did not think them- 
selves strong enough to occupy, were 
struck with a sudden panic, and, embark- 
ing their troops, returned to the Corin- 
thian isthmus; while the Thessalians, 
now left to their fate, made an immediate 
submission to the demands of Xerxes. 
It was next resolved to make a stand at 
the pass of Thermopylae, which afforded 
every possible advantage to an inferior 



GREECE. 



413 




Leonidas with the Spartan band at Therviojnjla . 



force; but their mutual jealousies and 
selfish anxiety to reserve their strength 
for their proper defence, prevented the 
assembling of a sufhcient body of troops ; 
and not more than 4000 men, most of 
them Arcadian mountaineers, were col- 
lected to dispute the passage with the 
whole Persian army. 

Xerxes having halted several days at 
Therme, to procure proper intelligence 
and guides, resolved to proceed by Up- 
per Macedonia into Thessaly, and reach- 
ed the neighborhood of Thermopylae 
without opposition. His fleet after suf- 
fering an immense loss by a storm in the 
bay of Caslhan?e, entered the Pelasgian 
gulf ; and the Grecian fleet, which was 
stationed off Artemisium to support the 
army at Thermopylse, succeeded in cap- 
turing fifteen galleys, which had been 
dispersed by the tempest. This favora- 
ble event at once revived their spirits, 
and added greatly to the strength of their 
little navy. Xerxes, in the mean time, 
having fixed his head quarters at the 
town of Traches, in the Malian plain, 
waited for four days, in expectation that 
the Greeks would yield to his numbers, 
and leave him an uninterrupted passage. 
A herald also was despatched to Leoni- 



das, who commanded at Thermopylae, 
requiring him to deliver up his arms ; to 
whom the Spartan replied, with laconic 
brevity, " Come and talce them." The 
Persian monarch, therefore, on the fifth 
day, ordered the Medes and Cissians of 
his army to bring Leonidas and his Greeks 
into his presence. These being quickly 
repulsed, the Persian guards, called "the 
immortal band," were marched to the at- 
tack. Their numbers were unavailing 
on so a narrow a field ; their short spears 
were very inferior in close fight to the 
longer weapons of the Greeks ; and their 
repeated and courageous efforts, to which 
Herodotus bears ample testimony, made 
no impression. The assault was renew- 
ed on the following day, in hopes that 
wounds and fatigue might exhaust the 
little army of the Greeks ; but still with- 
out the smallest prospect of success. A 
Persian detachment, however, having 
penetrated during the night by another 
pass, and surprised the Phocians, who 
had been intrusted with its defence, 
showed themselves, on the morning of 
the third day, far in the rear of the Gre- 
cian army. Information of this fatal ad- 
vantage being conveyed to Leonidas, it 
was immediately resolved that they should 



414 



GREECE, 



all retreat to their respectivfe cities, and 
preserve their lives for the future wants 
of their country. Leonidas, however, 
in obedience to a law of Sparta, which 
forbade its soldiers, under whatever dis- 
advantage, to flee from an enemy, re- 
solved to devote his life to the honor and 
service of his country. Animated by his 
example, every Lacedemonian and Thes- 
pian under his command, determined with 
him to abide the event. The Thebans 
also, on account of the disaffection of 
their city to the Grecian cause, were de- 
tained, rather indeed as hostages than as 
auxiliaries.* Leonidas stationed his lit- 
tle band at the wall of Thermopylae, 
where the pass was scarcely 50 feet 
wide ; and all of them resolved to sell 
their lives to the enemy at the dearest 
rate. With the fury of men resolved to 
die, they rushed against the advance of 
the Persian army, and made a dreadful 
slaughter of the crowded and ill-discip- 
lined multitude. Numbers of them were 
forced into the sea, and many of them 
expired under the pressure of their own 
people. Leonidas fell early in the fight, 
at the head of his troops ; but the en- 
gagement was continued, with advantage 
to the Greeks, till the Persian detach- 
ment came in sight of their rear. They 
then retreated to the narrowest part of 
the pass, where the Thebans began to 
sue for mercy, and were most of them 
taken prisoners. The surviving Lacede- 
monians and Thespians gained a little 
rising ground, where they fought in the 
midst of a surrounding host, till they 
were utterly cut to pieces. In the con- 
duct of the Spartan prince, there was 
wisdom as well as magnanimity. His 
example checked the disposition which 
prevailed among the Greeks, to shrink 
from the Persian power ; and gave a 
convincing proof to the invaders, at how 
vast a price of blood they would purchase 
their conquest. During the transactions 
at Thermopylae, the Grecian fleet gained 
several advantages over that of the Per- 
sians ; and about two hundred galleys of 
the latter, attempting to take the Greeks 
in the rear by sailing round Euboea, were 



* In the army at Thermopylae there were ori- 
ginally 300 Lacedemonians, 700 Thespians, and 
400 Thebans. 



totally lost in a storm. Having received 
intelligence of the fall of Leonidas, and 
the retreat of the rest of the army, the 
Grecian fleet retreated from Artemisium, 
and sought the interior seas of Greece. 

The Persian army experienced no op- 
position in their march through Doris and 
Boeotia, which, excepting the cities of 
Thespiae and Plataea, had always been 
adverse to the confederacy of the Greeks. 
Phocis alone, of all the provinces be- 
tween Thessaly and the Isthmus, remain- 
ed faithful to the cause of the Grecian 
independence. Its territories, therefore, 
were ravaged without mercy by detach- 
ments of the enemy ; while the main 
body advanced in a direct course to the 
devoted city of Athens. The Pelopon- 
nesian troops having resolved to confine 
their operations to the defence of the 
peninsula, Attica was completely aban- 
doned to the whole weight of the invad- 
ing host. Athens was filled with alarm, 
and all were convinced that their destruc- 
tion was inevitable. The oracle at Del- 
phi, however, having recently pronounc- 
ed, that " the wooden wall" alone would 
afford an impregnable refuge to them- 
selves and their children, Themistocles, 
who had probably himself suggested the 
response, persuaded his countrymen that 
they were thus directed to embark on 
board their fleet. Their families and ef- 
fects were in conformity to his advice, 
immediately transported to Salamis, iEgi- 
na, and Trsezene ; and all the males who 
were able to bear arms repaired to the 
ships. A few of the poorer citizens, who 
were unable to bear the expense of a re- 
moval, and some others, who conceived 
the answer of the oracle to point out 
their citadel, which is built of wood, as 
the place of safety, refused to abandon 
the city. The Persian army, advancing 
from Thebes, burned the forsaken cities 
of Thespiae and Plataja ; and experien- 
ced no resistance till they reached the 
citadel of Athens, which was immediate- 
ly invested ; and, being taken by assault, 
all within its gates were put to the sword. 
The commanders of the Grecian fleet, 
which was now assembled in the bay of 
Salamis, alarmed by the intelligence of 
the fall of Athens, had resolved in a 
council of war to retreat without delay, 



GREECE. 



415 



when Themistocles, addressing Eurybi- 
atles the Lacedemonian, who had the 
chief command, threatened, if such a re- 
solution were adopted, to withdraw the 
whole of the Athenian ships, which com- 
posed nearly one-half of the allied fleet, 
and either to make peace with the ene- 
my, or seek some distant settlement for 
his deserted people. His advice prevail- 
ed, and it was determined to await the 
approach of the enemy in the straits of 
Salamis. This Athenian chief, however, 
still fearful lest some of the squadrons 
should depart, is said to have accelerated 
the approach of the Persians, by causing 
their monarch to be privately informed, 
that the Greeks were planning a retreat, 
and that he would thus lose the most fa- 
vorable opportunity of destroying their 
whole navy at one blow. His stratagem 
was attended with entire success. The 
Persian fleet hastened to make a general 
attack ; while their army lined the adja- 
cent shores, and their monarch himself 
was seated upon an eminence to view the 
approaching battle. His fleet amounted 
to 1200 galleys, and that of the confede- 
rated Greeks to 300 ; but the narrow 
strait prevented the numerous ships of 
the Persians from being regularly brought 
into action, and the crowded situation 
rendered it impossible for the Phenician 
squadron to avail themselves of the su- 
perior swiftness of their galleys, and skill 
of their seamen. The very zeal of the 
Persian commanders to distinguish them- 
selves in the presence of their monarch, 
tended to increase the confusion. The 
resolute and persevering attacks of the 
Greeks, aided by the united talents of 
Themistocles and Aristides, allowed not 
a moment's respite to the enemy to re- 
store order, or recover from alarm. The 
confusion soon became so general, that 
even flight was impracticable, and the sea 
itself (according to the description of the 
scene by the poet ^schylus, who fought 
on board the Athenian fleet) became 
scarcely visible from the quantity of 
wreck and corpses floating on its surface. 
Forty Grecian galleys are said to have 
been sunk or destroyed ; but most of the 
crews saved themselves on board of the 
other ships, or on the neighboring shore 
of Salamis. But the Persians had no 



refuge ; and their defeat was attended 
with immense loss. Still the remains of 
their fleet were so large, that the princi- 
pal port of Attica could not admit half 
its numbers ; and the Greeks were ex- 
pecting a renewal of the action on the 
following day. But the Persian com- 
manders appear to have concerted no 
measures on the supposition of a retreat ; 
and a hasty order during the night, di- 
rected the whole fleet to steer immedi- 
ately for the Hellespont. The army, 
thus destitute of the supplies derived 
from the ships, and unprovided with suf- 
ficient magazines on land, fell back upon 
the friendly province of Boeotia, and 
speedily retreated into Thessaly. Three 
hundred thousand men were chosen to 
remain, under the command of Mardoni- 
us, to complete the conquest of Greece 
in the following summer. Of this num- 
ber, 60,000 of the best troops were se- 
lected as a royal guard, to accompany 
their monarch as far as the Hellespont, 
on his return to Persia. The rest of the 
immense multitude which he had led into 
Greece, left to their own resources, suf- 
fered beyond description, from the haste 
of their march, and the want of maga- 
zines. They subsisted by rapine from 
friends as well as foes ; and were reduc- 
ed at last to eat the very grass from the 
ground, and the bark from the trees. — 
Disease destroyed, whom famine had 
spared ; and the towns of Thessaly, Ma- 
cedonia, and Thrace, were crowded with 
the sick and the dying. Upon reaching 
the Hellespont, the bridges were found 
to have been destroyed by the violence 
of the current and the storms ; but the 
fleet had arrived to transport the wretch- 
ed remains of the Persian host ; and its 
discomfited monarch proceeded to Sar- 
dis, not indeed entirely unattended, as 
some of the Greek historians relate, but 
with such a diminished retinue as might 
almost be called nothing, when compared 
with the incalculable numbers who for- 
merly surrounded his person, and obeyed 
his command. 

Early in the following spring, the Per- 
sian fleet assembled at Samos ; and Mar- 
donius, having attempted without success, 
to detach the Athenians from the Gre- 
cian confederacy, compelled them again 



416 



GREECE. 



hastily to abandon their country ; and, 
without opposition, regained possession 
of Athens. The Athenian people, under 
the protection of their fleet, withdrew to 
Salamis ; and there, though deprived of 
their country, and disappointed of the 
timely assistance which they ought to 
have received from the Peloponnesian 
states, still rejected, with the most en- 
thusiastic magnanimity, all the concilia- 
tory proposals of Persia. The Lacede- 
monians, who were at the head of the 
allies, at length ashamed of their ungene- 
rous and dastardly delays, despatched an 
army of 5,000 Spartans and 35,000 He- 
lots, under the command of Pausanias. 
These were joined at the isthmus by the 
other Peloponnesian troops, and by the 
Athenian army under Aristides. Mardo- 
nius, secretly apprized of their march, 
gave up the city of Athens and its sur- 
rounding territories, to be pillaged by his 
troops, and fell back upon his magazines 
in Boeotia, where he extended his camp 
along the course of the Asopus to the 
frontiers of Platsea. 

The confederated Greeks, animated 
by the propitious omens which had been 
indicated at their solemn sacrifices, ad- 
vanced with confidence to meet the Per- 
sians, and pitched their camp at the foot 
of Mount Cithasron, on the opposite side 
of the river Asopus, composing a force of 
110,000 men. Mardonius, who appears 
from the account given by Herodotus, to 
have been deficient neither in courage 
or policy, anxious to draw the Greeks 
from their advantageous position, harass- 
ed them greatly with incessant charges 
by his cavalry ; and more than ten days 
were spent in various evolutions, on both 
sides, to gain the superiority of the 
ground, and to induce each other to com- 
mence the attack. In one of these move- 
ments, the greater part of the Grecian 
troops, excepting only the Tegeans, La- 
cedemonians, and Athenians, actually 
fled to the walls of Plataea ; and the Per- 
sian commander, imagining the retreat to 
be general, hastily advanced with his 
infantry as to certain victory. A fierce 
engagement ensued, in which the Persian 
soldiers, though insufficiently armed for 
close fight, and unequal to the Greeks in 
the practice of war, discovered no inferi- 



ority in point of courage and enterprise ; 
and were often seen, in their vigorous 
assaults, seizing and breaking with their 
hands the long spears of their opponents. 
Multitudes perished in these vain at- 
tempts to penetrate the Spartan phalanx. 
Their efforts, after repeated failures, be- 
gan to relax. The Greeks advanced in 
their turn; and confusion soon became 
general among the Persian infantry. — 
Their commander Mardonius, while lead- 
ing on a chosen body of cavalry to sup- 
port his broken troops, received a mortal ' 
wound ; and his fall was the signal for 
flight to the whole Persian army. Arta- 
bazus, next in command, who is said to 
have dissented from his general in the 
conduct of the battle, as soon as he was 
assured of the rout of the main body, 
retreated with 40,000 men towards Pho- 
cis ; but the Persian and Ba30tian cavalry 
still kept the field, and afforded consid- 
erable protection to the flying infantry. 
The Lacedemonians and Athenians, how- 
ever, having succeeded in carrying the 
Persian camp by assault, a dreadful 
slaughter ensued ; and excepting the 
detachment which had escaped under 
Artabazus, only 3,000 finally survived of 
200,000 Asiatics, who composed the rest 
of the army of Mardonius. In the mean 
time, the Grecian fleet, which had re- 
mained during the summer inactive at 
Delos, was encouraged, by a private as- 
surance of the favorable disposition of 
the lonians, to attack the Persian fleet 
at Samos. The Persian admiral, having 
suffered the Phenician squadron to de- 
part, in the idea that the season was too 
far advanced for naval operations, as soon 
as he received intelligence of the ap- 
proach of the Greeks, hastily sailed from 
Samos ; and, passing to the opposite 
promontory of Mycale, drew his galleys 
upon the beach, and prepared to defend 
them on shore. The Greeks, resolving 
to attack the fortified camp, disembarked 
their forces in two divisions, one imder 
the command of Xanthippus the Athenian, 
and the other led by Leotychides the 
Lacedemonian. The former arriving 
first at the Persian entrenchments, im- 
mediately commenced the assault ; and, 
aided by the Greeks in the Persian ser- 
vice, had entered the rampart, before the 



GREECE. 



417 



Lacedemonians came up. The other I the greatest benefits from ita effects. — 
Asiatics instantly fled from the Athenian | They found their country laid waste, and 
assailants ; but the native Persians re- 1 their city in ruins ; but, in consequence 
sisted with the utmost bravery, till the chiefly of their naval superiority, and a 
arrival of the Lacedemonians, when they succession of great commanders, they 
were completely overpowered, and al- : rapidly attained that supremacy in 
most entirely cut to pieces. The victo- Greece, which the Lacedemonians had 
rious Greeks, after carrying off the most hitherto enjoyed ; and by the able conduct 
valuable part of the spoil, set fire to the | of Cimon, the most distinguished of all 
camp, and consumed the whole of the their leaders, soon reached the summit of 
Persian fleet on the very same day that their political influence and military 
their army was annihilated at Plataea. — power. The Lacedemonians had not 
This successful resistance of Greece to j been inattentive observers or inactive 
the Persian invasion holds out an en- opponents of the growing consequence 



couragmg example to all free states, to 
maintain their independence against any 
power, however formidable ; and clearly 
shows, that an obstinate determination 
never to submit, accompanied with wise 
counsels and steady discipline, will rarely 
fail of ultimate success. The Persian 
war, indeed, was not yet terminated. — 
The Greeks, in their turn, became the 
assailants and invaders. They prepared 
to protect the lonians, who had thrown 
off the Persian yoke, and jiarticularly to 
restore freedom to those Grecian cities 
in which the Persians had left garrisons. 
Under the Spartan general Pausanias, 
but especially under Cimon the Athenian, 
they carried their victorious arms to 
Byzantium, to the island of Cyprus, and 
even into Egypt. By a double victory 
gained on the river Eurymedon, under 



of the rival state ; but, usually slow in 
their counsels, (and weakened by an 
earthquake which had laid their capital 
in ruins, and by a consequent insurrection 
of the Helots, which reduced them to 
the necessity of requiring aid from their 
neighbors,) had long evaded an open 
rupture with the Athenian republic. The 
latter people, however, accustomed to 
war, elated with success, swayed by a 
turbulent democracy, and unable longer 
to disguise their ambitious designs upon 
the liberties of Greece, not satisfied with 
repeated interferences and aggressions 
against the ancient allies of Lacedemon, 
proceeded at length to make a direct and 
unjustifiable attack upon its armies, while 
returning from the protection of Doris, 
against the inroads of the Phocians. — 
Aided by the Argians and Thessalians, 



the last mentioned commander, both over they met the Lacedemonians and their 
the fleet and army of Persia on the same i Peloponnesian allies at Tanagrain Boeo- 
day, its naval strength was so broken, tia. After a severe action of two days, 
and its land forces so disheartened, that i and great slaughter on both sides, the 
offensive operations against Greece were | Athenians were compelled to retreat, and 
totally intermitted ; and it became the , the Spartans pursued their march with- 
boastof the Grecian states, that no armed out farther obstruction, 
ship of Persia was to be seen westward In the view, however, of raising a 
of the Chelidonian islands, or the en- state without the peninsula, to balance 
trance of the Euxine, and that no Persian the power and curb the ambition of 
troops dared to show themselves within I Athens, they formed a close aUiance 
a day's journey of the Grecian seas. But with the Thebans, and willingly seconded 
the ambitious views and political jealous- their attempt to recover that supremacy 



ies which arose among the confederated 
states of Greece, during the prosecution 
of these successful operations, prepared 
greater evils for their country than all 
that they had endured, while struggling 
under the pressure of the Persian hosts. 
The Athenians, though apparently the 
greatest sufferers by the invasion, deriyed 
53 



in Bceotia, which they had been accus- 
tomed to claim before the event of the 
Persian war. But the Athenians under 
Myronides speedily regained the influ- 
ence which they had lost by their defeat 
at Tanagra ; and all Bceotia, with the 
exception of Thebes, was broug:ht either 
into their alliance, or under their domin- 



418 



GREECE. 



ion. Burdened at length by the variety 
of their military operations, and even by 
the extent of their conquests, they were 
disposed to enter into negotiations with 
their Peloponnesian adversaries ; and by 
the good offices of Cimon, whom they 
recalled from exile, and who had always 
been greatly esteemed at Lacedemon, a 
truce of five years was concluded between 
the rival powers. But after the death of 
that distinguished commander, who had 
uniformerly exerted himself to divert the 
military spirit of the Greeks from internal 
wars, hostilities were again renewed. — 
The Athenians, however, being hard 
pressed, and even invaded by the Pelo- 
ponnesian confederates, as well as en- 
cumbered by the numerous islands and 
colonies subject to their empire, a second 
time sought an accommodation ; and a 
truce was concluded for the space of thir- 
ty years, upon terms by no means advan- 
tageous to their influence. But the con- 
stitution of Greece, composed of so many 
small and independent states, was unfa- 
vorable to a long continuance of general 
tranquillity. Its governments were so 
distinct, that no common authority could 
prevent the occurrence of partial wars ; 
and yet so connected, that war in any 
part always endangered the peace of the 
whole. This was more especially the 
consequence of a practice, which had 
become universal among the weaker 
states, to provide for their protection by 
courting the alliance, or rather acknowl- 
edging the dominion, of one of the two 
leading republics of Lacedemon or 
Athens. These two rival powers also 
differed considerably in the political 
principles which they respectively fa- 
vored, the former being generally the 
patroness of aristocracy, and the latter of 
democracy. Hence their influence was 
extended, according as one or other of 
these opposite factions prevailed in the 
different states ; or rather, according as 
their arms were severally crowned with 
success, the party to which they were 
friendly gained the ascendency, and suc- 
ceeded in bringing the state which it 
ruled to the side of Sparta or of Athens. 
This constant rivalship, never wholly 
dormant, and kept in continual excite- 
ment by the frequent quarrels of the 



minor commonwealths, at length gave 
rise to the long and bloody contest of the 
Pelopormesian war. The Athenians, 
having assisted the Corcyraeans against 
the Corinthians, were formally accused 
by the latter people, joined by many 
other complainants, of having broken the 
truce, and insulted the Peloponnesian 
confederacy. An assembly of deputies 
from the difl'erent states, of which that 
confederacy was composed, having met 
at Sparta, a great majority decided for 
an immediate recourse to arms ; and 
even the historian Thucydides admits, 
in the most explicit terms, that a general 
sentiment of indignation had been excited 
among a large portion of the Grecian 
people, by the arbitrary and oppressive 
sway of the Athenian republic. 

The two hostile confederacies, though 
very diff'erently composed, divided be- 
tween them very equally the force of the 
Greek nation. All the Peloponnesian 
states, except the Argians, who remained 
neutral, joined the Lacedemonians. In 
Northern Greece, the Megarians, Boeo- 
tians, Locrians, Phocians, &c, formed a 
part of the same alliance ; and external 
assistance was expected from the king 
of Persia, and the Grecian colonies of 
Italy and Sicily. The Athenians had a 
few allies, and some of them not very 
zealously inclined to their cause. The 
principal were the Thessalians, and Acar- 
nanians, and the islands of Corcyra, Za- 
cinthus, Chios, and Lesbos. But all the 
other islands of the iEgean Sea, except 
Melos and Thera, and all the wealthy 
Grecian cities of Thrace, of the Helles- 
pont, and of Asia Minor, were tributary 
subjects of Athens, and entirely subject 
to its control. The Spartan king Archi- 
damus, who had the chief command of 
the Peloponnesian forces, amounting to 
60,000 men, advanced slowly to the in- 
vasion of Attica ; but, before actually 
commencing hostilities, he once more 
proposed the terms of accommodation, 
which the Athenians had formerly reject- 
ed. The celebrated Pericles, who had 
long directed the councils of Athens, and 
who is supposed to have plunged bis 
country into war, for the purpose of pro- 
longing his personal influence in the 
state, easily induced Jiis fellow citizens 



GREECE. 



419 



to refuse all farther negotiation ; but all 
his extraordinary talents were necessary 
to persuade the Athenian people to adopt 
measures of defence, to which they were 
reduced by the power of their enemies. 
Abandoning their country to the ravages 
of the hostile army, they were compelled 
to secure themselves and their effects 
within the walls of the metropolis, filling 
the temples, the turrets of the ramparts, 
the tombs even, and the lowest hovels, 
with their wives and children. Pericles, 
reproached and threatened as the princi- 
pal author of their calamities, and vehe- 
mently urged to meet the invaders in the 
field, directed all his attention to the de- 
fence of the city and preservation of good 
order. The Lacedemonians and their 
allies, having exhausted the means of 
subsistence, and loaded themselves with 
plunder, returned to Peloponnesus, and 
dispersed to their respective cities. 

The Athenian fleet, in the mean time, 
ravaged the coasts of Peloponnesus, tak- 
ing, in its return, the island of ^Egina ; 
and, towards the end of autumn, Pericles, 
with the whole of the land forces, laid 
waste the neighboring territory of Me- 
gara. At the commencement of the se- 
cond summer, the confederates under 
Archidamus again entered and ravaged 
the country of Attica ; while a more 
dreadful scourge, a pestilential fever, re- 
sembling the modern disease of the 
plague, raged in the crowded streets of 
the city. The war, however, was not 
arrested by this awful calamity ; and, for 
several years, was regularly conducted 
in the same manner. The Peloponnesian 
states were so superior in land forces, 
that they annually invaded the territories 
of the Athenians, who could not risk a 
general action without exposing them- 
selves to certain ruhi ; yet the confede- 
rates were, on the other hand, so igno- 
rant of the art of attacking fortified places, 
that they could make no impression upon 
a city like Athens, defended by 30,000 
men, and supplied by a powerful fleet. 
The war thus continued to rage, for 
many years, with nearly the same suc- 
cess, and equal losses on both sides. It 
consisted in a succession of partial en- 
gagements, hasty excursions, and distant 
sieges, which never afliected the main 



object in view, or brought the contest one 
step nearer to a conclusion. Partaking 
also in a great degree of the nature of a 
civil war, it was carried on with a spirit 
of ferocity rarely exemplified among civ- 
ilized nations ; and, through the time of 
its continuance, the very age of Socrates 
himself, was an era, at least in the history 
of Athens, characterized by the high per- 
fection to which arts and sciences, philo- 
sophy and refinement, had been brought ; 
yet, in no period of Grecian history, were 
more atrocious barbarities committed. 
Every transaction has been minutely re- 
corded by the Athenian historians, Thu- 
cydides and Xenophon, who were con- 
temporary with most of the events which 
they describe ; and our account must be 
greatly compressed, not from the scarcity, 
but from the abundance of materials. 

The league, headed by the Athenians, 
was almost entirely under their command; 
while that of Peleponnesus, being com- 
posed of independent states, was continu- 
ally changing in its component parts, 
and liable every instant to be utterly dis- 
solved. Had the Athenian people there- 
fore steadily adhered to the plan of Peri- 
cles, and, renouncing every idea of con- 
quest, confined themselves to a defensive 
war by land, and offensive operations by 
sea, they might ultimately have triumphed 
over their numerous opponents ; and, at 
least, have inflicted more serious injuries 
than they could have received. From 
the excessive diversity and disproportion 
of the forces engaged in the contest, the 
one overrunning the land, and the other 
scouring the seas and coasts, the war 
was inevitably spun out to an indefinite 
length ; and often were both parties, 
wearied of their accumulated sufferings, 
desirous of peace ; but proposals for ne- 
gotiation were as often prevented by the 
vain ambition of Cleon, who had suc- 
ceeded, at the death of Pericles, to the 
direction of the Athenian councils, and 
by the warlike spirit of Brasides, the 
bravest of the Spartan leaders. 

After their death, a truce was concluded 
for the space of fifty years ; and every 
thing was restored to the same situation 
in which it had stood at the commence- 
ment of hostilities ; but mutual hatred, 
and boundless ambition, had acquired 



420 



GREECE. 



such hold of the minds of the principal 
men on all sides, that the appearance of 
concord was of short duration. New 
leagues and new dissensions arose, which 
led to reciprocal recriminations and par- 
tial hostilities ; but it was not till the ex- 
piration of nearly seven years, that they 
again came to an open rupture. Athens 
was the aggressor, and the ambition of 
Alcibiades was the sole cause of the 
renewal of hostilities. This celebrated 
character, with all his accomplishments 
and talents, was guided by principles so 
inveterately vicious, that he alone may 
be charged with having accelerated the 
ruin of the Athenian state, and completed 
the corruption of its citizens. He per- 
suaded the people, without any other rea- 
son, except that the city Egesta in Sicily 
had solicited the assistance of the Athe- 
nians, to undertake the conquest of that 
island ; but scarcely had the expedition 
in which he was appointed a commander, 
commenced its operations, when he was 
recalled to stand his trial upon a charge 
of impiety. Aware of the caprices of 
his countrymen, he took refuge in Pelo- 
ponnesus; and, enraged by the sentences 
pronounced against him in his absence, 
he instigated the Lacedemonians to as- 
sist the Syracusans, and to attack the 
Athenians, while their army was engaged 
in the remote and romantic enterprise 
whichhimself had planned. The Sicilian 
expedition terminated in the most disas- 
trous manner ; and almost the whole of 
the Athenian army was destroyed or taken 
captive. The Lacedemonians, support- 
ed by a powerful confederacy, and assist- 
ed even by the Persian viceroys, invaded 
Attica, blockaded the city of Athens, and 
would speedily have terminated the war 
by its reduction ; but Alcibiades, having 
been expelled from Sparta on account of 
his licentious practices, exerted himself 
to detach their Persian allies, and to re- 
trieve the falling hopes of his country. 
Recalled by the army, and raised to the 
chief command by the unanimous voice 
of the people, he recovered many of the 
lost colonies, defeated the fleet of the 
confederates, and so alarmed the Lacede- 
monians, that they were ready to have 
treated for peace ; but the Athenians, 
intoxicated with success, prolonged the 



war, and, insensible to their interest, 
again threw away the instrument of their 
victories. Their fleet having sustained a 
trifling loss while Alcibiades was absent, 
and employed in levying contributions in 
Ionia, for the support of his forces, he 
was instantly disgraced by the fickle 
voice of the populace, and the power of 
Peloponnesus again acquired the ascen- 
dancy. The confederates, taught by ex- 
perience, had exerted themselves to in- 
crease the number of their ships, and had 
at length succeeded in attaining also a 
portion of that maritime skill, which had 
hitherto given to the Athenians so deci- 
ded a superiority by sea. The Athenian 
navy, however, trusting to their long ac- 
knowledged eminence, and elated by a 
victory which they had gained over the 
Spartan fleet at Arginusa, near Lesbos, 
despised their enemies and neglected all 
ordinary precautions, with unexampled 
imprudence. Lysander, the ablest of the 
Lacedemonian generals, having succeed- 
ed to the command of the allied fleet, and 
taken the city of Lampsacus upon the 
coast of the Hellespont, resolved to avail 
himself of that self-confidence which 
guided the councils of the Athenian cap- 
tains. In order to increase their insolent 
security, he repeatedly declined battle, 
which they daily off'ered him, but kept 
his own crew prepared for action at a 
moment's warning. Having learned that 
they regularly drew their fleet ashore on 
the open beach at Aigospotami, on the 
opposite coast, not more than two miles 
from his own station, and then suflered 
the soldiers and crews to disperse over 
the adjoining country in quest of lodgings 
and provisions, he easily found means 
to surprise them in this unguarded con- 
dition, made himself master of their 
whole fleet except nine galleys, and took 
prisoners the greater part of their forces, 
by which it had been manned. A striking 
instance now occurred of that savage 
barbarity, with which the diff'erent pow- 
ers in the Peloponnesian war were gen- 
erally chargeable. The Athenians had 
resolved, in their assurance of victory, to 
cut ofl" the right hand of every prisoner 
whom they should capture ; and this in- 
tended cruelty, with many similar acts 
which they had perpetrated, was imme- 



GREECE. 



421 



diately requited by a general massacre 
of the captives at Aigospotami. Lysan- 
der, with his own hand, cut down their 
general Philocles, after reproaching him 
with having first set the example among 
the Greeks of such violations of the laws 
of war ; and, upon this signal, about 3,000 
Athenian citizens were butchered in cold 
blood by the allied troops. The Lace- 
demonian commander, now completely 
master of the seas, speedily reduced the 
principal colonies and dependencies of 
Athens ; and then hastened, with a fleet 
of 200 galleys, to blockade the port of 
that devoted city, while the land forces 
of the confederates at the same time sur- 
rounded its walls. No assault was at- 
tempted, and its reduction was left en- 
tirely to the sure operation of famine. 
The haughty and turbulent citizens dis- 
covered not even the courage of despair 
in their defence ; but were solely anxious 
to avert the sentence of utter extermina- 
tion, with which they were threatened by 
some of the allied states. 

The Lacedemonians, however, proba- 
bly as much from policy as generosity, 
secured for them more favorable terms, 
and saved their persons from servitude 
and slaughter. But it was determined, 
as a measure absolutely necessary to the 
safety and repose of Greece, that their 
tyrannical spirit should be eflectually 
humbled, and their power as a state en- 
tirely broken. They were spared upon 
the following conditions ; that all their 
ships of war should be surrendered, ex- 
cept twelve ; that the long walls and the 
fortifications of Peirseus should be des- 
troyed ; that all exiles and fugitives should 
be restored to the rights of the city ; that 
the Athenians should hold always as 
friends or enemies those states, who 
were the allies or the adversaries of La- 
cedemon ; and should be ready to attend 
the Spartan power, by sea or land, as they 
might receive orders. These terms being 
accepted, the Spartan fleet entered the 
Peiraeus, and the army took possession of 
the walls. The fortifications, which had 
been condemned, were instantly thrown 
down, to the sound of military music, and 
their demolition celebrated with triumph 
as an era of recovered freedom to Greece. 
The popular assembly was abolished ; 



the government changed from democracy 
to oligarchy ; and thirty magistrates were 
appointed to form the new administration 
of the commonwealth. Such was the 
termination of the Peloponnesian war, 
in its twenty-seventh year ; and Lacede- 
mon, now in alliance with Persia, having 
again become the leadingpower in Greece, 
the aristocratical interest reigned para- 
mount in almost every Grecian state. 

Sparta, having recovered her influence 
in Greece, acted not less tyrannically 
than on former occasions ; and, under 
the ambitious projects of Lysander, be- 
came daily more corrupted in her princi- 
ples of policy. The thirty magistrates, 
who had been placed at the head of the 
Athenian state, were supported by as- 
sistance from Lacedemon, in the most 
atrocious acts of cruelty and injustice ; 
and the other Grecian cities were pro- 
hibited even to afford a refuge to the un- 
happy Athenians, who fled from their 
oppressors. Not contented with cutting 
off their political adversaries, the thirty 
tyrants, under the direction of Critias, pro- 
ceeded to murder upon frivolous pretences, 
all persons whose riches they wished to 
seize ; and the slightest murmur against 
their oppressions was punished with im- 
prisonment, exile, or death. In the space 
of eight months, fifteen hundred citizens 
were sacrificed to their avarice or ven- 
geance ; and Xenophon goes so far as 
to afhrra, that their short reign was more 
destructive to Athens, than the preceding 
war of thirty years. At length, however, 
Thrasybulus, at the head of his exiled 
countrymen, drove the tyrants from their 
seat of abused power, and restored the 
ancient democratical form of government 
at Athens. By his wise moderation the 
spirit of retaliation was restrained, a gen- 
eral amnesty proclaimed, and tranquillity 
restored to the Athenian state. But what- 
ever was the form, tyranny was too gene- 
rally the spirit of the Grecian governments, 
and especially of the pure democracy at 
Athens. Equally unjust and cruel as the 
most lawless despots, they were often 
much more inconsistent with themselves, 
and fickle in their proceedings. While 
they allowed their poets, for their amuse- 
ment, to ridicule the gods upon the stage, 
they punished their sages, who endea- 



422 



GREECE. 



vored, for their instruction, to introduce 
worthier sentiments of religion. By their 
sentence, the celebrated Socrates, (whom 
even the thirty tyrants had spared, though 
he often opposed their measures,) was 
iniquitously put to death. 

The Greeks were again involved in a 
contest with Persia, by the attempt of 
Cyrus the younger to dethrone his brother 
Artaxerxes. That ambitious prince be- 
ing governor of Asia Minor, and friendly 
to the Spartans, persuaded them to join 
his standard with 13,000 Grecian troops ; 
but, excepting their leader Clearchus, 
they are said to have been entirely ig- 
norant of his views upon the Persian 
crown. The celebrated retreat of the 
remains of this army, after the death 
of Cyrus, generally called the retreat of 
the ten thousand, is considered as one of 
the most extraordinary exploits recorded 
in the annals of the military art ; and by 
proving the weakness of Persia, is sup- 
posed to have had considerable influence 
in promoting the Macedonian invasion, 
and conquest of that extensive but feeble 
empire. It had the more immediate eff"ect 
of encouraging an expedition, under Ages- 
ilaus, king of Sparta, to recover the liberty 
of the Grecian colonies in Asia. Assist- 
ed by 30 captains, with Lysander at their 
head, he fdled all Asia with a dread of 
his arms ; and was preparing to carry the 
war into the heart of the empire, when 
he was suddenly recalled for the protec- 
tion of his own country. The Persian 
monarchs had discovered a more easy 
and effectual defence against Grecian 
valor than their most numerous armies 
had been able to provide ; and, by a sea- 
sonable distribution of bribes among the 
leading men of the different states, suc- 
ceeded in turning the arms of these war- 
like republics against one another. The 
Thebans were first gained to their inter- 
ests, who easily succeeded in persuading 
the Athenians. Even Argos and Corinth, 
two Peloponnesian states, joined the con- 
federacy, to which were added Acarna- 
nia, Ambracia, Leucadia, Eubcea, part of 
Thessaly, and Chalcidice in Thrace. — 
The haughty tyranny of Lacedemon fur- 
nished sufficiently ostensible reasons for 
the union ; and Persian gold readily sup- 
plied the arguments which were wanting. 



The confederates sustained a severe 
check in the vicinity of Corinth, and 
were afterwards defeated by Agesilaus 
at Coroneia, with great loss on both sides ; 
but Phamabazus, assisted by the Athe- 
nian commander Conon, having defeated 
the Lacedemonian fleet, completely de- 
stroyed their influence in Asiatic Greece. 
They proceeded even to ravage the coasts 
of Laconia ; and, assisting the Athenians 
to rebuild their long walls, which con- 
nected the Peirajus with the city, again 
laid the foundation of their naval power. 
After various vicissitudes and intrigues, all 
parties became tired of war, and disposed 
to peace. The Lacedemonians, though 
still superior in the field, yet destitute of 
the aid which they had formerly derived 
from the Persian treasury, were straitened 
in their pecuniary resources ; and Phar- 
nabazus, the friend of Athens, having been 
succeeded in Lydia by Teribazus, the 
new Satrap, became favorable to the in- 
terests of Sparta. By the able negotia- 
tions of Antalcidas, the Lacedemonian, 
the Persian monarch was brought in as 
mediator, or rather dictator, for a general 
pacification among the states of Greece, 
of which the conditions were simply 
these; "that all cities on the continent of 
Asia, together with the islands of Clazo- 
mene and Cyprus, should belong to the 
Persian empire ; and that all other Gre- 
cian cities, small and great, should be 
completely independent, except that the 
islands of Lemnos, Imbros, and Sciros, 
should remain as formerly under the do- 
minion of Athens." Against all who 
should refuse these terms, the court of 
Persia declared itself ready to unite with 
those who accepted them, and to render 
every assistance by land and sea, to re- 
duce the refractory. The weaker states 
were well pleased to be secured in their 
independence. The Athenians were gra- 
tified by the exception in their favor. 
The Thebans, anxious to preserve their 
authority over the smaller towns of Bceo- 
tia, wished to stipulate for that superior- 
ity ; but were compelled to concur in the 
terms. And the Lacedemonians, while 
they lost nothing by abandoning the 
Asiatic Greeks, whom they had already 
been obliged to desert, gained the great 
object of the war, — the separation of the 



GREECE. 



423 



states which had combined against them, 
and the emancipation, especially, of the 
Bosotians from the growing power of 
Thebes. They soon showed that they 
accounted themselves to have established 
their supremacy, and were the first to 
disturb the general tranquillity. They de- 
molished the fortifications of Mantinaea, 
as a punishment for the disaffection of its 
citizens to the Lacedemonian interests, 
during the preceding wars. They march- 
ed against Olynthus, a Grecian city of 
Thrace, because, by associating the 
smaller towns in its vicinity under one 
government, it was considered as in- 
fringing the conditions of the late treaty; 
though its only offence was the increase 
of its strength by a wise and liberal poli- 
cy, which ought to have been emulated, 
rather than opposed by the other Greeks. 
They interfered also, in the most unjus- 
tifiable manner, in the political contests 
which agitated the Theban state ; and, 
by this rash measure, gave rise to a long 
and complicated struggle, which ended 
only with the general overthrow of Gre- 
cian independence. Their general Phae- 
bidas, returning from an expedition against 
the Olynthians, was persuaded to join the 
leader of the aristocratical party in 
Thebes, and to occupy the citadel with a 
Lacedemonian garrison. This unauthor- 
ized step, though at first disapproved by 
the government of Sparta, was finally 
sanctioned, by their retaining possession 
of the fortress thus treacherously seized, 
and by their bringing to trial and pun- 
ishment the chief of the adverse fac- 
tion, as if they had been the constituted 
judges of Thebes. For the space of 
four years, they succeeded in holding 
the Thebans under the most humiliating 
subjection ; but suddenly the Theban 
exiles, with the assistance of the Athe- 
nians, by one of the boldest and best 
conducted exploits recorded in history, 
recovered possession of their power in 
the city, and compelled the Lacedemo- 
nians to evacuate the citadel. 

With difficulty the Thebans at first 
withstood the armies of Sparta, by act- 
ing on the defensive ; but gradually im- 
proving in military skill, they learned to 
face in the field, and to combat, even with 
inferior numbers, the experienced troops 



of their powerful adversary. Under the 
able direction of Epaminondas and Pelo- 
pidas, they ventured, though then without 
an ally, to persevere in the unequal con- 
test ; and, in the famous battle of Leuc- 
tra, the bloodiest action hitherto known 
in Greece, these distinguished command- 
ers, by their skilful dispositions, and the 
enthusiastic courage with which they in- 
spired their troops, defeated an army 
nearly four times the number of their 
own. Never had the Lacedemonians, 
before that day, retreated from an inferior 
force, or lost in any one engagement so 
many of their citizens. Another of their 
boasts, "that never had the women of 
Sparta beheld the smoke of an enemy's 
camp," was now also done away. 

The victorious Thebans, headed by 
Epaminondas, and joined by many of the 
Grecian states, ravaged the Lacedemo- 
nian territories to the very suburbs of the 
capital ; and on their return reinstated 
the Messenians, whom the Spartans had 
driven from their country. The Lacede- 
monians, alarmed not merely for their 
supremacy but their safety, secured as- 
sistance from Athens, from Syracuse, 
and even from Persia, while the The- 
bans were hard pressed by a war in Thes- 
saly, against Alexander, tyrant of Pherae. 
Pelopidas, however, having been des- 
patched to the Persian court, succeeded 
in recommending himself to the esteem 
of the monarch, and in turning his friend- 
ship to a state which had never been at 
war with Persia. Thebes, intoxicated 
with her rising power, which she owed 
chiefly to the abilities of her leaders, ob- 
stinate in maintaining her authority over 
the cities of Boeotia, which was perhaps 
necessary for her resistance to Lacede- 
mon, and aiming to become the arbitress 
of Greece, which her sudden elevation 
provoked many of the states to regard as 
unpardonable presumption, may be con- 
sidered as at this period the cause of the 
continuation of hostilities among the 
Greeks. Sparta, however, was equally 
obstinate in refusing to acknowledge the 
independence of the Messenians, and war 
was prolonged for some time with little 
effect, chiefly between the confederates 
of the two principal powers. The The- 
bans, having at length terminated the war 



424 



GREECE. 



with Thessaly, with the loss of their able 
general Pelopidas, were at liberty to take 
part more effectually in the transactions 
of Peloponnesus. 

A civil war having broken out in Ar- 
cadia between the cities of Mantinaea and 
Tegea, the Thebans supported the cause 
of the latter, while the Athenians and 
Lacedemonians declared for the former. 
The very existence of Sparta was threat- 
ened by the bold and enterprising mea- 
sures of Epaminondas, who had nearly 
taken the city by surprise ; but, frustrated 
in his plan by the activity of Agesilaus, 
he returned and gave battle to the Lace- 
demonians and their allies at Mantinsea, 
where he was mortally wounded in the 
moment of victory, and where with him 
the power of the Theban state expired. 
A general pacification succeeded, upon 
the basis of the former treaties prescribed 
by Persia, that every city should be in- 
dependent ; but the Lacedemonians still 
persisting in their wish to reduce the 
emancipated Messenians, were excluded 
from the treaty, and remained nominally 
at war with the confederates of Thebes. 
Exasperated by the friendly dispositions 
which the Persian court had manifested 
to the Thebans, and perhaps expecting 
to acquire some pecuniary resources for 
the recovery of their power in Greece, 
they sent an army to aid the insurgents 
in Egypt. After the death of Agesilaus, 
on his return from Africa, little occurs in 
the history of Greece deserving of notice, 
till the appearance of Philip of Macedon. 
A great change had taken place in Gre- 
cian poUtics. There was now no lead- 
ing state, either of the aristocratical or 
democratical interests; and, though every 
city exercised a jealous watchfulness to 
prevent any overbearing superiority in 
another, there were no extensive confed- 
eracies or hostilities; but lassitude, in- 
decision, and divisions, pervaded the 
nation, and paved the way for the uni- 
versal subjugation of their liberties by the 
Macedonian monarchy. 

In consequence of the blow given to 
the Spartan power in the battle of Man- 
tinaea, and the decline of Thebes after the 
loss of Epaminondas, Athens remained 
the most prominent and respected of the 
Grecian republics. In want, however, of 



any salutary check from a powerful rival, 
its government became extravagant and 
irregular in the most extraordinary de- 
gree ; the inconsiderate voice of the mul- 
titude deciding every measure, frequently 
ratifying at night what they had rejected 
in the morning, and ready to follow every 
varying scheme of every flattering orator. 
The citizens also, sinking into unbounded 
luxury, declined all military service, and 
resorting to the aid of mercenaries, en- 
gaged in hostilities chiefly for the pur- 
pose of collecting plunder, or of extort- 
ing tribute. Every marauding expedition 
was approved, provided the leaders 
brought home a sufliciency of treasure 
to provide amusements for the people, 
and to bribe the orators to silence. The 
official men, in short, inadequately re- 
warded by their regular salaries, learned, 
as is almost uniformly the case, to re- 
compense themselves ; and the people, 
either becoming necessitous by their idle 
attendance on political matters, or injudi- 
ciously supported by the public funds as 
an encouragement to population, actually 
depended for their subsistence upon the 
sacrifices, feasts, and spoils, connected 
with their military expeditions. While 
Athens was in this situation, strangely 
feeble in the whole constitution of its 
government and population, yet by means 
of its naval force still the principal repub- 
lic in Greece, a rival to its power arose 
in a quarter, which had hitherto attracted 
little attention, and had even been regard- 
ed by the Grecian states as undeserving 
of their notice. Though the kings of 
Macedonia pretended to be the descend- 
ants of Hercules, the Greeks considered 
them as no part of their nation, but always 
treated them as barbarians. This king- 
dom had existed more than four hundred 
years, but had generally stood in need of 
protection from Athens or from Sparta ; 
and had never risen to a capacity of par- 
taking in the eminence of these republics. 
But it now furnished an example, similar 
to that of Thebes, of the power of one 
distinguished individual to accomplish, 
in favorable circumstances, the most im- 
portant revolutions. It was in Thebes, 
indeed, that the new leader of the Mace- 
donians had received his best instructions 
in the arts of pohcy and war. Philip 



GREECE. 



425 



had been taken to that city as a hostage 
when he was only ten years of age, and 
had been carefully educated under the 
eye of Epaminondas, assisted by the cel- 
ebrated Pythagorean philosopher Lysis. 
At twenty-four years of age he ascended 
the throne of Macedon, and gave early 
indication of his talents for government. 
At the period of his accession, he found 
himself at war with the Athenians, who 
supported one of his competitors for the 
kingdom. Having defeated his adver- 
sary, who was slain in the action, he in- 
stantly liberated, and loaded with favors, 
all the soldiers of Athens whom he had 
taken prisoners. Having discovered that 
the Athenians were intent upon the re- 
covery of Amphipolis, which they claimed 
as one of their colonies, but which he 
had seized as the key of his dominions 
on that frontier, he was equally reluctant 
to put it in their power, or to come to a 
rupture for which he was not prepared. 
With his usual consummate policy, there- 
fore, he declared it in the mean time a 
free city, and left the inhabitants to main- 
tain their own independence. 

A peace and alliance were ratified be- 
tween the Macedonian prince and the 
city of Athens ; but their agreement was 
of short duration. A contest speedily 
commenced, which led to the subver- 
sion of Grecian freedom by the arts and 
arms of Philip ; but which owed its ori- 
gin as much to the unprincipled aggres- 
sions of the Athenian democracy, as to 
the ambitious views of the Macedonian 
monarch. While in full alliance and co- 
operation with Philip against the Olyn- 
thians, they suddenly indicated their hos- 
tility to his interests, by detaching the 
town of Pydna from his kingdom, and 
making a direct attempt to possess them- 
selves of Amphipolis. Failing in their 
design, it was soon after occupied by 
Philip, and rendered a strong barrier be- 
tween his dominions and those of the 
Grecian states. Before this time had com- 
menced " the Sacred War," undertaken 
by the Boeotians, Locrians, Thessalians, 
&c, in order to punish the Phocians, 
who had ploughed a field sacred to Apol- 
lo at Delphos, and had refused to dis- 
charge the fine which the council of the 
Amphictyons had sentenced them to pay, 
54 



as an atonement for the sacrilegious 
deed. They were supported by the La- 
cedemonians, Athenians, &c, and Philip, 
well pleased to leave the Grecian states 
to exhaust their strength against each 
other, had employed himself in the mean 
time in extending his power in Thrace, 
and in attaching Thessaly to his inter- 
ests, by delivering its cities from the op- 
pressive sway of the tyrants of Pherae. 
Irritated, however, by the defection of 
Olynthus from the Macedonian to the 
Athenian alliance, he laid siege to that 
city ; and, having gained possession of 
the place by bribing a party of its inhab- 
itants, he razed its walls, to the ground, 
and sold the people for slaves. The 
Sacred War, which was still carried on 
by both parties with the most sanguinary 
retaliations, next aflbrded him a fair op- 
portunity of bringing his power into full 
contact with the Grecian states. Pro- 
fessing to adjust, as arbitrator, the matter 
in dispute, promising to the Phocians 
his protection against the fury of their 
enemies, and soothing the Athenians by 
the reports of his friends, that he was 
secretly intending to humble Thebes 
rather than Phocis, he marched an army 
into Greece ; gained quiet possession of 
the Phocian cities ; secured to that peo- 
ple, as he had promised, their personal 
safety ; but procured, or at least sanc- 
tioned, a decree of the Amphictyonic As- 
sembly, annihilating their political exist- 
ence as a nation, and expelling them 
from the number of the Grecian states 
represented in the council. He was 
himself elected in their place as a mem- 
ber of the Assembly ; invested with the 
double vote which they had enjoyed ; 
and usually denominated in their future 
operations the Amphyctonic general. 
The Athenians refused to acknowledge 
his election ; and manifested, in all their 
measures, an ambition even more unprin- 
cipled and indefensible than that of the 
Macedonian monarch. Guided rather 
by the inflammatory eloquence of De- 
mosthenes, than by the pacific counsels 
of Phocion, they plunged at length into 
a destructive contest with their powerful 
rival and neighbor. A second Sacred 
War again drew Philip into the midst of 
Greece. The Locrians of Araphissa 



426 



GREECE. 



having encroached upon the consecrated 
ground of Delphos, and having refused 
to obey the decrees of the Amphictyonic 
council, the Macedonian monarch was 
invited, as tlreir general, to vindicate 
their authority by force of arms. Many 
of the Grecian slates were now alarmed, 
and not without reason, by the forward- 
ness of Philip to interfere in their poli- 
tics, and by the reluctance which he 
showed to withdraw his army, after the 
punishment of the Amphissians. De- 
mosthenes hastened to Thebes, where he 
succeeded in rousing the utmost enthusi- 
asm for the liberties of Greece, and per- 
suaded the Thebans to adopt the imme- 
diate resolution of uniting with the Athe- 
nians, to resist the dangerous progress of 
the Macedonian influence. In vain did 
Phocion recommend, and Philip request, 
the Athenians to lay aside their measures 
for instant hostilities. They excluded 
the former from the command of their 
army, and marched without delay to join 
their Theban allies against the enemy. 
The two armies, consisting of about 
30,000 on each side, came to a general 
engagement at Cheronea. The battle 
was long doubtful. Alexander Avho was 
only seventeen years of age, at the head 
of a chosen body of noble Macedonians, 
cut down the Sacred Band of Thebes ; 
and the Athenians, for a time successful, 
but urging their advantage with impru- 
dent impetuosity, were overwhelmed by 
the Macedonian phalanx under Philip. 
The vanquished Avere treated with a de- 
gree of clemency and generosity, of 
which there had been few examples in 
Grecian warfare. Philip hastened to 
stop the slaughter of the flying Greeks, 
and dismissed the Athenian prisoners 
without ransom, and voluntarily renewed 
his former treaty with that republic. To 
the Thebans he readily granted peace ; 
but stationed a Macedonian garrison in 
their citadel. Py this decisive victory, 
he secured the most entire ascendency 
in Greece ; and, on that side, there was 
little farther left for his ambition to desire. 
Either, however, with a view to ex- 
tend his conquests, or in order to unite 
the Greeks more firmly under his power, 
he planned the invasion of the Persian 
empire, and procured himself to be ap- 



pointed generalissimo in the expedition. 
No measure could have been conceived 
more popular in Greece. A general 
council of the states was summoned, and 
the quota determined which each of them 
was to furnish. Philip exerted himself 
with extraordinary activity to complete 
his formidable preparations ; and his 
whole army, in the most perfect state of 
military discipline and equipment, was 
in readiness to cross the Hellespont. 
But, in the midst of his greatest splen- 
dor, while solemnizing, before his de- 
parture, the nuptials of his daughter 
Cleopatra, surrounded by his guards and 
principal officers, and receiving, among 
the assembled states of Greece, little 
less than divine honors, he was stabbed to 
the heart by a desperate assassin. 

Upon the accession of Alexander to 
the throne of Macedonia, Avhen only 
twenty years of age, the different na- 
tions whom his father had brought under 
his dominion made an attempt to regain 
their independence ; and Demosthenes 
exerted all his powers of persuasion to 
engage the Greeks to unite against the 
youthful successor of the formidable 
Philip. But Alexander having punished 
the Thracians, Illyrians, and other bar- 
barians, for their indiscretion, turned, 
with the utmost expedition, the whole 
weight of his arms upon Greece. The 
Thebans, who had massacred the Mace- 
donian garrison, which Philip had placed 
in their citadel, having refused the offer 
of a free pardon made to them by Alex- 
ander, upon condition of their surrender- 
ing the principal leaders of the insurrec- 
tion, were defeated with great slaughter, 
their city given up to be pillaged, and the 
inhabitants sold as slaves. These dread- 
ful acts of severity filled the Athenians 
with alarm, and an embassy was instantly 
despatched to implore the clemency of 
the Macedonian prince. Alexander at 
first insisted that ten of their principal 
orators should be delivered into his hands ; 
but was at length satisfied with the ban- 
ishment of Charidemus, and expressed 
the highest regard for the republic of 
Athens. The other states hastened in 
like manner, to make their submission ; 
and, in one campaign, the whole nation 
of the Greeks acknowledged his supre- 



GREECE 



427 



macy. Having assembled their deputies 
at Corinth, and renewed the proposal of 
invading the Persian empire, he was ap- 
pointed, as his father had been, to the 
chief command. 

With an army of 30,000 foot, and 5,000 
horse, the sum of seventy talents, and 
provisions only for a single month, he 
crossed the Hellespont, and, in travers- 
ing Phrygia, visited the tomb of Achilles. 
Darius Codomanus, resolved to crush at 
once this inconsiderate youth, met him on 
the banks of the Granicus, with 1 00,000 
foot, and 10,000 horse. The Greeks 
swam the river, their king leading the 
van, and attacking the astonished Per- 
sians, left 20,000 dead upon the field, and 
put to flight their whole army. Drawing 
from his first success a presage of con- 
tinued victory, Alexander now sent home 
his fleet, leaving to his army the sole al- 
ternative, that they must subdue Asia or 
perish. Prosecuting their course for 
some time without resistance, the Greeks 
were attacked by the Persians in a nar- 
row valley of Cilicia, near the town of 
Issus. The Persian host amounted to 
400,000 ; but their situation was such 
that only a small part could come into 
action, and they were defeated with pro- 
digious slaughter. 

The generosity of Alexander was dis- 
played after the battle of Issus, in his at- 
tention to his noble prisoners, the mother, 
the wife, and family of Darius. To the 
credit of Alexander, it must be owned 
that humanity, however overpowered, and 
at times extinguished by his passions, 
certainly formed a part of his natural 
character. 

The consequence of the battle of Issus 
was the submission of all Syria. Da- 
mascus, where Darius had deposited his 
chief treasures, was betrayed and given 
up by its governor. The Phoenicians 
were pleased to see themselves thus 
avenged for the oppression they had 
suffered under the yoke of Persia. 

He directed his course towards Tyre 
and desired admittance to perform a sa- 
crifice to Hercules. The Tyrians shut 
their gates, and maintained for seven 
months a noble defence. The city was 
at length taken by storm ; and the victor 
glutted his revenge by the inhuman mas- 



sacre of 8,000 of the inhabitants. The 
fate of Gaza, gloriously defended by 
Baetis, was equally deplorable to its citi- 
zens, and more disgraceful to the con- 
queror. Ten thousand of the former 
were sold into slavery, and its brave de- 
fender dragged at the wheels of the vic- 
tor's chariot. 

The taking of Gaza opened Egypt to 
Alexander, and the whole country sub- 
mitted without opposition. Amidst the 
most incredible fatigues, he now led his 
army through the deserts of Lybia, to 
visit the temple of his father Jupiter Am- 
nion. On his return he built Alexandria, 
at the mouth of the Nile, afterwards the 
capital of the Lower Egypt, and one of 
the most flourishing cities in the world. 
Twenty other cities of the same name 
were reared by him in the course of his 
conquests. It is such works as these 
that justly entitle the Macedonian to the 
epithet of Great. By rearing in the 
midst of deserts those nurseries of pop- 
ulation and of industry, he repaired the 
waste and havoc of his conquests. But 
for those monuments of his glory, he 
would have merited no other epithet 
than that assigned him by the Brahmins 
of India, The Mighty Murderer. 

Returning from Egypt, Alexander tra- 
versed Assyria, and was met at Arbela by 
Darius, at the head of 700,000 men. 
The Persian had proffered peace, con- 
senting to yield the whole country from 
the Euphrates to the Plellespont, to give 
Alexander his daughter in marriage, and 
the immense sum of 10,000 talents. But 
these terms were haughtily rejected, and 
peace refused, but upon the unqualified 
submission of his enemy. The Persians 
were defeated at Arbela, with the loss 
of 300,000 men. Darius fled from prov- 
ince to province. At length betrayed by 
Bessus, one of his own satraps, he was 
cruelly murdered ; and the Persian em- 
pire, which had substituted for 206 years 
from the time of Cyrus the Great, sub- 
mitted to the conquerer, 330 B. C. 

Alexander now projected the conquest 
of India, firmly persuaded that the gods 
had decreed him the sovereignty of the 
whole habitable globe. He penetrated 
to the Ganges, and would have advanced 
to the Eastern Ocean, had the spirit of 



428 



GREECE. 



his army kept pace with his ambition. 
But his troops, seeing no end to their 
toils, refused to proceed. He returned 
to the Indus, from whence, sending round 
his fleet to the Persian Gulf vmder 
Nearchus, he marched his army across 
the desert to Persepolis. 

Indignant that he had found a limit to 
his conquests, he abandoned himself to 
every excess of luxury and debauchery. 
The arrogance of his nature, and the ar- 
dor of his passions, heightened by con- 
tinual intemperance, broke out into the 
most outrageous excesses of cruelty, for 
which, in the few intervals of sober re- 
flection, his ingenuous mind suffered the 
keenest remorse. From Persepolis he 
returned to Babylon, and there died- in a 
fit of debauch, in the thirty third year of 
his age, and thirteenth of his reig-n, 
324 B. C. 

Demosthenes once more made a no- 
ble attempt to vindicate the national free- 
dom, and to rouse his countrymen, the 
Athenians, to shake off the yoke of Ma- 
cedon. But it was too late. The paci- 
fic councils of Phocion suited better the 
languid spirit of this once illustrious peo- 
ple. After a variety of conflicts and 
revolutions, the whole of Greece was re- 
duced to the state of a Roman province, 
under the name of Achaia. 

But Greece, though subject to the Ro- 
man arms, soon acquired, by her arts of 
peace, a silent superiority over her con- 
querors. The victors became the disci- 
ples of the vanquished ; and the most 
distinguished Romans learned, in the 
Grecian schools of philosophy, to regard 
the country which they held in subjec- 
tion, with the gratitude -and respect due 
to a benefactor. These considerations 
probably contributed to secure to the in- 
habitants of Greece a milder exercise of 
authority, and more distinguished marks 
of favor, than were enjoyed by any other 
province under the yoke of Rome. 

After Greece became a Roman prov- 
ince, the history of this country has been 
more or less mixed and identified with 
that of its conquerors. Though the 
splendor of Constantinople, during the 
time of its prosperity, might have reflect- 
ed some lustre upon Greece, yet it gain- 
ed scarcely any thing under the various 



[emperors who filled the throne, for a 
length of time previous to its fall, and 
i who were most of them hurled from it 
I by the hand of violence. The Latins, 
the enemies of the Greek emperors, seiz- 
ed on the Morea, and laid it wasteas did 
the Sicilians and Normans afterwards. 

Towards the end of the seventeenth 
century, the Venetians invaded the coun- 
try, took Athens, and extended their pow- 
er over a great part of the continent and 
some of the islands ; but, republicans as 
they were, they treated in the most des- 
potic manner the serfs of the Morea : 
still, as they wished to realize some ad- 
vantage from their conquest, they en- 
couraged the people to cultivate agricul- 
ture, and it is to them that they owe the 
numerous plantations of olives, &;c, the 
remains of which are still found in vari- 
ous parts of the Greek islands. Histori- 
ans assure us, they contrived to manage 
this country so well, that they realized a 
revenue of 300,000 crowns ; and they 
rebuilt several ancient fortresses, which 
were judged necessary to secure their 
dominion in the Archipelago. But Ve- 
nice having experienced changes in her 
own domains, she consequently lost her 
distant possessions ; and, at the begin- 
ning of the eighteenth century, the Mo- 
rea was wrested from her grasp. The 
Turks having again become masters of 
the peninstfla, made the inhabitants feel 
the weight of their iron sceptre, and im- 
posed their karatch, or capitation tax, as 
a price at which they consented to spare 
the lives of the vanquished. The inter- 
ference of christian powers, especially 
of Russia, in the year 1770, only tended 
to increase the miseries and aggravate 
the bondage of the unhappy Greeks. — 
Peter the Great had, there is no doubt, 
laid the foimdation of a plan for assisting 
them, and driving their oppressors out of 
Europe ; and the empress Catharine, fol- 
lowing the views of her predecessor, 
sent a fleet of twenty sail towards the 
close of the year 1769, which took pos- 
session of several islands, attacked the 
Turkish fleet, and finally succeeded in 
destroying it. The call to the Greeks 
on this occasion to arm themselves, and 
shake off the yoke, was instantly obeyed, 
and an insurrection took place through- 



GREECE. 



429 



out the Morea, and also in many of the 
islands of the Archipelago. The Rus- 
sian fleet, however, was recalled, and the 
poor Greeks abandoned to their fate. — 
The Albanians ravaged the country in 
conjunction with the Turks, who carried 
off a great multitude of the inhabitants 
into slavery. 

At the time of the expedition of the 
French into Egypt, the Greeks, strongly 
incited by the events of the war, which 
was thus approaching them, waited for 
them as liberators, with the firm resolu- 
tion of going to meet them and regaining 
their liberty ; but again their hopes were 
disappointed, and the succors they ex- 
pected from France were removed to a 
distance. The brave Rhigas, at once a 
poet and a warrior, and the author of the 
celebrated national air in imitation of the 
Marseillois, which is to this day the war 
song of the Greek troops, perished at Bel- 
grade by the hands of the oppressors of his 
country ; but his blood, and that of other 
less celebrated chiefs, only served to in- 
crease the national discontent, instead of 
discouraging it. Having waited in vain, 
in the midst of the great events which, 
in several respects, have changed the 
whole face of Europe in this century, 
the Greeks, taking counsel only of their 
despair, and indignant at living always as 
Helots in the ruins of Sparta and Athens, 
when nations of but yesterday were recov- 
ering their rights and recognising their 
social relations, rose against their des- 
potic masters, perhaps with greater bold- 
ness than prudence. 

The first decided movement took place 
in the year 1800, when the Servians, 
provoked by the cruelty of their oppres- 
sors the Turks, made a general insurrec- 
tion, which was headed by their celebra- 
ted chief Czerni George, who had served 
as a sergeant in the Austrian service, and 
afterwards became a bandit chief. He 
was possessed of much energy of charac- 
ter and bravery. Under him the Servians 
obtained several victories. He blockaded 
Belgrade, and one of the gates being sur- 
rendered to him, he made his entry into 
the city and slaughtered nearly all the 
Turks that were found in it. In the 
mean time Russia openly declared war 
against the Porte in 1807, and carried on 



the war until the year 1812, when the 
treaty of Bucharest was negotiated ; and 
though some efforts were made to obtain 
a concession in favor of their Servian al- 
lies, yet one difiiculty after another being 
stated by the Porte, a peace was at length 
concluded, as before, upon such terms as 
left the insurgents to their fate. 

The Turks and Greeks never became 
one nation ; the relation of conquerors 
and conquered never ceased. However 
abject a large part of the Greeks became 
by their continued oppression, they never 
forgot that they were a distinct nation ; 
and their patriarch at Constantinople re- 
mained a visible point of union for their 
national feelings. As early as 1809, a 
society had been formed at Paris for the 
liberation of Greece. In 1814, the He- 
taireia was formed in Vienna, but the re- 
volution began too early for their plans. 
A Walachian, Theodore Wladimiresko, 
left Bucharest, January 30th, with sixty 
pandoors, and instigated the peasants to 
revolt, promising them the protection of 
Russia and the restoration of their old 
rights. The Arnaouts, who were sent 
against him, joined him, and he soon be- 
came master of little Walachia, at the 
head of 5,000 men. The Greeks in Mol- 
davia likewise rose, under prince Alex- 
ander Ypsilanti, a major-general in the 
Russian service. 

The revolution in the Morea began on 
the 23rd of March, 1821, at Calavrita, 
a small place in Achaia, where eighty 
Turks were made prisoners. On the 
same day, the Turkish garrison of Patras 
fell upon the Greek inhabitants ; but they 
were soon relieved. In the ancient La- 
conia, Colocotroni and Peter Mavromi- 
chalis roused the people to arms. The 
archbishop Germanos collected the pea- 
sants of Achaia ; and in Patras and oth- 
er places the Turks were compelled to 
retreat into the fortresses. As early as 
April 6th, a Messenian senate assembled 
in Calamata ; and the bey of Maina, Pe- 
ter Mavromichalis, as commander-in- 
chief, proclaimed that the Morea had 
shaken off the yoke of Turkey to save 
the christian faith, and to restore the an- 
cient character of their country. " From 
Europe nothing is wanted but money, arms, 
and counsel." From that time the suf- 



430 



GREECE. 



fering Greeks found friends in Germany, 
France, Switzerland, England, and the 
United States of America. The cabinets 
of the other European powers, on the con- 
trary, threw every impediment in the way 
of the Hellenists, until they were finally 
obliged against their inclination, to inter- 
fere in their favor. Jussuf Selim, pacha 
of Lepanto, having received information 
of these events from the diplomatic agent 
of a European power, hastened to relieve 
the citadel of Patras, and the town was 
changed into a heap of ruins. The mas- 
sacre of the inhabitants was the signal 
for a struggle of life and death. Almost 
the whole war was thenceforward a suc- 
cession of atrocities. It was not a war 
prosecuted on any fixed plan, but merely 
a series of devastations and murders. 
The revolution spread over Attica, Boeo- 
tia, Phocis, ^Etolia, and Acarnania. The 
ancient names were revived. At the 
same time the islands declared them- 
selves free. In the beginning of April 
the wealthy merchants and ship-owners, 
the bold mariners of Hydra, Spezzia, and 
Ispara, who had long before been gained 
over to the cause of liberty, erected an 
independent government in Hydra. They 
fitted out their vessels for war, and the 
blue and red flag of the Hetaireia soon 
waved on nearly two hundred vessels. 

While the conduct of the Moreots has 
but too often drawn on them the just re- 
proach of their compatriots, the former 
have gained a name in history, which 
be will honored as long as an invincible 
love of liberty, and bold and inflexible 
courage in an unequal struggle are prized. 
The Hydriots cruised in the Turkish wa- 
ters, and blockaded the ports. In some isl- 
ands the Turks were massacred in revenge 
for the murder of the Greeks at Patras ; 
and, in retaliation, the Greeks were put 
to death at Smyrna, in Asia Minor, and 
in those islands which had not yet shak- 
en off" the Turkish yoke. The exasper- 
ation was raised to the highest pitch by 
the cruelties committed against the Greeks 
in Constantinople, after the end of March. 
On mere suspicion, and often merely to 
obtain possession of their property, the 
divan caused the richest Greek mer- 
chants and bankers to be put to death. 
The rage of the Mussulmans was parti- 



cularly directed against the Greek cler- 
gy. In April, Gregory, the patriarch of 
Constantinople, was murdered, with his 
bishops, in the metropolis. In Adriano- 
ple, the venerable patriarch, Cyrillus, 
who had retired to a life of solitude, and 
Proesos, archbishop of Adrianople, and 
others, met the same fate. 

When the first Turkish squadron left 
the Dardanelles, May 19th, the Greeks 
constantly pursued it with their fire-ships, 
avoiding, at the same time, a general en- 
gagement ; and, June 8th, they attacked a 
vessel of the line, which had got ashore 
at Tenedos, burned it, and compelled the 
rest of the squadron to put back to the 
Dardanelles. June 15th, the Ipsariots 
landed on the coast of Asia Minor, and 
took possession of the ancient Cydonia, 
now the Greek city of Aivali ; but, after 
they had retired, the Turks burned the 
city, and 35,000 of its inhabitants either 
perished or were driven from their homes. 
The ill success of their expedition added 
fresh fuel to the rage of the Turks. The 
Greeks in the island of Candia, who had 
avoided all participation in the insurrec- 
tion, were disarmed, and their archbish- 
op and several clergymen executed. But 
the peasants in the mountains, and the 
inhabitants of the small island Sphakia, 
called the Suliots of Candia, refused to 
give up their arms, collected and drove 
the Turks back again into the towns. 
From that time, the struggle continued, 
and the Turks, though supported by sev- 
eral thousand men from Egypt, were 
never again able to make themselves 
masters of the islands. They, however, 
maintained themselves in the cities. 

On the island of Cyprus, where also 
there had been no appearance of an in- 
surrection, the Greeks were disarmed in 
November, 1821, and almost all the in- 
habitants of Larnica, with the archbishop 
and other prelates, murdered. The pea- 
sants now united for mutual protection ; 
as a punishment for which, sixty-two vil- 
lages were burned in August, 1822. 
Similar atrocities were committed by 
the Turks at Scala Nuova, in Rhodes, 
and at Pergamos, after the Greeks had 
surprised the latter place. In Smyrna, 
also, new cruelties were committed ; and 
the European consuls did not succeed 



GREECE 



431 



until November, 1821, in inducing the 
pacha to put a stop to the enormities of 
the Turks. But in the European provin- 
ces of Turkey, the cruelties against chris- 
tians continued, as the sultan had issued 
a new hatti-sheriff, calling upon all Mus- 
sulmans to take arms against the Giaours. 
This order was not pubhshed in Constan- 
tinople, for which the populace, in that 
place, revenged themselves by setting 
fire to the city, Avhenever news of ill 
success exasperated them against the 
Greeks. 

The great Turkish fleet under the ca- 
pudan pacha, Kara Ali, strengthened by 
Egyptian, Tunisian and Algerine vessels, 
had, indeed, driven away the Greek flo- 
tillas, supplied the Turkish garrisons in 
the Morea with troops, arms, and provi- 
sions, burned the small village of Galax- 
idi, in the gulf of Lepanto, and taken some 
small Greek fishing craft in the harbor 
of this place. Yet the fleet had eflected 
nothing decisive. Hardly had it returned 
to the Dardanelles, when the Greek fleets 
renewed their system of blockade, and 
became, as formerly, masters of the 
iEgean sea and the gulf of Saloniki. 
Meanwhile, Demetrius Ypsilanti had ar- 
rived at Hydra, with prince Alexander 
Cantacuzeno, with authority from his 
brother, Alexander Ypsilanti. In Hydra, 
the unfortunate result of the struggle in 
Walachia was not yet known. Deme- 
trius promised the aid of Russia, and 
announced the restoration of the Greek 
empire. Yet it was with great difficulty 
that he succeeded in being appointed, on 
the 24th July, 1821, archistrategos or 
commander-in-chief of the Peloponne- 
sus, the Archipelago, and all the libera- 
ted provinces, and, as such, in being 
placed at the head of the Greeks in the 
Morea, where the dissensions among the 
capitani, and the undisciplined state of 
the soldiery, had a most injurious effect. 
Soon after, the principal Turkish fortress, 
Monembasia, surrendered to prince Can- 
tacuzeno, and Navarino to Demetrius 
Ypsilanti ; but the rapacious Moreots did 
not observe the articles of capitulation. 

Demetrius, disgusted at this disorder, 
declared his intention to leave Greece, 
unless he were invested with power to 
put a stop to this licentiousness, which 



he received, at least nominally. At the 
same time, the senate of Calamata united 
with that of Hydra, in order to assemble 
a congress of deputies from all Greece, 
at Calamata. Whilst Mavrocordato and 
others were making these preparations, 
Demetrius Ypsilanti was closely besieg- 
ing Tripolizza, the chief fortress of the 
Turks, situated in the plain of Mantinaea, 
in the centre of Greece. The garrison 
was on the point of surrendering, when 
the appearance of the Turkish fleet, in 
the waters of the Peloponnesus, gave 
them new courage. But in order to in- 
duce the Turkish troops to make an ob- 
stinate resistance, from fear of the ven- 
geance of the Christians, the Turkish 
commanders at Tripolizza ordered eighty 
priests and noble Greeks, who had been 
brought there, in part, by the treacherous 
invitations of the beys, to be all murdered, 
excepting two. After two thousand Al- 
banians had received permission to de- 
part, and the negotiations with the Turks 
were broken off, Tripolizza was taken 
by storm. The last post was surren- 
dered, on terms of capitulation, by the 
gallant Kiaja Bey; but the Moreots could 
not be restrained, and 8,000 Turks per- 
ished. Even the Albanians were at- 
tacked, and some of them plundered. In 
Tripolizza, the Moreots gained their first 
heavy cannon, and the place became the 
seat of the soi-disdnt Greek government, 
until it was transferred to Argos. 

Sixty deputies from all the provinces 
of Greece formed the first national assem- 
bly in Epidaurus on the 1 0th of January, 
1822, under the presidency of Mavrocor- 
dato, which, January 13, the Greek new 
year's day, proclaimed a provisional con- 
stitution. Its principles were the follow- 
ing : the annual election of all chief 
magistrates of the provinces, districts 
and communities ; laws were to be made 
by the concurrent votes of the delegative 
and executive councils ; the execution 
of laws was to rest with the execu- 
tive council, which appointed the eight 
ministers ; the independence of the judi- 
ciary was to be provided for ; this branch 
of government was to be exercised by 
the district, provincial, and supreme courts. 
The congress then elected the thirty -three 
members of the legislative and the five 



432 



GREECE. 



members of the executive council ; Mavro- 
cordato was elected president ; Theodore 
Negris, secretary of state of the executive 
council ; Ypsilanti, who had expected this 
place, was appointed president of the le- 
gislative council, but never discharged 
the duties of his office. Finally, the 
congress of Epidaurus issued a manifes- 
to, January 27, 1 822, in which they pro- 
nounced the union of the Greeks under 
an independent federative government. 

This arrangement at first was not so 
beneficial as had been expected. A peo- 
ple so long enslaved, and so deficient in 
civilization, could not at once establish a 
wise and firm government. The central 
government fixed its seat at Corinth, and, 
at a later period again at Argos. 

The numerous Greek population of the 
flourishing and defenceless Island of Scio 
had declined every invitation to engage in 
the revolution; but in March, 1822, a 
Greek fleet from Samos, vmder Logotheti, 
having appeared on the coast, the pea- 
sants, who labored under the greatest 
oppressions, took up arms and great dis- 
orders occurred. At this moment the 
great Turkish fleet made its appearance. 
In order to punish Scio, the capudan 
pacha abandoned his plan of operations 
against the Morea, and landed 15,000 of 
the most barbarous of the Asiatic troops, 
after the Sciots had rejected the off'er of 
amnesty. The islanders were beaten, 
and in a few days the beautiful island of 
Scio was changed into a scene of fire 
and blood. It was with great difficulty, 
and at the risk of their own lives, that 
the European consuls (among whom the 
courageous French consul Digeon was 
distinguished,) and the captains of some 
European vessels, were able to save a 
few hundred Greeks. Part of the people 
escaped to their vessels, and others con- 
tinued the struggle of despair in the 
mountains. Here they carried on a pro- 
tracted warfare with the Turkish troops, 
and exhibited a devotion to the cause of 
liberty worthy of the cause in which they 
were engaged. 

The European consuls, by means of a 
pastoral letter of the archbishop, and by 
the written assurance of the surviving 
hostages, that the Sciots might trust the 
oflered amnesty, if they would deliver up 



their leaders and their arms, finally effect- 
ed the submission of the peasants. Still 
murders, burnings, and pillaging did not 
cease. According to the Turkish lists, 
down to the 25th of May, 41,000 Sciots, 
mostly women and children, were sold 
into slavery. A similar fate was prepared 
for Ipsara, Tine, and Samos. But the 
Ipsariots, having already made prepa- 
rations to send their families to the 
Morea, hovered round the Turkish fleet 
with seventy small vessels, among which 
were several fire-ships, called hcphmstia, 
which were as ingeniously constructed 
as they were skilfully directed. Forty- 
three Ipsariots and Hydriots devoted 
themselves to death, rowed with their 
scampavias (a kind of gun-boats) into the 
midst of the fleet of the enemy, which 
still lay in the road of Scio ; and in the 
night of June 18, 1822, captain George 
attached fire-ships to the ship of the cap- 
udan pacha and to another vessel of the 
line. The former blew up, with 2,286 
men ; the latter was saved. The capu- 
dan pacha was mortally wounded, and 
carried on shore, where he died. The 
Turks were at first stupified ; but their 
rage soon broke out, and the last traces 
of cultivation, the gum mastic villages, so 
lucrative to the Porte, were destroyed. 
In Constantinople, Turks bought Sciots 
merely for the purpose of putting them 
to death at pleasure. The merchants of 
Scio, resident at Constantinople, and the 
hostages which were carried thither, 
were executed in secret or in public, 
without any kind of legal process. Thus 
the Morea and the Archipelago were 
taught what fate they were to expect. 

Whilst Scio was desolated, and Ma- 
cedonia ruined, the central government 
at Corinth, under Mavrocordato, presi- 
dent of the executive council, was en- 
gaged, in connection with the provincial 
governments, in organising the adminis- 
tration of the country. This was ac- 
complished by the law of 1822, the first 
year of independence, introducing order 
into the army, raising a loan, promising 
the soldiers land, and, as there existed 
no taxes except customs, in laying a tax 
on the productions of the soil ; but they 
met with resistance in almost all their 
attempts, particularly from the old capi- 



GREECE. 



433 



tani, who had been entirely independent 
during the government of the Turks. — 
Each desired to command and to fight on 
his own account, and for his own profit. 
Thus the avaricious and ambitious Colo- 
cotroni, the fierce Ulysses, and the 
haughty Mavromichalis, and even Ypsi- 
lanti, yielded with reluctance to the new 
order of things. 

Mavrocordato in vain called the peo- 
ple to arms ; the other commanders re- 
fused to assist him ; general Varnakioti 
went over to the enemy, and the internal 
dissensions among the Albanians enfee- 
bled the strength of the Greeks. The 
castle of Suli was surrendered to the 
Turks. Part of the Suliots (1,800 men, 
with their wives and children) took re- 
fuge under the protection of the British 
in Cephalonia ; the rest fled to the moun- 
tains. Mavrocordato, with 300 men, and 
Marco Botzaris, finally threw themselves 
into Missolonghi. " Here," said the for- 
mer, " let us fall with Greece." Omer 
Vrione now considered himself master of 
iEtolia, and advanced with Ruschid, at 
the head of 11,000 men, to Missolonghi. 
Jussuf Pacha sent troops from Patras 
and Lepanto against Corinth, and Khur- 
shid, who, in Larissa, had received re-en- 
forcements from Rumelia and Bulgaria, 
determined to advance from Thessaly, 
through Livadia against the isthmus ; 
and then, after forming a union with Jus- 
suf and Omer Vrione, to crush the in- 
surgents in the Morea. His main body, 
25,000 strong, composed principally of 
cavalry, had already passed Thermopy- 
lae, which Ulysses had defended so val- 
iantly in May and June, without opposi- 
tion. On his march through Livadia, he 
laid every thing waste, proclaimed an 
amnesty, and occupied Corinth, which a 
priest of the name of Achilles, who af- 
terwards killed himself, had basely sur- 
rendered ; but when Khurshid attempted 
to penetrate the passes in person, he was 
three times repelled by Ulysses near 
Larissa, where he died, just before the 
arrival of the capidgi baschi, who brought 
his death w^arrant. That body of caval- 
ry, however, which had so rashly push- 
ed forward without infantry, and was 
unable to obtain food or provender, per- 
ished in the defiles of the Morea. When 
55 



it advanced against Argos (from which 
the central government had fled,) formed 
a junction with 5,000 men of Jessuf's 
army, and sent re-enforcements to Napoli 
di Romania, the danger united all the 
capitani. Nicholas Niketas, who was 
on the point of taking Napoli di Romania 
by capitulation, Mavromichalis and Ypsi- 
lanti, retreated to the heights of Argos, 
laying waste the open country ; Ypsilan- 
ti, in the ruins of the castle of Argos, 
held the enemy in check; the Greek 
fleet prevented the relief of Napoli di 
Romania, by the great Turkish fleet, and 
took an Austrian store-ship, bound to Na- 
poli di Romania ; Ulysses occupied the 
defiles of Geranion ; Colocotroni hasten- 
ed from Patras, which he was besieging, 
to the scene of danger, called the people 
to the standard of the cross, assumed the 
chief command, and, in the latter part of 
June, occupied the defiles between Pa- 
tras, Argos, and Corinth, by which he 
cut off" the connection of the Turks in 
Thessaly with Khunshid. The skirmish- 
ing now began on all sides, and continu- 
ed day and night, from August 1st to 
August 8th. On the latter day the Turk- 
ish commander-in-chief, whose troops 
had nothing but horse flesh to eat, offer- 
ed to evacuate the Morea ; but Coloco- 
troni refused the offer. The pacha then 
determined to break through to the isth- 
mus of Corinth ; but Niketas fell upon 
the separate corps of the Turks, on the 
night of August 9th, in the defile of 
Tretes ; so that hardly 2,000, without 
artillery or baggage, reached the isthmus, 
where Ypsilanti entirely destroyed them. 
Another corps, which fled towards Pa- 
tras, was destroyed by Colocotroni ; the 
remaining corps was routed by the Mai- 
nots, near Napoli. Thus more than 
20,000 Turks disappeared in four weeks 
from the Greek soil. 

The Turldsh fleet, which had lain at 
anchor for four weeks in the gulf of Le- 
panto, and had attacked Missolonghi, 
without success, set sail, September 1st, 
with the plague on board. After an un- 
successful attempt to break through the 
line of 57 Greek brigs, which blockaded 
Napoli, it finally came to anchor at the 
entrance of the Dardanelles, off Tene- 
dos. On the 10th of November, seven- 



434 



GREECE. 



teen daring sailors, of the band of the 
forty Ipsariots, dressed like Turks, con- 
ducted two fire-ships under full sail, as 
if they were flying from the Greeks, 
whilst two Ipsariot vessels pursued them, 
firing on them with blank cartridges, into 
the midst of the Turkish licet, and fasten- 
ed one of them, to the admiral's ship, the 
other to the ship of the capitana-bey. — 
Both were soon in flames ; the former 
narrowly escaped ; the latter blew up 
with 1800 men ; the capudan pacha, 
Cara Mehmet, however, got on shore, 
before the explosion took place. Three 
frigates were wrecked on the coast of 
Asia Minor ; one vessel of thirty-six 
guns was captured ; storms and terror 
destroyed a part of the Ottoman fleet, 
and of thirty-five vessels only eighteen 
returned into the Dardanelles. The 
seventeen Ipsariots arrived safely at Ip- 
sara, where the ephori rewarded their 
leaders, Constantine Kanaris and George 
Minauly,with naval crowns. The Greeks 
were once more masters of the sea, and 
renewed the blockade of the Turkish 
ports, which Great Britain now formally 
acknowledged. 

The events of the year 1823, were not 
less bloody and confused than those of 
the preceding years. Whilst, in Thes- 
saly and Epirus, there was a suspension 
of arms, and the Greek flag (eight blue 
and white horizontal stripes) commanded 
the sea, the populace in Constantinople 
manifested their rage by setting fire to 
different parts of the city, because they 
were prevented from committing massa- 
cres. March 1st, 1823, an attempt was 
made to pillage and burn the Greek 
suburbs ; but the wind drove the flames 
against the Turkish quarters. Four times 
the sea of fire rolled against the Greek 
quarters, and four times a fresh north 
wind rolled it back ag'iinst the Turkish 
houses. Pera was saved ; but 6,000 
Turkisli houses, part of the cannon foun- 
dry, and part of the naval arsenal, were 
reduced to ashes. The Mussulmans 
finally cried out, " God is with the Gia- 
ours." The grand-vizier Abdullah was 
dismissed in consequence of this confla- 
gration, and Ali Bey, a pacha hostile to 
the janissaries, succeeded him. These 
troops, therefore, Kieditated vengeance ; 



and on the 13th of July, a new fire broke 
out, which consumed 1,500 private 
houses, and three frigates. Order was, 
however, restored by severe measures ; 
more favorable news arrived from Asia ; 
and the sultan resolved on a general war 
of extermination against the Greeks, on 
account of which he called all Mussul- 
mans, from fifteen to sixty years, to arms. 

On the other hand, Greece endeavored 
to organize an army and a financial sys- 
tem. The dissolved battalion of Philhel- 
lenists became the nucleus of the first 
Greek regiment. Mavrocordato Avas 
placed at the head of the land forces. — 
Orlandi, the minister of the marine, who 
was a Hydriot, organized the navy. The 
rich Hydriot Miaulis was admiral. The 
Greeks, under Mavromichalis and Ma- 
vrocordato, instead of waiting for the 
enemy behind the isthmus, took a posi- 
tion near Megara, and Colocotroni re- 
ceived the command over the forces of 
Ulysses and Niketas, with whose bands 
the Peloponnesian army united near 
Plataea. 

From this place they advanced against 
the enemy, towards the end of June. — 
After some fighting in detail, Ulysses 
defeated one of the main bodies of the 
Turks, under Mehemet Pacha, at Ther- 
mopylaj. He then joined the army under 
Colocotroni, who attacked the Turkish 
camp near the monastery of St. Luke, that 
is situated between the cities of Thebes 
and Livadia, which was captured by 
Ulysses and Niketas after a very obsti- 
nate engagement, and the Turks retreated 
with great loss. Ulysses overtook them 
and routed them in the plains of Chero- 
nea. But the seraskier collected new 
forces, and advanced again, whilst, at the 
same time, Jussuf and Omer Vrione, 
supported by the fleet of the capudan 
pacha, off Patras, were destined to ad- 
vance on Missolonghi, and the pacha of 
Scutari was to enter the Morea through 
Western Greece, by Vrachori, Vonitza, 
and Salona. But the attack of the seras- 
kier on Volos and the peninsula of Tri- 
cori failed ; Jussuf's march was delayed 
by the desertion of 8,000 Albanians, and 
the vanguard of the pacha of Scutari was 
surprised at midnight, on the 20th of 
August, 1823, in the camp of Carpinissi, 



GREECE. 



435 



by Marco Botzaris. Whilst the moun- 
taineers, from Thessaly and Epirus, at- 
tacked the camp on four sides, on a 
signal given by Botzaris, the brave com- 
mander himself penetrated, with 500 
Suliots, to the tent of the pacha ; but, at 
the moment of making the pacha of Del- 
vino prisoner, he received a mortal w^ound, 
and his brother Constantine completed 
the victory. The Turks lost all their 
artillery and baggage, and the dying 
Marco exclaimed, at the moment of vic- 
tory, " Could a Suliot leader die a nobler 
death ?" The Porte, though much ex- 
hausted, still had greater resources for 
the next campaign of 1824 than the 
Greeks. But the support which certain 
societies in England, and individuals, 
like lord Byron, had given the Greeks, 
by means of loans, by sending arms, and 
by assistance in person, made the Porte 
indignant ; and it required that the British 
government should forbid their subjects to 
take any part in the aftairs of the Greeks. 
In the meanwhile the British officers 
who had fought under the Greek stand- 
ard, had been recalled to England. The 
good understanding with Russia appeared 
still more complete, when a great number 
of neutral transport ships, Russian, Aus- 
trian, and others, were hired by the 
capudan pacha, who sailed out of the 
Dardanelles to destroy Ipsara and Samos. 
At the same time Dervish, pacha of Widin, 
as commander-in-chief of the Ottoman 
troops, received an order to enter the 
Morea, whilst the pacha of Negropont, 
on the coast of Attica," and Omer Vrione, 
were to open the campaign on the west 
coast of Greece. The Porte had suc- 
ceeded, too, in inducing Mohammed Ali, 
the viceroy of Egypt, to send from his 
troops, which had been trained in the 
European discipline by French officers, 
20,000 men, under the command of Ibra- 
him Pacha, his son, besides a fleet with 
transport ships, consisting of hired Rus- 
sian, Austrian, Spanish, and Italian ves- 
sels, to assist the grand signior in redu- 
cing the Greeks to submission. A fire 
in Cairo delayed, for some months, the 
departure of this expedition. In the 
mean time, after the glorious issue of the 
campaigns of 1823, dissensions had bro- 
ken out anew in Greece. The party of 



Mavrocordato, which had taken the place 
of the heads of the Hetaireia was com- 
posed of Hydriot merchants, and the 
most enlightened men of the nation. It 
endeavored to establish an orderly and 
legal administration, and to regulate the 
finances. Mavrocordato was president 
of the legislative body ; but retiring from 
the military party, which had the pre- 
ponderance in the Morea, he went to- 
wards Western Greece. The heads of 
that military party, the capitani, appeared 
to wish to take the places of the former 
Turkish pachas and oppressors of the 
country, and one of the most eminent of 
this party was Colocotroni, who was the 
most powerful in the executive council. 
From Tripolizza, in the midst of the pe- 
ninsula, his faction extended itself on all 
sides. Panos, his son, commanded at 
Nauplia, the seat of government ; and the 
whole garrison of the Acrocorinthus con- 
sisted of the adherents of that bold, proud, 
and rich general. After Colocotroni 
came Mavromichalis, formerly bey of the 
Mainots, and now the nominal president 
of the executive council. Negris, the 
former minister of foreign afl^airs, had 
joined Ulysses, who maintained himself 
in Athens and Eastern Greece, almost 
independently of the central government. 
These capitani raised, without regard to 
rules and orders, all that they wanted for 
themselves and their soldiers ; so that 
only in the marine at Hydra, and in 
Western Greece, where Mavrocordato 
commanded, a well-ordered government 
was maintained. 

In Missolonghi, lord Byron was taking 
an active part. In conjunction with 
colonel Stanhope, he organized the artil- 
lery, and established schools and printing 
offices. The accession of the garrison 
of the chief fort of Napoli to the cause 
of the government, occasioned the con- 
clusion of a treaty with Colocotroni, who 
submitted with all his followers, imder 
the security of a general amnest3^ Panos 
now gave up Napoli and the citadel of 
Palamedes, to which the senate and the 
government immediately transferred 
themselves, and a general amnesty ter- 
minated the civil war. 

During this time the Greeks in West- 
ern Greece were laboring to improve the 



436 



GREECE. 



fortifications of Anatolico, and of Misso- 
longhi, the bulwark of the Peloponnesus. 
A conspiracy was soon after discovered 
to deliver up the town to the pacha Jus- 
suf, and the Suliots began to commit 
great excesses, being excessively discon- 
tented with lordByron's new regulations, 
and also with the influence of foreigners 
in general. In consequence of this a 
great number of them were sent out of 
the place. These, under the guidance 
of a certain Karaiskaki, took possession 
of the fort Wassiladi. The inhabitants 
took no part in this rebellion ; and a body 
of troops, under the command of Botzaris, 
Sturnaris, and Trokas, defeated the in- 
surgents, and recovered Wassiladi; upon 
which the traitors fled to Omer Vrione. 
This insurrection frustrated the siege of 
Lepanto, and, unfortunately for the Greek 
cause, lord Byron's health suflfered from 
these events, and he died after a sickness 
of ten days, on the 19th of April, 1824. 

The small but strongly fortified rocky 
island of Ipsara had made itself formida- 
ble to the Porte by the number of its 
vessels and fire-ships, in which the most 
daring of the islanders carried terror and 
destruction into the Dardanelles. Khosru 
possessed exact information of the fortifi- 
cations of the island. Ishmael Pliassa, 
nephew of the well-known Ali Pacha of 
Yanina, commanded under him 14,000 
choice troops, mostly Albanians. But 
before Khosru invaded the island he 
offered pardon and protection to the 
Ipsariots three times ; they however 
Tejected all his proposals, and 5,000 
chosen Greeks and Albanians took pos- 
session of the most important points ; 
even the females prepared themselves 
for the combat. Khosru left the shores 
of Mitylene early in July, with two ships 
of the line, six frigates, ten corvettes, 
several brigs and galliots, a great number 
of newly-built gun-boats, and more than 
eighty European transport ships. The 
men-of-war began to fire upon the town 
and the forts. Whilst the principal attack 
appeared to be made here, a landing was 
eff"ected on the opposite coast, upon a 
sandy point of land, where an Albanese 
battalion, under the traitor Goda, deserted 
the battery, after a short resistance. In 
the meantime the city was attacked on 



all sides ; the Greeks fought from street 
to street, from house to house ; and the 
work of destruction was kept up through 
the whole night. On the following morn- 
ing they held only two small forts and 
the convent of St. Nicholas. After a 
hard struggle these brave men resolved 
to die together. While the Turks were 
storming the walls, they set fire to the 
mine, which had been prepared ; the 
earth shook, and Ipsara became the grave 
of its own heroes and the conquerors. — 
This blow re-kindled the Avarlike spirit 
of the Greeks. The people and the au- 
thorities rose up for united resistance. 
Hydra and Spezzia manned their ships, 
and Ipsara was retaken by the brave 
Miaulis ; and the enemy was repulsed 
by inferior forces at Samos, Cos, and 
Chios. Equal success attended the 
Greeks upon the main land. 

The Turkish fleet united in the gulf of 
Bodroun, and several battles were now 
fought with the Greek fleet. The battle 
at Naxos lasted the whole day, and it 
was, perhaps, the first during the war 
that deserved the name of a naval en- 
gagement. The intrepid Kanaris blew 
up, with his fire-ships, an Egyptian fri- 
gate of forty-four guns, and a brig. At 
length, the Ottoman fleet broke off the 
engagement, and retired to Mitylene, 
with the loss of several transport ships. 
Khosru then turned back to Constantino- 
ple, with fifteen sail, and Ibrahim Pacha, 
with the rest of the fleet, to the gulf of 
Bodroun. He supplied the islands anew 
with troops and provisions, particularly 
Candia, which his father already regard- 
ed as a part of his viceroyalty. Miaulis 
soon after attacked him off Candia, and 
Ibrahim lost a frigate, ten small vessels, 
and fifteen transport ships. Weakened 
by the plague, which had appeared on 
board the ships, he drew back to the 
harbor of Rhodes, where the well-known 
admiral Ishmael Gibraltar died. 

The campaign of 1825 was opened in 
the Morea by the landing of Ibrahim Pa- 
cha. Reschid Pacha besieged Misso- 
longhi at the same time, and the capudan 
pacha aided both by his fleet. While 
these dangers threatened Greece, her 
ruin was accelerated by the capitani. 
Ibrahim Pacha, before mentioned, was 



GREECE. 



437 



permitted to land on the 22nd of Februa- 
ry, 1825, with 4,500 men, between Co- 
ron and Modon, and was strengthened in 
the beginning of March, so that his force 
amounted to 12,000 men. His army, ow- 
ing to their European tactics, French 
leaders, the use of bayonets and a disci- 
plined cavalry, was far more to be dread- 
ed than the undisciplined host of Turks. 
Ibrahim at once commenced the siege of 
Navarino, the key of the interior of the 
Peloponnesus. In vain Miaulis attacked 
with his fleet that of the enemy on the 
night of the 12th of May, when he burn- 
ed an Egyptian frigate, two corvettes, 
three brigs, and many transport ships. 
In vain Mavrocordato did every thing by 
personal exposure to animate the courage 
of the garrison of Navarino, which was 
reduced to extremity. Conduriotti found 
no obedience as he approached for the 
relief of the place. The inactivity of 
the capitani, who would give no aid to 
the Hydriots and the government, was 
the cause of the capitulation of Navarino ; 
after which Ibrahim pressed on, without 
resistance, to Tripolizza. In this danger, 
the government saw themselves compel- 
led to pardon Colocotroni, and, after re- 
ceiving a solemn promise of fidelity from 
him, to give him the command of the Pe- 
loponnesus. This happened on the last 
day of May, 1825. 

In the mean time, Reschid Pacha 
forced his way into Acarnania and iEtolia, 
after he had beaten the Greeks at Saloni- 
ca ; and the third siege of Missolonghi 
and Anatolico began. The capudan pa- 
cha did not arrive sufficiently soon to 
support the attack on the side of the sea. 
He lost several ships in May, near Capo 
d'Oro, in an engagement with the Greek 
admiral Sactouri, and reached Modon at 
the end of this month. Ibrahim had 
already taken Calamata, and occupied 
Tripolizza, which the Greeks, in their 
retreat, set on fire. He pressed on, des- 
troying every thing, and reached Argos. 
Napoli di Romania itself was threatened 
by him. But, after the battle of the mills, 
at the distance of two leagues from the 
capital, he was obliged to draw back to 
Tripolizza, in the midst of repeated at- 
tacks from Colocotroni's army. This 
continued to be the centre of his enter- 



prises. Not one Greek village obeyed 
his command to submit and receive his 
protection, so that he laid waste every 
thing, put to death the men, and sent the 
women and children as slaves to Egypt. 
In the defence of Missolonghi, the spirit 
of the Greeks appeared more clearly 
than ever. The Turks, with 35,000 land 
forces, and 4,000 sea forces, were wholly 
defeated, after a contest which lasted seve- 
ral days. During the struggle, Miaulis ar- 
rived, burned several Turkish ships, and 
forced the fleet to retire. The siege was 
raised, Oct. 12th, 1825, four months and a 
half after the opening of the trenches. 
Ibrahim Pacha spread more and more 
widely the terror of his arms, and the gov- 
ernment found itself in the greatest danger. 
It had lost almost entirely the confidence 
of the auxiliary societies, because the 
money from the British loan had not been 
properly laid out. 

The affairs of Greece appeared to be 
hastening to ruin. The Greek fleet, con- 
sisting of seventy-three men-of-war and 
twenty-three fire-ships, arrived too late 
before Navarino. The government had 
hardly 6,000 men under arms. The 
capitani squandered the money with 
which they were to provide troops. The 
members of the senate and of the execu- 
tive council had no confidence in each 
other ; and the secretary of state, Mavro- 
cordato, who labored with little aid but 
that of his own foresight and prudence, 
to maintain order, was, for this reason, held 
in ill-will by all parties, and had little in- 
fluence. The islanders presented the 
last bulwark for the defence of the Mo- 
rea, but were obliged also to provide for 
their own security. Notwithstanding 
this, their fleet succeeded in entering 
Missolonghi, now besieged for the fourth 
time, and in providing it with ammunition 
and provisions, after the garrison had 
again repulsed an attack made by sea 
and land. 

The capudan pacha appeared anew be- 
fore Missolonghi. The attempts of the 
Grecian fleet to supply it again with pro- 
visions and ammunition failed ; and the 
capudan pacha summoned the authorities 
of the town to surrender, if they did not 
wish the place to be taken by storm ; but 
they refused the ofier. Soon after there 



438 



GREECE. 




Siege of Missolonghi. 



was an engagement between the fleets in 
the gulf of Patras, when the Greek fire- 
ships, under Kanaris, destroyed a frigate 
and many small vessels. The capudan 
pacha soon gave up his command, after a 
disagreement with Ibrahim Pacha, who 
had desired his recall by the divan, and 
went by land from Yanina to Constanti- 
nople. 

Ibrahim then conducted the siege alone. 
He had 25,000 men, among them about 
9,000 regular troops, and forty-eight can- 
non, bought in France, with which Pierre 
Boyer, formerly a Bonapartist, and a ge- 
neral well known by his cruelties com- 
mitted in Egypt, St. Domingo and Spain, 
bombarded Missolonghi. After the bom- 
bardment had continued several days, 
Ibrahim repeatedly offered the command- 
er of the fortress large sums if he would 
surrender the place. He was willing 
even to permit the garrison to take the 
cannon and all the moveable property 
with them. All his proposals were re- 
jected, and the garrison prepared them- 
selves for death or victory. Ibrahim had 
assaulted the works of Missolonghi from 
the 28th of February to March 2nd. On 
this day he attacked the place by sea 
and land, but was wholly repulsed with 



the loss of 4,000 men ; so that Missolon- 
ghi was, for the fifth time, freed by Greek 
valor, when it had but a few days' pro- 
vision. Ibrahim now directed his attacks 
against the outworks of Missolonghi on 
the sea side. He forced his way with 
gim-boats and floating-batteries into the 
lagoons, and on the 9th of March, 1826, 
he stormed the little island of Wassiladi, 
and a bomb, which fell into the powder 
room of the fort, and kindled the ammu- 
nition, decided the fate of the place. 
Ibrahim then took by capitulation the 
fortified island of Anatolico, near Misso- 
longhi, after he had stormed a fortified 
monastery, called Kundro, which protect- 
ed the island, where a garrison of 400 
men were cut to pieces. After these 
misfortunes, Missolonghi, the bulwark of 
the Peloponnesus, fell gloriously on the 
22nd of April, 1826. The foundation of 
an Egyptian-African military state now 
seemed to be laid in Europe. 

This danger roused the attention of the 
governments and people of Europe. The 
fate of Missolonghi, of whose garrison 
1 ,800 men, under Noto Botzaris and Kit zos 
Isavellas, cut their way to Salona and 
Athens, while the rest buried themselves 
voluntarily under the ruins of the place. 



GREECE, 



439 



excited every where the liveliest interest. 
In France this interest veas loudly and 
actively expressed. 

Thus, at last, when the voice of lamen- 
tation was loudest in the land, deliverance 
was slowly approaching the Greeks. 
The duke of Wellington had, by Mr. Can- 
ning's order, subscribed at Petersburgh, on 
the 4th of April, 1826, the protocol which 
provided for the inteference of the three 
great powers in favor of the Greeks. 

In the mean time the Egyptian army 
overran almost every part of the Morea 
and changed it to a desert, without ob- 
taining submission from a single village. 
Families from all parts of Greece pressed 
forward together under the walls of Na- 
poli di Romania, and suffered all the hor- 
rors of poverty and hunger, rather than 
enter into a treaty with their Mussulman 
oppressors. Despair drove many of 
these unhappy people to piracy, but most 
of the corsairs, in the Greek seas, were 
composed of criminals and persons ban- 
ished from the Ionian islands, Dalmatia, 
and Italy, who did not even spare the 
Greek flag. New bands of warriors came 
forth from the mountains, and Colocotroni 
several times attacked Tripolizza, which 
was defended by 3,000 Egyptians, under 
Soliman Bey, who was a French renegade. 

Want of money and provisions, and the 
dissensions between the commanders ; 
the mistrust of the palikaris, who had 
been deceived by their officers ; and the 
ingratitude of the Greeks towards the 
Philhellenes, or foreign officers in their 
service, were the principal causes why 
nothing important was accomplished. 
Owing to these circumstances, Athens, 
after the army which should have reliev- 
ed it had fled in a dastardly manner, ca- 
pitulated to Reschid Pacha, on the 7th 
of June, 1827. In vain did lord Coch- 
rane, who had long been detained in Eng- 
land by the defective construction of the 
steam-vessels, for which the Greeks had 
paid so dear, at last arrive in Greece, 
and take the chief command of the sea 
forces, while general Church stood at the 
head of the land forces. The Turks re- 
mained in possession of the whole of 
eastern and western Hellas. The dis- 
tress was increased by a violent struggle 
for power in Napoli di Romania itself. 



Meanwhile the ambassadors of the 
three powers had, on the 16th of August, 
presented to the Porte the treaty conclu- 
ded at London, for the pacification of 
Greece, and waited for an answer till the 
31st. " Greece," they said, " shall gov- 
ern itself, but pay tribute to the Porte." 
Europe had now more reason than ever 
to demand from the Porte the indepen- 
dence of Greece, by which piracy in the 
Grecian and Turkish seas might be pre- 
vented ; an African slave-holding and pi- 
ratical state should not be allowed to rule 
the beautiful Archipelago of Europe ; 
and order might take the place of bloody 
anarchy, which the Porte had neither sa- 
gacity nor strength to suppress. 

The Greek government immediately 
proclaimed an armistice in conformity to 
the treaty of London. But the reis ef- 
fendi rejected the intervention of the three 
powers. The Greeks then commenced 
hostilities anew, and the Turkish-Egyp- 
tian fleet entered the bay of Navarino. 
A British squadron appeared in the bay 
on the 13th, under admiral Codrington. 
To this a French squadron, under admi- 
ral Rigny, and a Russian, under count 
Heyden, united themselves on the 22nd. 
They demanded from Ibrahim Pacha a 
cessation of hostilities. He promised 
this, and went out with part of his fleet, 
but was forced to return into the bay. As 
he now continued his devastations in 
the Morea, and gave no answer to the 
complaints of the admirals, the three 
squadrons entered the bay, where the 
Turkish-Eg}'ptian fleet was drawn up in 
the order of battle. The first shots were 
fired from the Turkish side, and killed 
two Englishmen. This was the sign for 
a deadly contest, which took place on the 
20th of October, 1827, in which admiral 
Codrington nearly destroyed the Turkish- 
Egyptian armada of 110 ships. One 
part was burned, another driven on shore, 
and the rest disabled. The news of the 
victory was received with exultation in 
Eiuope. A suspension of hostilities now- 
ensued, during which the depredations of 
pirates became more serious. The ad- 
mirals of the three united squadrons, 
therefore, sent a warm remonstrance to 
the legislative council of the Greeks, 
and, after a number of capital punish- 



440 



GREECE. 



ments,the safety of the seas was restored, 
particularly after the British had destroy- 
ed the head-quarters of the corsairs in 
Candia. The Greeks now resumed the 
offensive against the Turks ; but their at- 
tempt upon Scio, (where they vainly be- 
sieged the citadel,) was productive of 
nothing but injury to the inhabitants. 
Enraged at the battle of Navarino, the 
Porte seized all the ships of the Franks 
in Constantinople, detained them from 
Nov. 2 to Nov. 19, and, on the 8th stop- 
ped all communication with the ministers 
of the allied powers, till indemnification 
should be made for the destruction of 
the fleet. At the same time the govern- 
ment prepared for war. 

From all parts of the kingdom, the 
Ayans were now called to Constantino- 
ple, a measure quite unusual, and dis- 
cussed with the Porte the preparations 
for war. All the Moslems from the age 
of nineteen to fifty, were called to arms. 
In the mean time, the president of the 
Greeks, count Capo d'Istria, appointed 
the able Tricoupi his secratary of state, 
and established a high national council, 
called Panhellenion, atNapolidi Romania ; 
on the 4th of February, 1828, took mea- 
sures for instituting a national bank ; and 
also put the military department on a new 
footing. The improvements, however, 
could go on but slowly. Without the 
as.sistance of France and Russia, each 
of which lent the young state 6,000,000 
francs, nothing could have been efTected. 
The attempts at pacification were fruit- 
less, because the Porte rejected every 
proposal, and England appeared to disap- 
prove the battle of Navarino. 

In this state of uncertainty, Ibrahim 
was allowed to send a number of Greek 
captives as slaves to Egypt. In March, 
1828, the war between Russia and Tur- 
key broke out, and gave the Porte full 
occupation. In the mean time, the 
French cabinet, in concurrence with the 
English, to carry into execution the trea- 
ty of London, sent a body of troops to 
the Morea, whilst admiral Codrington 
concluded a treaty with the viceroy of 
Egypt, at Alexandria, the terms of which 
were that Ibrahim Pacha should evacu- 
ate the Morea with his troops, and set 
at liberty his Greek prisoners. Those 



Greeks who had been carried into slave- 
ry in Egypt, should be freed or ransom- 
ed ; 1,200 men, however, were to be al- 
lowed to remain to garrison the fortresses 
in the Morea. To force Ibrahim to com- 
ply with these terms, the French general 
Maison arrived, on the 29th of the fol- 
lowing August, with 154 transport ships, 
in the Morea, in the bay of Coron, near 
Petalidi. After an amicable negotiation, 
Ibrahim left Navarino, and sailed with 
about 21,000 men, whom he carried with 
the wreck of the fleet to Alexandria ; but 
he left garrisons in the Messenian for- 
tresses, amounting to 25,000 men, con- 
sisting of Turks and Egyptians. Mai- 
son occupied the town of Navarino with- 
out opposition. He then attacked the 
Turkish fortresses in Messenia. The 
garrison made no resistance, but, on the 
other hand, the commanders would not 
capitulate. The French, therefore, al- 
most without opposition, took possession 
of the citadels of Navarino, of Modon, 
and of Coron. The garrisons were al- 
lowed free egress, and Patras, with 
3,000 men, capitulated also without re- 
sistance ; and the flags of the three pow- 
ers, parties to the treaty of London, 
waved with the national flag of Greece 
on the walls of the prhicipal cities. 

The French government ransomed sev- 
eral hundred Greek slaves in Egypt, and 
the king of France undertook the education 
of the orphan children. Thus, after strug- 
gling for seven years, Greece was placed 
under the protection of the three chief 
European powers. Mahmoud, however, 
still declined to recall the edict of exter- 
mination, which he had pronounced when 
he commanded Dram Ali, a few years 
before, to bring him the ashes of the 
Peloponnesus. Ibrahim had wantonly 
burned down the olive groves as far 
as his Arabians spread, and the Greeks 
were sunk in the deepest misery and 
confusion. 

After unnumbered difficidties, the great- 
est obstacles to a well ordered govern- 
ment were in part overcome by the exer- 
tions of Capo d'Istria. On the 19th of 
November, 1828, the French colonel 
Fabvier returned from France to the Mo- 
rea, to organize the Greek army, and the 
French envoy, Jaubert, delivered the pro- 



INDIA. 



441 



tocol of the conference of the three great 
powers to the Porte in January, 1829. 

A peace between Russia and the Porte 
was signed at Adrianople, September 
14th, 1829, and ratified by the Porte, on 
the 20th of that month. The conferen- 
ces between the ministers of the three 
powers, at London, had now for their ob- 
ject to select a prince to wear the crown 
of Greece. They accordingly fixed upon 
prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg, as the 
most eligible person to become the " sov- 
ereign prince of Greece ;" and their offer 
was immediately accepted, though the 



prince afterwards declined this honor in a 
declaration dated May 21st, 1830. 

Subsequently to the arrival in Greece 
of the protocol of March 22nd, 1829, 
and the publication of the assent of the 
Turks to the frontier included in the trea- 
ty of Adrianople, all the families which 
had survived the war returned, and com- 
menced rebuilding their houses and 
towns, and cultivating their lands. After 
the resignation of Leopold, several prin- 
ces were proposed, but Otho, prince of 
Bavaria, was finally elected, and he is 
now the reigning sovereign of Gteece. 



INDI A, 



The traces of the ancient chronology 
and history of India are very faint and 
imperfect, and are nearly quite lost in 
remote antiquity. It is supposed by 
those Europeans who have made the 
most elaborate and careful researches on 
these points, and who have investigated 
and compared, on the spot, the features, 
manners, languages and religions of the 
various tribes who inhabit this vast ter- 
ritory, that a few only of the aboriginal 
inhabitants are to be found scattered in 
the hilly countries ; and it is certain, that 
the Brahmins have traditions that their 
ancestors came from the north, and, having 
conquered Hindostan, established there 
their customs, religion, and languages. 

The only events in the history of Hin- 
dostan, prior to the birth of Christ, of 
which we possess any direct and clear 
information, either from the Greek and 
Roman authors, or from the ancient books 
of the Hindoos, are, the great war of 
the Mahabharat, the invasion of India by 
Sesostris, and by the Persians in the 
reign of Darius Hystaspes ; and the 
transactions of the reign of Chandra 
Gupta, the contemporary of Alexander 
the Great. 

Though it has been found so extremely 
difficult to fix the era of Sesostris, and 
to free his history from events evi- 
dently either fabulous or highly exagger- 
ated, that many authors have been dis- 
56 



posed totally to deny its authenticity; 
yet it appears to us that no reasonable 
doubts can be entertained that he invaded 
India. The circumstances of this inva- 
sion, the causes which gave rise to it, 
and the objects which he had in view, 
cannot be ascertained ; but we are ex- 
pressly informed by Diodorus Siculus, 
that he crossed the Ganges, and advanced 
as far as the Eastern Ocean. His con- 
quests, however, were not permanent, and 
indeed were so contrary to the genius 
and habits of the Egyptians, that, on the 
death of Sesostris, they were entirely 
relinquished. 

The Persians under Darius Hystaspes 
obtained a firmer, though a less extensive 
empire in India, than the Egyptians. 
That monarch having subdued the coun- 
tries which lie in a south-east direction 
from the Caspian to the Oxus, turned his 
thoughts towards India, on which they 
bordered. In order to prepare himself 
for this new enterprise, he appointed 
Scylax to explore the Indus and the 
country lying on its banks, from the upper 
part of its navigable course to its mouth. 
The account which Darius received from 
Scylax of the populousness, fertility, and 
high cultivation of this territory, incited 
the Persian monarch to aim at its con- 
quest. This he appears soon and easily 
to have accomplished ; but his conquests 
did not extend beyond the district watered 



442 



INDIA 



by the Indus ; and of the circumstances 
attending them, we are entirely ignorant 
It would seem, however, that he com- 
pelled some of the Indian princes to ac- 
knowledge his dominion, by the payment 
of an annual tribute ; for Ave learn from a 
Hindoo writer, that the ostensible cause 
of the celebrated invasion of India by 
Alexander the Great was, to levy this 
tribute, which some of its princes had re- 
fused to pay, and to compel them to ac- 
knowledge their dependence on the 
throne of Persia. 

It would appear, that the extensive 
confederacy formed in Hindostan, by the 
mutual understanding and the union of the 
four great kingdoms then existing in that 
country, against foreign invasion, did not 
last long. Before the conquest of the Per- 
sians, dissensions had risen among the 
different states, which, together with the 
wealth of the people, and their unwarlike 
character, invited the inroads not only of 
these conquerors, but also of the fierce 
and destructive barbarians of Thibet. By 
them the northern provinces were attack- 
ed and laid waste. It appears also, that 
foreign war, instead of producing domes- 
tic concord, extended and heightened 
their mutual animosities ; so that, at the 
period of the invasion of India by Alex- 
ander the Great, the nations of the penin- 
sula were totally separated from the 
kingdom of the Prachii, though the west- 
ern provinces of Hindostan Avere more 
closely connected Avith it than at any 
former period. 

It is highly probable, that this union 
of the western provinces enabled them 
to make such a vigorous defence against 
the enterprise and high military skill of 
Alexander, and the much superior disci- 
pline of his troops ; that their defence 
excited his surprise and admiration, we 
are expressly informed by Arian, Plutarch, 
and other historians ; but their efforts, 
though roused to religious enthusiasm by 
the eloquence of the Brahmins, Avere in- 
effectual. Alexander, after haA'ing sub- 
dued several small states on the banks of 
the Indus, passed the different rivers of 
the Punjab, attacked Porus, the sovereign 
of that district, who had collected a nu- 
merous army to oppose his march, and 
obtained a decisive victory, in spite of 



the gallant defence of that prince, who, 
together with some of his most distin- 
guished generals, was taken prisoner. 
This battle was fought on the banks of 
the Hydaspes, which river it Avas neces- 
sary for Alexander to cross, in order that 
he might reach the Ganges, the great ob- 
ject of his ambition. To this point he 
now resolved to push ; but his troops had 
already done so much, and suffered so 
greatly, especially from excessive rains 
and incessant inundations, that their pa- 
tience as Avell as their strength were ex- 
hausted, and they unanimously refused 
to advance farther. Alexander tried every 
effort, but in vain, to change their pur- 
pose ; they were inflexible, and the con- 
queror was obliged to give way to his 
troops, to abandon all his favorite schemes 
of farther conquest, and to issue orders 
for marching back to Persia. This me- 
morable mutiny took place on the banks 
of the Hyphasis, the modern Bey ah, one 
of the most celebrated rivers of the Pun- 
jab. Alexander left behind him some of 
his most experienced officers, Avith a 
small part of his army, for the purpose of 
keeping possession of the conquered ter- 
ritory on the banks of the Indus ; but his 
troops gave Avay to every kind of corrup- 
tion and debauchery, to Avhich they were 
stimulated by the policy of the Hindoos ; 
mutual animosities and recriminations 
took place ; and the death of Alexander, 
AA^iich happened about this time, hastened 
the doAvnfall of his power in Hindostan. 
The first attempt of the Mahomedans 
to conquer India Avas made during the 
reign of the Calif Omar, A. D. 636, but 
it failed of success. In the reign of the 
Calif Walid, the conquest of Sinde wa.s 
accomplished. Before this time, the 
Calif Ali had sent a general, Avho effect- 
ed some trifling conquests on the confuies 
of this country. But, after long and 
bloody conflicts, he was forced to desist. 
As soon as the Calif Walid had achieved 
this important conquest, the incursions 
of the Mahomedans into the fertile coun- 
tries of Hindostan became more frequent 
and successful. They do not seem, how- 
ever, to have attempted permanent con- 
quest till nearly two centuries after they 
had obtained possession of Sinde. The 
first Mahomedan prince who made a se- 



INDIA. 



443 



rious impression on India having been 
the SuUan Mahmond Sebectaghin, who 
reig-ned at Ghazna. 

Thirteen monarchs of the dynasty of 
Sebectaghin reigned at Ghazna. Khosru 
Shah was the last ; he was deposed and 
imprisoned in A. D. 1158, the western 
and largest part of his empire being seized 
on by the family of the Gaurides : the 
provinces contiguous to both shores of the 
Indus remained to the old dynasty till the 
year 1 1 84, when the Gaurides also gained 
them. The new dynasty established 
permanently the Mahomedan belief on 
the throne of Delhi, which they fixed 
upon as their capital in India. The 
father of Hassanben Hassan owed his 
advancement to the throne of Gaur to the 
seventh sultan of the Sebectaghin dynas- 
ty ; and Hassan, taking advantage of the 
distracted and enfeebled state of the em- 
pire of Ghazna, during the reign of the 
twelfth sovereign of that dynasty, invaded 
it, and, after various success, accomplish- 
ed his object, and, as has been already 
mentioned, deposed and imprisoned Khos- 
ru Shah. Previous to the final conquest 
of Ghazna, Hassan, on what pretence or 
with what object does not appear, invaded 
the dominions of the Selucidae, when he 
was taken prisoner ; but he ingratiated 
himself so completely with the reigning 
monarch, by his talents for poetry, that 
the conqueror sent him back laden with 
gifts to his own capital. He died either 
in the same year in which he took Khosru 
Shah prisoner, or in the year immediately 
succeeding. 

The emperor Altmush was contempo- 
rary with the celebrated Gengis Khan. 
It was in the year 1221 that this con- 
queror reduced to subjection, and annihi- 
lated the dynasty of Charasm, which had 
for some time possessed the throne of 
Ghazna. Mohammed Shah at this period 
occupied the throne, and he claimed also 
the dominion of some part of India ; but, 
in consequence of having provoked the 
rage of Gengis Khan, he had not the 
leisure nor the means to secure his In- 
dian territories. The lieutenant of Mo- 
hammed, in his province of Transoxania, 
had seized and put to death some Tartar 
merchants, who were travelling in a cara- 
van from the camp of G engis Khan. The 



Mogul monarch immediately sent to de- 
mand an apology, which was imprudently 
refused. The consequence was, that he 
immediately invaded Khorassan, which 
Mohammed had conquered in a single 
battle in the year 1199, and, in spite of 
the valor displayed by the eldest son of 
the emperor, the troops of Mohammed 
were obliged to give way. At first the 
flight of the emperor was towards India ; 
but, being intercepted, he was compelled 
to flee towards the Caspian sea, in an 
island of which he died, A. D. 1220. His 
son fought long and valiantly, but with- 
out success, against Gengis Khan. One 
of his most desperate exploits was the 
swimming across the Indus in sight of the 
conqueror and his army. Five years 
afterwards he returned to Persia, and was 
for a short time successful ; but he was 
at length obliged to yield to the better 
fortune of his opponent. In the year 
1231, Gengis Khan had overrun all Asia 
to the northward of the latitude of 30° ; 
but the difficulties he experienced in re- 
pressing the turbulent spirit of his Tartar 
subjects very probably deterred him from 
attempting the conquest of Hindostan ; 
though, in the year 1222, he had become 
the nominal sovereign of the empire of 
Delhi, and actually subdued all the coun- 
try on the M'est side of the Indus, and 
portioned it out among his favorite gen- 
erals. 

The next prominent event in the his- 
tory of India was the invasion of Timur 
Bee, generally called Tamerlane. In the 
year 1397, intelligence of his approach 
was received at Delhi. This famous 
conqueror, after having overrun Persia, 
Turkestan, and part of Russia, turned his 
ambitious views towards Hindostan. 
During this year, he had sent his grand- 
I son, Peer Mahomed, to reduce the Pun- 
I jab and Multan ; and in the month of 
j October he crossed the Indus himself. 
1 When he first proposed to his princes the 
I invasion of Hindostan, he was answered 
by a murmur of discontent and despair. 
! " The rivers, and the mountains, and the 
deserts, and the soldiers clad in armor, 
and the elephants, destroyers of men." 
These things his princes thought it was 
impossible to overcome ; but when they 
perceived he was determined on the in- 



444 



INDIA. 



vasion, they gave way to his superior 
judgment, or were terrified into submis- 
sion by his dreadful character. He had 
been informed by his spies of the weak- 
ness and anarchy of Hindostan ; the 
soubahs of the provinces had erected the 
standard of rebellion ; and the monarch 
was despised and disobeyed, even in his 
capital. The Mogul army moved in 
three divisions ; between the Shylum 
and the Indus they crossed one of the 
ridges of mountains, styled, by the Ara- 
bian geographers, the stony girdles of the 
earth. The mountaineers, after a brave 
resistance, were reduced or extirpated ; 
but great numbers of men and horses 
perished in the snow ; the emperor him- 
self was obliged to be let down one of 
precipices on a portable scaffold, the 
ropes to which were 150 cubits in length, 
and before he could reach the bottom, 
this dangerous operation was five times 
repeated. He crossed the Indus at the 
passage of Attock : from this place to 
Delhi, the direct and most frequented 
road measured only 600 miles ; but Tam- 
erlane deviated to the south-east, for the 
purpose of joining his grandson, who had 
by this time succeeded in the conquest 
of the Punjab and Multan. Being in 
want of provisions, he gave up the large 
and populous town of Tulmuhini to the 
plunder of his soldiers ; and when its in- 
habitants murmured at this conduct, he 
directed them to be massacred. After 
crossing the Hyphasis, he entered the 
desert, reduced the fortress of Batner, 
and advanced with little or no resistance 
to the city of Delhi. 

In the mean time, the contending par- 
ties in the capital united for their com- 
mon defence. The siege, more espe- 
cially of the castle, might have been a 
work of time, but Tamerlane, by the ap- 
pearance of Aveakness and indecision, 
tempted his adversaries to descend into 
the plain, with 10,000 cuirassiers, 40,000 
foot guards, and 120 elephants, whose 
tusks are said to have been armed with 
sharp and poisoned daggers. Tamerlane, 
though impetuous, was not destitute of 
prudence. In order to protect his troops 
against these numerous and formidable 
opponents, he made use of extraordinary 
precautions of fire, and a ditch of iron 



spikes, and a rampart of bucklers ; but 
the troops of the emperor of Delhi were 
totally unable to cope with the Moguls ; 
for, as soon as the elephants were routed, 
they fled in every direction. The em- 
peror and his prime minister, seeing no 
possibility after this defeat of defending 
their capital, escaped under cover of the 
night, and fled towards Guzerat, whither 
they were pursued by a strong detach- 
ment, which Tamerlane sent after them. 
This detachment came up with them ; 
an engagement took place, during which 
the emperor effected his further retreat, 
with the loss of two infant sons, and a 
considerable number of his retinue. 

Tamerlane, in the mean time, made 
his triumphant entry into the capital of 
Hindostan, where he received the sub- 
mission of all the principal nobles. To 
them he promised pardon and protection, 
on condition that they would pay him im- 
mense sums of money. Orders were ac- 
cordingly given to the magistrates to levy 
the contribution by a scale proportioned 
to the wealth and rank of the inhabitants. 
The Tartar officers who were employed 
to receive it, not satisfied with the regu- 
lated sums, violently broke into the 
houses ; this occasioned resistance, in 
the course of which some of Tamerlane's 
troops were put to death. Tamerlane 
immediately issued orders for a general 
massacre. Delhi was sacked ; its pala- 
ces and temples burned, and its streets 
filled with blood. Tamerlane remained 
in Delhi only fifteen days, and appears 
then to have designed to return to the 
seat of his empire, when, having heard 
of a fortress on the Dooab which had re- 
sisted the arms of a former Mogid inva- 
der, he changed his purpose, marched 
into that district, and reduced the fortress. 
While here, infonnation Avas given him 
respecting the famous cavern of Coupele, 
and the religious ceremonies which were 
practised at it by the Hindoos, in conse- 
quence of its resembling a cow's mouth, 
and the Ganges flowing through it. This 
information excited the persecuting spirit 
of this barbarian, and he determined to 
purify liis soldiers in the blood of the 
idolatrous Hindoos. In this he succeed- 
ed. His return was along the skirts of 
the northern hills, by Mount Sewalic ; 



INDIA. 



445 



in his route, he continued his massacres, 
though not without opposition, until he 
arrived on the frontiers of Cashmere. 

His return was occasioned by distur- 
bances in some of the provinces of his 
empire, stirred up by the famous Bajazet. 
On the banks of the Ganges he received 
inteUigence regarding them, and in little 
more than five months he had crossed and 
recrossed the Indus. He may be said, how- 
ever, rather to have overrun than to have 
reduced and conquered ; for he did not 
disturb the order of succession in Hin- 
dostan, reserving to himself the posses- 
sion of the Punjab only. During his life, 
which terminated in the year 1405, he 
was prayed for in the mosques of Hin- 
dostan, and the coin was struck in his 
name ; but this might be more the effect 
of policy than the act of Tamerlane. For, 
soon after he left Hindostan, his author- 
ity virtually ceased in Delhi ; that capi- 
tal became the prey of the most dreadful 
and cruel dissensions. 

All Hindostan fell into separate gov- 
ernments, and the authority of the em- 
peror did not extend beyond the province 
of Delhi and the contiguous districts. 
The whole of Bengal and Bahar was 
under the dominion of a Mahomedan 
usurper, who had taken the title of king. 
A potentate, styled King of the East, 
whose residence was at Jionpour, in the 
province of Allahabad, was the most for- 
midable of these petty sovereigns. The 
provinces of the Deccan, north of the 
Krishna, had long thrown off their alle- 
giance, and were now formed into five 
Mahomedan states, equally independent 
of each other, and of the imperial gov- 
ernment. Yet though the monarchs of 
Delhi had thus lost their influence and 
power, they still retained their diadem ; 
and Secunder, the son of Belloli, (who 
reigned thirty-eight years,) an enterpris- 
ing prince, would probably have regained 
some part of its dignity, had not a pre- 
mature death put an end to his projects. 
He died at Agra in 1509, to which city he 
had transferred the seat of government. 

He was succeeded by his son Ibrahim, 
a man of a very different character. He 
rendered himself ridiculous by his vanity, 
and detested by liis cruelty. The hor- 
rors of civil war and assassination were 



spread over the country. At length the 
nobles, who were apprehensive that they 
were not of themselves equal to the task 
of getting rid of their tyrant, solicited the 
assistance of Sultan Baber, the Mogul 
prince of the house of Tamerlane. This 
sovereign reigned over a kingdom com- 
posed of most of the provinces situated 
between the Indus and Samarcand. Hav- 
ing been stripped of the northern parts of 
his dominions by the Usbecs, he deter- 
mined to try his fortune in Hindostan, 
and accordingly most readily accepted 
the invitation of the nobility of Agra. His 
residence was at Cabul, whence he un- 
dertook his first expedition across the 
Indus, in the year 1517. But it was not 
till six years afterwards that he took pos- 
session of Lahore, and the next year he 
marched to Delhi. Before he reached 
that city, Ibrahim met him with a large 
army, and a fierce battle ensued on the 
plain of Panniput. In this battle, 16,000 
Patans, with Ibrahim himself, were killed. 
Thus an end was put to the dynasty of 
Loudi. Baber, in consequence of this 
victory, proceeded first to Delhi, and after- 
wards to Agra ; both these cities opened 
their gates to him, and he was proclaimed 
Emperor of Hindostan, in the year 1525. 
It is said that he crossed the Indus the 
last time with only 10,000 chosen horse, 
the enemy's generals, by their revolts, 
furnishing him the rest of his army. The 
provinces which he gained were those 
of Multan, Lahore, Delhi, Agra, Ajmeer, 
and Oude : for, as we have already re- 
marked, the empire of Delhi was no 
longer the same that flourished under 
Balin. The province of Bengal was com- 
pletely separated. The rich countries 
of the Deccan were the seat of another 
empire. Guzerat did not even nominally 
acknowledge the sovereigns of Delhi, 
and the mountain tribes of Patau wero 
independent, or at least troublesome and 
restless subjects. 

The reign of Baber, even in those dis- 
tricts which he gained, was by no means 
free from anxiety and disaster. He was 
frequently harrassed by insurrections, and 
at one period his fortune seemed so des- 
perate, that his nobles advised him to re- 
turn to Cabul. To this, however, he 
would by no means agree ; and by his 



446 



INDIA. 



moderation and firmness, united to a con- 
siderable degree of talents and activity 
of mind, he overcame all obstacles, and 
placed his kingdom in a state of compar- 
ative tranquillity. He died in the year 
1530. His character maybe thoroughly 
understood, both from the account given 
of him by Ferishta, and by the memoirs 
of his life, written by himself ; and the 
historian does not appear to have drawn 
it in too flattering colors in the following 
terms : " He so often pardoned ingrati- 
tude and treason, that he seemed to make 
it a principle and rule of his life to return 
good for evil ; he thus disarmed vice, and 
made the wicked the worshippers of his 
virtue. He was of the sect of the Haun- 
afies, in whose tenets and doctrines he 
was perfectly versed ; but he yielded 
more to the evidence of reason, than to 
the marvellous legends of superstitious 
antiquity. He was not, however, forget- 
ful of that rational worship which is due 
to the Great Creator, nor a despiser of 
those laws and ceremonies which are 
founded on soimd policy. He excelled 
in poetry and music, and he wrote his 
own commentaries in the Mogul language 
with such elegance and propriety, that 
they are universally admired." The his- 
torian adds, that he was fond of pleasure, 
though moderate in its enjoyment ; and 
that he was equally celebrated for his 
clemency, courage, and justice. As an 
instance of the latter, he relates, that a 
caravan from China having been buried 
in the snow in crossing the mountains, 
he caused the merchandise to be collect- 
ed, and sent notice to China of what had 
happened, in order that the owners might 
claim their property ; and he restored it 
to them, refusing to be reimbursed even 
the expenses he had incurred. 

The next monarch who makes a promi- 
nent figure in the history of Hisdostan, 
was the emperor Aurengzebe, who died 
in the year 1 707, in the 90th year of his 
age, after a reign of 52 years. Under 
him, the Mogul empire reached the ut- 
most limits to which it ever attained ; it 
comprehended the country from the 10th 
to the 35th degree of latitude, and nearly 
as many degrees of longitude. 

Notwithstanding the ambitious projects 
in which Aurengzebe was engaged du- 



ring a large portion even of his long reign, 
he was by no means inattentive to the 
improvement of his empire, or the com- 
forts of his people. 

His wealth was immense. His reve- 
nue exceeded 32,000,000^, sterling, in a 
country where the products of the earth 
are about four times as cheap as in Eng- 
land. Even after many years of weak 
government, and both public and private 
disturbances, Nadir Shah, when he in- 
vaded India, carried back with him 
from the royal treasury of Delhi above 
80,000,000/, sterling, in gold and jewels ; 
most if not all of which must have been 
collected by Aurengzebe. Yet, notwith- 
standing the immense wealth which he 
left behind him, the magnificence of his 
court was unrivalled, even in the annals 
of the East. His own dress was simple, 
except on days of festivals, when he 
wore cloth of gold and jewels. In the 
manners and habits of his private life, he 
was free from parade and ostentation ; 
but he encouraged magnificence in his 
nobles, and required it in the governors 
of his provinces. 

That most curious traveller, Bernier, 
who followed the camp of Aurengzebe, 
from Delhi to Cashmere, describes, with 
great accuracy, the immense moving 
city. The guard of cavalry consisted of 
35,000 men, that of infantry of 10,000. 
It was computed that the camp contained 
1 50,000 horses, mules, and elephants ; 
50,000 camels ; 50,000 oxen ; and be- 
tween 300,000 and 400,000 persons. Al- 
most all Delhi followed the court, whose 
magnificence supported its industry. 

Such is the picture of the manners 
and magnificence of the Mogul empire 
at the period of Aurengzebe's reign, when 
it had attained its utmost extent and 
splendor, and before the peculiarities of 
its manners were broken in upon by the 
intermixture of those of foreign nations. 

In 1739, Nadir Shah, the usurper of 
the Persian throne, invaded Hindostan. 
A kind of infatuation seems to have pre- 
vailed in the Mogul councils. The army 
was not half assembled ; and Mahomed 
had marched only a day's journey from 
Delhi into the plains of Carnawl, when 
Nadir, who had by this time reduced La- 
hore, defeated him, with the loss of Dou- 



INDIA. 



447 



ran, the commander-in-chief of the army, 
and his best and bravest minister. It 
appears that before this fatal battle, Nadir 
was so little confident of success, that he 
offered to evacuate the empire for 50 
lacks of rupees. But the intrigues of the 
Nizam and his party, induced the em- 
peror not only to refuse this sum, but 
after the battle to throw himself on the 
clemency of Nadir. The first conse- 
quence of the battle was the reduction of 
Delhi. At first the strictest discipline 
prevailed among the Persians ; no one 
was molested ; and the emperor, after 
having been kept a state prisoner with 
his family for a few days, was permitted 
to return quietly to his palace. But 
though this strictness of discipline was 
maintained, pnd this moderation shown 
with regard to the emperor, the conqueror 
was intent on plunder, and the scene was 
soon changed. A quarrel having arisen 
in the bazar of Delhi, one of those en- 
gaged suddenly called out that Nadir 
Shah was dead, and that now was the 
time to free Delhi from the Persians. 
A massacre instantly commenced ; and 
during the whole night, the city was a 
scene of confusion and murder. The 
inhabitants, however, had soon ample 
and dreadful reason to repent of their pre- 
cipitancy ; for at day-light Nadir gave 
orders for a general massacre, without 
distinction of age or sex. The carnage 
lasted from sun-rise till mid-day, when 
the emperor and his nobles appeared be- 
fore Nadir Shah, and for the sake of 
Mahomed, he was induced to pronounce 
the words " I forgive." Instantly the 
carnage stopped, but its effects continued ; 
for many Hindoos as well as Moguls, in 
order to save their women from pollution, 
had set fire to their houses, and burned 
their families and effects. These fires 
spread, and the city soon presented a 
most dreadful scene of ruin. The dead 
bodies occasioned a pestilential disorder 
among the comparatively few inhabitants 
that survived ; and, as always is the case 
during the prevalence of any dreadful 
calamity of this nature, every species of 
crime and immorality was indulged in. 
In order to extort confessions of treasures, 
private murders were committed ; the 
ties of friendship and blood were forgot- 



ten. The evil, however, was not yet at 
its height : famine was added to pesti- 
lence, murder, and plunder ; and hun- 
dreds of persons, desperate, and hopeless 
of escaping from such accumulated dis- 
tress, and unable to bear the sight of those 
whom they had loved and respected either 
falling under it, or, what was Avorse in 
their estimation, giving themselves up to 
the commission of every crime, put an 
end to their own lives. 

At length, after having had possession 
of Delhi for about six weeks. Nadir left 
it ; but he left it almost a desert ; for it 
is said, that 100,000 of its inhabitants 
had been massacred by his troops or de- 
stroyed by fire, pestilence, or famine. A 
treaty had been concluded, by which he 
confirmed Mahomed on the throne of all 
the provinces east of the Indus, reserving 
those to the west for himself. He also 
married his son to a grand-daughter of 
Aurengzebe. He carried with him three 
millions and a half sterling in money 
from the royal treasury ; one million and 
a half in plate ; fifteen millions in jewels ; 
the celebrated peacock throne valued at 
a million ; other thrones of inferior value ; 
and the canopy for the royal elephant, 
estimated at eleven millions ; besides 
500 elephants, a number of horses, and 
the imperial camp equipage. A fine of 
five millions Avas exacted from the nobles 
and other inhabitants ; so that, if to these 
sums be added the plunder of the sol- 
diers, the estimate that sixty-two millions 
were carried away, will not be deemed 
beyond the truth. 

No empire, after such devastation com- 
mitted in its capital, could soon have re- 
covered its strength ; but with respect to 
the Mogul empire, its restoration was ab- 
solutely impossible. It was loosened from 
its foimdation ; and there Avere those on 
every side of it, Avho were prepared to 
hasten its downfall. The departure of 
Nadir left the Nizam in possession of 
the AA'hole remaining power of the em- 
pire ; but he preferred an independent 
kingdom in the Deccan to the govern- 
ment of a feeble and declining state. 
About this time Bengal became indepen- 
dent of Delhi, under Aliverdy CaAvn, and 
not long afterwards, a vast army of Mah- 
rattas, both from Poonah and Berar, for 



448 



INDIA. 



they were now divided into two states, 
invaded it under pretence that their ob- 
ject was to recover it for the emperor. 
The Mogul empire now became a prey 
to all the neighboring states that were 
sufficiently contiguous and powerful to 
attack it. 

We will now proceed to give some 
account of the rise and progress of the 
European establishments in India. 

After a tedious course of voyages, con- 
tinued for nearly half a century, Vasco 
de Gama, an active and enterprising 
Portuguese admiral, doubled the cape of 
Good Hope, and coasting along the east- 
ern shore of the continent of Africa, sail- 
ed from thence across the Indian Ocean, 
and landed at Calicut on the coast of 
Malabar, on the 22nd of May, 1498. At 
the period of the arrival of the Portu- 
guese in India, the west coast of Hin- 
dostan was divided between two great 
sovereigns, the kings of Cambay, and the 
Zamorin, each of whom had under him 
numerous petty princes. Cabral was 
next sent out by the Portuguese court to 
Calicut ; but the Moors were as little 
favorable to him as they had been to De 
Gama, so that he judged it prudent to 
proceed to Cochin and Cananore. As 
the kings of these places were under the 
yoke of the Zamorin, which they were 
desirous of thoAving off, they received 
him very favorably, and entered into alli- 
ance with him. The Portuguese thus in 
a short time acquired so great an influ- 
ence, as to give law to the whole coast, 
fixing their own prices on the produc- 
tions of the country, and building forts in 
the principal towns. 

In 1508, Albuquerque arrived in India, 
and took the chief command of the Por- 
tuguese ; hitherto they had not acquired 
a good port ; and as this was an object 
of the first consequence, he attacked Goa, 
and took it with little difficulty ; he was 
however, unable to retain it ; for the na- 
tives besieged it so closely, that he was 
in a short time in want of provisions, and 
compelled to abandon it and retire to his 
ships. He did not, notwithstanding, give 
up his object ; but returning in a few 
months, he took it by surprise, and forti- 
fied it in such a manner, as to render it 
quite impregnable by the forces of the 



natives. It now became the metropolis 
of the settlements of the Portuguese in 
India, from which they spread their con- 
quests and their commerce over the 
Eastern seas. 

As the Venetians had been deprived 
of the most abundant and certain source 
of their riches by the discovery of the 
cape of Good Hope, and the subsequent 
commerce by sea between Portugal and 
India, they stirred up the Sultan of Egypt 
to unite with them in the attempt to drive 
the Portuguese out of India. This he 
was easily induced to do, as he also had 
felt the consequences of the Portuguese 
voyages to India, in the reduced receipt 
of the transit duties, which he had been 
accustomed to levy on all Indian mer- 
chandise passing through his dominions. 
Accordingly, an Egyptian fleet, equipped 
principally with materials supplied by the 
Venetians, made its way into the Indian 
sea, and being joined by the fleet of the 
king of Cambay, attacked the Portuguese, 
at first with some success, the latter, how- 
ever, receiving re-enforcements from Por- 
tugal, soon regained their superiority. 

The first commercial transactions of 
the Dutch, after they had cast off the 
Spanish yoke, were with the Portuguese. 
From Lisbon they procured the produc- 
tions of India, to sell them again to the 
nations of the north of Europe. This 
trade, however, was put an end to by 
Philip II, when he became master of 
Portugal ; and the Dutch then endeavor- 
ed to discover a passage by the north 
seas to China and India. This enter- 
prise was unsuccessful ; but, while en- 
gaged in it, Houtman, a native of Hol- 
land, confined in the prisons of Lisbon 
for debt, proposed to the merchants of 
Rotterdam, to reveal to them the knowl- 
edge he possessed of Indian navigation 
and commerce, provided they liberated 
him from prison. His proposal was ac- 
cepted ; and an association was formed, 
which sent out four ships to India under 
Houtman, in the year 1594. On their 
first arrival in the Indian seas, the Dutch 
and Portuguese had only occasional skir- 
mishes ; but a sanguinary war soon fol- 
lowed, which in the end totally destroyed 
the Portuguese power. 

For several years after the Portuguese, 



NDIA. 



449 



Dutch, and English had penetrated to 
India, the French contented themselves 
with procuring its productions from the 
Portuguese and Dutch. In the year 
1601, indeed, a company had been form- 
ed in Brittany, which sent two ships to 
India ; but they returned with cargoes 
barely sufficient to defray the expenses 
of the equipment and voyage ; conse- 
quently the company was dissolved. In 
1633, another company was formed ; 
but their enterprises were confined to the 
island of Madagascar. The attempt to 
colonize this island not succeeding, the 
French sent some ships direct to India, 
and established factories with the con- 
sent of the native princes. Their chief 
rendezvous at first Avas at Surat ; but the 
Dutch and English uniting against them, 
soon obliged them to abandon it. They 
next attempted to seize on Trincomalee ; 
but in this also they were unsuccessful. 
They afterwards formed their celebrated 
settlement of Pondicherry, where a small 
district was ceded them by the native 
prince. At the beginning of the 18th 
century, their establishments consisted 
of Pondicherry, with small and insig-ni- 
ficant factories at Masulipatam and Raja- 
pore. Soon after this period, the history 
of the French and English nations in 
India are so blended, that they must be 
considered together. 

The Danes received the first idea of 
forming establishments in India from a 
Dutchman, who, discontented with his 
own government, offered his services to 
Christian IV, to form a settlement at 
Ceylon. This man, however, dying on 
his passage, and the Danes having been 
unfavorably received at Ceylon, they pro- 
ceeded from thence to the coast of Co- 
romandel, where the king of Tanjore 
allowed them to form a settlement at 
Tranquebar. 

Queen Elizabeth was the first English 
sovereign Avho thought of obtaining for 
her subjects a share in the trade to India. 
In the year 1583, she granted letters to 
two adventurers for the princes of India, 
and in 1596, other letters. All these ad- 
venturers proceeded to the court of the 
Great Mogul, by land, where they were 
well received. The attempts to discover 
a passage by the North Sea to China 
57 



having failed, the English resolved to go 
round the cape of Good Hope. Accord- 
ingly the queen, on the last day of the 
year 1600, granted letters patent to a 
society of merchants in London to trade 
to the East Indies. The object of the 
company was principally pepper and 
other spices ; and, therefore, their voy- 
ages were to Achen, Java, and the spice 
islands. In the year 1612, four ships 
were sent out by king James, for the 
purpose of conciliating the Mogul empe- 
ror, some of whose vessels had been 
annoyed by the English in the Red Sea. 
The commander of this fleet succeeded 
in his mission ; and at the same time, 
he obtained from the court of Delhi, the 
liberty of establishing a factory at Surat ; 
and this city was some time afterwards 
regarded as the principal English station 
in the west of India. The Portuguese, 
alarmed at the success of the English, 
attacked their fleet near Surat, but they 
were repulsed. This voyage, therefore, 
may in some respect be regarded as the 
origin of the power of the British in the 
East ; the two foundations of Avhich 
were, the grant of the Mogul sovereign, 
and their own naval ability and resources. 

About 1640, the Dutch began system- 
atically to harass the European commerce 
on the coast of Malabar. In consequence 
of this, the English fixed on Madraspatam, 
which they obtained from the chief of 
the district. They immediately built a 
fort, with the name of Fort St. George ; 
and in 1653, this station was raised by 
the company to the rank of a presidency. 

Nearly about the same time, the com- 
mercial transactions of the British com- 
menced on the Ganges. In 1634, they 
obtained from the court of Delhi, the 
privilege of a free resort to the port of 
Pipley, in the province of Bengal. This 
privilege was much extended in 1645, 
chiefly through the professional skill and 
success of a surgeon of one of the com- 
pany's ships, who had thus, at the Mogul 
court, conciliated the favor of the mon- 
arch. Factories were accordingly estab- 
lished in Bengal, the principal of them 
at Hooghly ; but this, as well as the 
others, was subject to the presidency of 
Madras, or Fort St. George. The fac- 
tories of the British at this time were, 



450 



NDIA. 



Madras with its dependencies, Masulipa- 
tam, Madapollani, Peltipolu, and Hoogh- 
ly ; and the factories subordinate to 
Hooghly were, Cossinibazar, Balasorc, 
Patna, and Malda. 

But the Mogul government, as well as 
the other Indian princes, though they 
granted to the British the privileges of 
commerce, yet denied them the exercise 
of civil jurisdiction, or the use of military 
strength. The factory of Surat was 
strongly built ; but it was not allowed to 
be either fortified or garrisoned. The 
factory was exposed to still farther incon- 
venience and danger ; for it was exactly 
placed on the debateable ground between 
the Mogul and the Mahrattas, and, was 
more than once plundered by Sevajee the 
Mahratta chief. It is probable, that the 
British would have been obliged to have 
given up Surat, had not they gained an 
unexpected relief. In the year 1668, 
king Charles II, ceded to the company the 
island of Bombay, which he had received 
as a part of the marriage portion of Cath- 
arine, the Infanta of Portugal. This was 
a strong place, and it was within 200 
miles by sea from Surat, to which it was 
made subordinate. The British now 
commanded greater respect, both from 
the Mogul and the Mahratta officers ; 
but in the years 1665 and 1672, their 
settlements, particularly on the Malabar 
coast, suffered much from the hostilities 
of the Dutch. 

The settlement of Madras was also 
exposed to great difficulties and danger. 
About the year 1656, the territory on 
which it stood, and which belonged to 
the king of Besnagur, was conquered by 
Meer Jumla, the general of the king of 
Golconda, who afterwards distinguished 
himself as the ablest officer in the ser- 
vice of Aurengzebe. This event, how- 
ever, in the end, proved fortunate to Ma- 
dras ; for in the years 1674 and 1676, 
the king of Golconda permitted the Ma- 
dras government to build ships in any 
part of his dominions, and forbade any 
of his officers to molest the British 
commerce. 

The settlements of Bengal also flour- 
ished ; but in the mean time, the war 
between the emperor and the Mahrattas 
weighed heavily on the factories of Surat 



and Bombay. Sir John Child was at 
this period, what would now be styled 
governor general of the British settlements 
in India, while his brother, sir Jonah, 
was leading member of the court of com- 
mittees ; their policy was, first, the en- 
largement of the authority of the company 
over such British subjects as were within 
the limits of their charter ; and secondly, 
retaliation by force of arms on the Indian 
princes who had oppressed their settle- 
ments, and the attainment of political 
strength and dominion in the East. 
Hence it is evident that they laid the 
foundation of that system of aggrandize- 
ment, on which the British have ever 
since acted in India. 

At the breaking out of the war between 
England and France, in 1745, the Eng- 
lish possessed the following settlements : 
Bombay ; Dabul, about 40 leagues farther 
to the south, in the province of Concan ; 
Carwar, in the province of North Cana- 
ra ; Tellicherry, on the sea-coast of the 
Malabar province ; Anjengo, their most 
southerly settlement on the western coast 
of the peninsula, on the sea-coast of Tra- 
vancore ; Fort St. David ; Madras ; Vi- 
sigapatam and Balasore, on the Coroman- 
del coast ; and Calcutta. The principal 
French settlements were Pondicherry 
and Chandernagore ; the latter about 20 
miles above Calcutta, the former on the 
sea-coast of the Carnatic. 

In the year 1746, Madras was besieg- 
ed by a French armament, and compelled 
to capitulate ; but it was restored to the 
English by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. 
About the same time, the nabob of the 
Carnatic, within whose jurisdiction both 
Madras and Pondicherry were situated, 
and who successively took part with the 
combatants on both sides, sustained a to- 
tal defeat from a very inferior number of 
French. The event is memorable, chief- 
ly, as being the first which decidedly 
proved the superiority of the European 
troops over those of Hindostan. 

The territory of the Carnatic was one 
of the subordinate principalities imme- 
diately governed by nabobs, but subject 
to the soubhadar of the Deccan, who was 
still regarded as a feudal prince \mder the 
Mogul emperor. Nizam ul Mulk, already 
frequently mentioned, who was soubhadar 



INDIA. 



451 



of the Deccan, died in the year 1 748, and 
the province was disputed between his 
son Nazir, and his grandson Murzafa. 
At the same time the nabob of the Car- 
natic, Anwaraadeen, who had been regu- 
larly established in that office by the Ni- 
zam, was opposed by Chunda Saheb ; the 
latter and Murzafa made common cause, 
and to their alliance acceded M. Dupleix, 
the governor of Pondicherry, a man of 
great talents, intrigue, and ambition. The 
combined troops of the French and the 
two princes overthrew those of Anwaraa- 
deen, on the frontiers of his own country, 
in a pitched battle, in which he himself 
was killed, and his eldest son taken pris- 
oner, while his second, Mahomed Ali, 
escaped, and implored the assistance of 
the English. For some time the Eng- 
lish hesitated, till at length they were 
induced by several reasons — the strong- 
est, probably, a desire to curb and oppose 
the French — to espouse the alliance of 
Nazir and Mahomed Ali, who had made 
common cause. 

Such was the origin of the war for the 
succession of the Carnatic, or the Car- 
natic war, as it is called, between the 
English and the French. In its progress, 
this war preserved essentially the char- 
acter under which it had commenced, 
that is, in reality, a contest between the 
English and French for superiority of 
power and extension of dominion, in Hin- 
dostan. 

In the year 1741, Alivedi, as seen, 
usurped the nabobship of Bengal. He 
died in 1756, leaving for his successor 
Surajah Dowlah. This prince was strong- 
ly prepossessed against the English. Un- 
derstanding that the governor of Calcutta 
was building a wall and digging a moat 
round that city, he took offence, and at 
last marched at the head of his army to 
attack it, with its dependent settlements. 
The town was gallantly, though not very 
skilfully, defended for three days, but 
then was obliged to surrender. Surajah 
Dowlah had promised the prisoners their 
lives, but on the same night in which he 
entered the place he ordered the massa- 
cre, (for it deserves no other appellation,) 
which has rendered proverbial the black 
hole of Calcutta. The Europeans, to 
the number of 146 persons, were, in the 



most sultry season even of the Bengal 
year, confined for twelve hours within a 
cube of 1 8 feet, having no outlets except 
two small windows, strongly barred. All 
perished except twenty-three ; and some 
of these afterwards experienced from 
the nabob fresh cruelties. As soon as 
intelligence of these events reached the 
English on the coast, they detached to 
Bengal 900 Europeans, and 1,500 se- 
poys, under the command of colonel 
Clive. In a few days after their arrival 
before Calcutta, the city was retaken, 
and the nabob being attacked in his 
camp, acquiesced in a pacification, high- 
ly honorable and advantageous to the 
English. On him little reliance could 
be placed, especially as by the break- 
ing out of the war between the English 
and French, he might naturally ex- 
pect the assistance of the latter, who 
had, at their settlement of Candenagore, 
contiguous to Calcutta, a force of 300 
Europeans, and 300 sepoys. Under 
these circumstances, colonel Clive re- 
solved to attack the French settlement, 
which he accordingly did, with success. 
Still, however, the nabob was justly sus- 
pected ; and as it was soon afterwards 
proved that he was in correspondence 
with the French, the English listened to 
the overtures of the discontented gran- 
dees at his court, and at length resolved 
to support Meer Jaffier in his pretensions 
to the nabobship. This arrangement led 
immediately to the famous battle of Plas- 
sey, by the issue of which Meer Jafiier 
gained the nabobship, and his English 
aUies a large treasure, a portion of a ter- 
ritory adjoining to Calcutta, and a consid- 
erable influence with the new nabob. 
The British forces engaged in this battle 
were commanded by colonel Clive, and 
consisted of 900 Europeans, 100 topas- 
ses, and 2,000 sepoys, with eight six 
pounders, and two howitzers. The na- 
bob's army was estimated at 50,000 foot, 
and 50 pieces of cannon, besides about 
40 Frenchmen. According to one account, 
the fortune of the day was decided by 
Meer Jaffier, who commanded part of 
] the nabob's army, remaining neuter dur- 
ing the engagement ; but by other ac- 
counts, it would appear, that even if bis 
forces had taken an active part, the issue 



452 



INDIA. 



would have been equally favorable to the 
British. 

In the pursuit of Cosseim, the nabob 
of Bengal, who had turned his arms 
against them, the British had reached 
the interminous frontier of the territories 
of Bengal and Oude ; the fugitive prince 
had taken refuge in the court of Sujah 
Dowlah, otherwise called the Nabob Vi- 
zier, which, at the same time, harbored 
a more illustrious exile, the young Mogid. 
The British camp now became the scene 
of complicated negotiations ; an alliance 
was proposed to Sujah Dowlah, which 
he rejected. While these negotiations 
were going on, discontents prevailed in 
the British army. Encouraged by this, 
Sujah Dowlah, who had already collect- 
ed an army on the frontiers of Oude, de- 
termined on hostility ; and he was joined 
by the Rajah of Benares. In March, 
1764, Major Carnac took the command 
of the British forces, and having restored 
discipline and subordination, repulsed 
the vizier in an obstinate engagement 
near Patna. The war was now carried 
into the province of Oude, and Major 
Carnac was succeeded by Major Monro. 
On the 24th of October was fought the 
celebrated battle of Buxar, on the river 
Carumnasa, about 100 miles above the 
city of Patna. The British army con- 
sisted of 856 Europeans, and 6,215 se- 
poys ; the combined troops of Sujah 
Dowlah and Cosseim consisted of 40,000 
men. After an arduous contest of three 
hours, the army of the vizier retired in 
disorder, leaving on the field 133 pieces 
of cannon, and blowing up some of their 
powder magazines ; 2,000 troops were 
slain on the field of battle. The loss of 
Major Monro's army was trifling, being 
only 87 Europeans and 712 sepoys. 
The flight of the allies was so rapid, that 
they did not stop at Buxar, but hastened 
to a small river beyond it. Over this 
was a bridge of boats, which, however, 
they had not all crossed, when Sujah 
Dowlah directed the bridge to be de- 
stroyed. By this act of generalship he 
sacrificed, indeed, the rear division of his 
army, which, to the number of nearly 
2,000 men were drowned ; but he saved 
his main body from certain destruction, 
and at the same time preserved from cap- 



ture the immense treasures of Cosseim 
as well as his own. A native historian 
describes the camp of the two chiefs in 
the following terms : " A bridge of boats 
being thrown over the Ganges, the allied 
armies began their march in numbers not 
to be reckoned ; but, from the ignorance 
of the generals and want of discipline, 
murdering and plundering each other. 
It was not an army, but rather a mov- 
ing nation." On the following day the 
Mogul, who had taken no part in the bat- 
tle, sought and obtained the protection 
of the British, offering them terms highly 
favorable to their views, and plans of 
aggrandizement and extent of territory. 

After the general peace of 1763, the 
French again endeavored to gain a foot- 
ing in them ; and this induced lord Clive, 
who arrived in India for the second time, 
in 1765, to obtain from the Mogiil the 
proprietary grant of this territory. In 
the year 1766, four of the circars were 
given up by the soubhadar ; the fifth, held 
by a brother of the Nizam, was granted 
in reversion to the British. In return 
for these cessions, the British promised 
the soubhadar the assistance of their 
troops, whenever he might need it, to 
settle the affairs of his government. — 
About the end of the year 1766, having 
united himself with a Mahratta chief 
against Hyder Ali, sovereign of the My- 
sore, he applied for these troops, which 
were granted him, even before his object 
or that of the Mahrattas was known. As 
soon as the British troops had joined, the 
united army entered the territory of My- 
sore. 

It was on this occasion that Hyder 
Ali first displayed those talents which 
afterwards rendered him so very for- 
midable. He bought off" the Mahrattas 
by large bribes. Next he entered into 
negotiations with the Nizam with such 
effect, that in August, 1767, the armies 
of the Nizam and Hyder actually united 
at Bangalore, from which place they made 
irregular incursions into the Carnatic. 

Hyder Ali, indignant at the refusal of 
the British to assist him against the 
Mahrattas, made peace with them, and pre- 
pared for the invasion of the Carnatic. 
On the 24th of July, 1780, Hyder All's 
cavalry were only nine miles distant from 



INDIA. 



453 



Madras ; and it was ascertained, that his 
whole force consisted of 100,000 men, 
among whom was a large body of Euro- 
pean troops, under French officers, and 
commanded by colonel Lally. In this 
emergency, sir Hector Munro ordered 
the British army to assemble at Conj eve- 
ram, and directed colonel Baillie, who 
commanded a detachment at Gumero- 
panda, to join him at that place ; but this 
detachment was cut to pieces by Tippoo 
Saib, Hyder's son. 'I'his obliged the 
Carnatic army to retreat, till sir Eyre 
Coote arrived from Bengal with a bri- 
gade of 7,000 men, and assumed the 
command. Sir Eyre immediately re- 
stored the spirits of the army, and in a 
very short space of time defeated Hyder 
in five several battles. In some instances, 
however, the British were not so success- 
ful ; for Tippoo entirely defeated a de- 
tachment of about 2,000 infantry, and 
300 cavalry, under colonel Braithwaite. 
In the end of the year 1782 Hyder died ; 
and one of the first objects of Tippoo, 
who succeeded him, was to recover Cana- 
ra, which had been conquered by a de- 
tachment under general Matthews. It 
had been supposed by the presidency of 
Bengal, that an attack of Tippoo's pro- 
vinces on the west of India would, by 
giving an easy and immediate entry into 
the most valuable part of his dominions, 
draw him off from the Carnatic, which 
he still occupied, notwithstanding the 
defeats which his father had sustained. 
Accordingly, General Matthews was sent 
into Canara, a province which Hyder Ali 
had conquered in 1763, and he succeed- 
ed in reducing the whole of it. The 
scheme succeeded in drawing Tippoo 
from the Carnatic into Canara ; but at the 
dreadful expense of the loss of general 
Matthews and his army, which was 
obliged to capitulate, on condition of be- 
ing allowed to go to Bombay. This con- 
dition, however, was not fulfilled; and 
general Matthews, and twenty of his offi- 
cers, were poisoned, and most of his 
troops were massacred. At last, Tippoo 
fiading that the Mahrattas, his inveterate 
enemies, were at peace with the English, 
and at liberty to attack him, and being 
deserted by the French, in consequence 
of the peace of 1783, condescended to 



treat in March, 1784. By this treaty, 
matters were restored nearly to the con- 
dition in which they had been before the 
commencement of hostilities. 

Tippoo was without doubt the most 
powerful of all the princes of Hindos- 
tan. His dominions were equal in 
extent to Great Britain ; his revenue was 
computed at four millions sterling ; and 
his military establishment consisted of 
72,830 regulars ; 49,000 in garrison ; 
7,000 irregulars, and 26,300 auxilia- 
ries ; in all, 155,130 men. Of the 
regular troops, 27,400 were cavalry ; 
36,000 sepoy infantry, Hindoos and Ma- 
homedans ; 7,300 topasses or hatmen, 
that is, the descendants of the Portuguese 
and other Europeans, infantry ; 200 Eu- 
ropean cavalry ; and 540 European foot. 
The artillery corps, consisting of Euro- 
pean topasses, (fee, amounted to 1,390. 
There were 1 1 guns attached to the 
battalions ; the horse garrisons on the 
frontiers amounted to 21,000, and the 
foot garrisons to 28,000. The auxiliaries 
were supplied from the rajahs of Ry- 
droog, Darwar, &c, and consisted of 
13,300 horse, and 13,000 peons, or irreg- 
ular troops. 

It was not to be supposed that a per- 
son, possessed of the ambitious and rest- 
less disposition which characterized Tip- 
poo, would long remain at peace with 
such an immense force at his disposal, or 
that he would find any difficulty in rais- 
ing pretences for commencing hostilities. 
Accordingly, towards the end of the 
year 1789, he approached the country of 
Travancore for the avowed purpose of 
recovering two places which the rajah of 
that district had purchased from the 
Dutch, but which Tippoo alleged were 
dependent upon him, as forming part of 
the possessions of his tributary, the Ra- 
jah of Cochin. On the 29th of Decem- 
ber, he stormed the lines of the Rajah of 
Travancore, who was not disposed to ac- 
cede to his demands ; but without suc- 
cess. As this Rajah had put himself 
under the protection of the British gov- 
ernment, and was acknowledged to be so, 
by the treaty concluded with Tippoo in 
1784, war between the latter and the 
British seemed unavoidable. Lord Corn- 
wallis at this time was Governor Gen- 



454 



INDIA. 



eral of India. His first object was to 
enter into a treaty offensive and defen- 
sive with the Nizam. This was accord- 
ingly conchided on the 4th of July, 1790. 
A treaty was also formed with the Paish- 
wah of the Mahrattas. The provisions 
of these treaties were, that measures 
should be instantly taken to punish Tip- 
poo, and to deprive him of the means of 
disturbing the general tranquillity, and 
that the Nizam and the Paishwah should 
both vigorously prosecute the war. 

The British Madras army was assem- 
bled on the plain of Trichinoply, and 
on the 24th of May, 1790, general Mead- 
ows, who was to take the command 
joined it. On the 12th of June, he en- 
tered the territories of the Sultan. His 
first object was to relieve the Rajah of 
Travancore ; and, before the end of the 
year, he was completely successful. In 
the mean time, the Bombay troops under 
general Abercrombie conquered the valu- 
able districts below the Ghauts on the 
west and the north, as far as the river 
Baliapatam. The next campaign was 
carried on by lord Cornwallis himself 
in the centre of Tippoo's kingdom. The 
important fortress of Bangalore was con- 
quered. A successful battle was fought 
near Seringapatam ; but the unfavorable 
season of the year, which now began, 
and the delay of the Mahrattas, prevented 
his lordship from attacking that city, 
which had been his principal design 
when lie commenced the campaign. In 
the mean time, the Bombay army was 
marching to join his lordship ; but being 
unable to effect the junction, from the 
badness of the roads, and the swelling 
of the rivers, they were compelled to re- 
trace their steps over those mountains, 
which form an almost impassable barrier 
between Mysore and the Malabar coast. 
In this march and retreat, the troops suf- 
fered dreadfully ; but the sufferings were 
mild compared to those which the Ma- 
dras army underwent while obliged to re- 
main inactive in the heart of Tippoo's do- 
minions on account of the rains. They 
were infected with an epidemic disorder, 
the ravages of which were greatly in- 
creased by a scarcity of provisions ; and, 
to add to these calamities, the small-pox 
raged in the camp. Fortunately, they 



were soon joined by the allied force of 
the Mahrattas, amounting to 32,000 cav- 
alry ; and soon afterwards, the troops of 
the Nizam joined them ; but from neither 
of these allies could lord Cornwallis 
expect much efficient a«sistance, espe- 
cially in the moment of danger, as their 
equipment and discipline were exces- 
sively defective. In the month of June, 
1791, his lordship set out towards Ban- 
galore. His first object was to secure 
an easy and regular communication be- 
tween the Mysore and Carnatic, as from 
the latter the supplies of the army were 
chiefly to be drawn ; but this communi- 
cation would be impracticable, so long as 
the various hill forts which commanded 
the passes were in the possession of 
Tippoo. They were uncommonly strong, 
both by nature and art. Of these, Sa- 
vendroog, Chittledroog, and Kistnaghury, 
were the most remarkable for natural 
strength. The first is surrounded by a 
forest of natural wood, or jungle, several 
miles in depth, thickened with clumps of 
planted bamboos, to render it as impene- 
trable as possible. It is impossible to 
invest or blockade it closely, the rock 
forming a base of 8 or 10 miles in cir- 
cumference, which, with the jungle and 
lesser hills that surround il, includes a 
circle of 20 miles. From this base, it is 
reckoned to rise above half a mile in per- 
pendicular height. This huge mountain is 
further rendered strong by being divided 
above by a chasm that separates the up- 
per part into two hills, each, with their 
defences, forming two citadels, and capa- 
ble of being maintained independent of 
the lower works. This stupendous for- 
tress, so diflicult of approach, is no less 
remarkable for its noxious atmosphere oc- 
casioned by the surrounding hills and 
woods, than for its wonderful size and 
strength. 

The right wing of the main army, un- 
der the command of Lieutenant Colonel 
Stewart, was ordered to the siege of this 
tremendous fortress. In three days a 
practicable breach was effected, and the 
troops advanced to the storm, lord Corn- 
wallis in person superintending the at- 
tack. On the appearance of the Euro- 
peans advancing, the garrison was seized 
with a panic and fled, and the breach was 



INDIA. 



455 




Storming of Seringapatam 

carried without, meeting or even overtak 
insf the enemy. The main body en 



deavored to gain the western hill, and if 
they had done so, the siege must have 
recommenced ; but they were closely 
pursued by a small party of the British, 
who entered the different barriers along 
whh them, and gained possession of the 
top of the mountain. Thus, in less than 
an hour, in open da}'^, this fortress, hith- 
erto deemed impregnable, was stormed 
without the loss of a man, only one pri- 
vate soldier having been wounded in the 
assault. Other fortresses were also taken, 
so that the convoys reached the army 
without the least delay or opposition. 

On the 22nd of January, 1792, the 
Bombay army, having passed the Ghauts, 
joined lord Cornwallis. They consist- 
ed of 8,400 men, and as soon as the ar- 
mies of the Mahrattas and of the Nizam 
had also joined. Lord Cornwallis made 
preparations for besieging Seringapatam. 
On the 5th of February, the city was 
seen by the whole army from the heights 
which they had mounted, lying six miles 
to the north-east of it. The Sultan's ar- 
my was encamped under the walls of his 
capital. Seringapatam is placed at the 



upper end of an island surrounded by the 
Cavery, which is here a large and rapid 
river, having a very extensive channel, 
impeded by rocks and fragments of gran- 
ite. The fort occupies about a mile at 
the west end of the island, and is an im- 
mense and unfinished building. In forti- 
fying the town, Tippoo retained the long 
strait walls and square bastions of the 
Hindoos, and his glacis was, in many 
places so high and steep, as to shelter the 
assailants. 

The camp of the allies was pitched on 
the north side of the island. The Brit- 
ish formed the front line, the reserve 
was placed a mile in the rear, and the Ni- 
zam and Mahrattas were stationed still 
farther in the rear. Tippoo's fortified 
camp was under the walls of Seringapa- 
tam, within a bound hedge strengthened 
by redoubts. In this line there Avas 100 
pieces of artillery ; and in the fort and 
island which formed his second line, 
there were upwards of 300 pieces. The 
whole of his army amoimted to 40,000 
infantry, besides a large body of cavalry. 

On'the night of the 6th of February, 
1792, lord Cornwallis resolved to attack 
Tippoo's camp. For this service he se 



456 



IRELAND. 



lected 2,800 Europeans, and 5,900 native 
infantry, but without artillery. The at- 
tack was completely successful. It was 
made in three columns. The centre col- 
umn under lord Cornwallis attacked the 
Sultan's redoubt, and having carried it, 
forced their way into the town ; and, by 
the other columns, the enemy's positions 
on the north side of the river, and almost 
the whole of the island, were carried. 
Eighty guns were taken, and the loss of 
the Sultan in the battle is said to have 
been 4,000 ; but the desertion was so 
great after the overthrow, that his army 
was reduced in number at least 20,000. 
The loss of the British was 535. 

The British army having thus obtained 
possession of the island and town of 
Seringapatam, were immediately em- 
ployed in making preparations for the 
siege of the fortress. But Tippoo, after 
several unsuccessful efforts to retrieve his 
fortune, on the 24th of February, agreed 
to terms of peace, by which he was to pay 
3 crores and 30 lacks of rupees, about 3^ 
millions sterling — to relinquish half his do- 



minions — and to give up three of his eldest 
sons for the due performance of the treaty. 

On this occasion, the force brought 
against Tippoo was one of the most for- 
midable ever seen in Hindostan. On 
the 16th of March, 1792, the British ar- 
my above the Ghauts amounted in all to 
11,000 Europeans, 31,600 natives, and 
190 pieces of cannon. The Mahrattas, 
the Nizam's, the Rajah of Travancore, 
and the other auxiliary forces, amounted 
to about 40,000 men, of whom 30,000 
were cavalry. Towards the conclusion 
of the siege, allowing four camp follow- 
ers to every soldier, the total number of 
persons attached to the camp of the con- 
federates exceeded 400,000. 

Since this period there has been a num- 
ber of conflicts with the native princes. 
In 1799, under the administration of 
lord Wellesley, Tippoo was slain at the 
taking of Seringapatam. The British pow- 
er has been greatly increased, and it is 
supposed that there is at this time one 
hundred millions of people in India, un- 
der their dominion. 



IRELAND, 



The ancient history of Ireland is in- 
volved in considerable obscurity, but its 
early chroniclers state that it was first 
peopled by a colony of Greeks, and that 
after the lapse of several centuries they 
were entirely destroyed by a plag-ue, the 
effects of which were so fearfully fatal, 
that not one remained to tell the tale. 
After the extinction of this colony, Ire- 
land remained a perfect wilderness for 
more than thirty years, when another 
colony arrived from the east, under the 
direction of Nemedius, who set sail from 
the Euxine Sea with thirty transports, 
each being manned with soldiers, which 
arrived in safety on the coast of Ireland 
after a very tedious and protracted voyage. 
The most remarkable circumstance which 
occurred during his reign, was an unsuc- 
cessful war in which he was engaged 
with some African pirates, who in the 
end conquered him, and the victors be- 



came so tyrannical that the colonists 
found themselves under the necessity of 
quitting the island altogether. 

About two hundred and sixteen years 
after the death of Nemedius, the descen- 
dants of Simon Braec returned from 
Greece into Ireland. They were con- 
ducted by five princes, who divided the 
island into five kingdoms, of nearly equal 
size. These kingdoms were called Mun- 
ster, Leinster, Connaught, Meath, and 
Ulster, and the subjects of these kings 
are called by the early Irish historians 
Firbolgs. The Firbolgs were shortly 
after expelled or entirely subdued, after 
the loss of 1 00,000 men in one battle, by 
the Tuath de Dannans, a nation who 
came from Attica, Ba30tia, and Achaia, 
into Denmark, from Denmark to Scot- 
land, and from Scotland into Ireland. 
This nation were believed to be powerful 
necromancers, who were so completely 



RELAND. 



457 



skilled in their art, that they could even 
restore the dead to life, and bring again 
into the field those warriors who had 
been slain the day before. They had also 
some Aveapons, &;c, which possessed a 
wonderful virtue. These were a sword, 
a spear, a cauldron, and a mai-ble chair ; 
on which last were crowned first the 
kings of Ireland, and afterwards those of 
Scotland. But neither the powerful vir- 
tues of these Danish curiosities, nor the 
more powerful spells of the magic art, 
were able to preserve the Tuath de Dan- 
nans from being subdued by the Gade- 
lians when they invaded Ireland. 

The Gadelians were descended from 
a powerful chief who bore the name of 
Gathelns. His mother was Scota, the 
daughter of Pharaoh, by Niul, the son of 
a Scythian monarch contemporary with 
Nirarod. The Gadelians, called also 
Scots, conquered Ireland about 1300 B. 
C. under Heber and Heremon, two sons 
of Milesius, king of Spain, from whom 
were descended all the kings of Ireland 
down to the English conquest, and who 
are therefore styled by the Irish histo- 
rians princes of the Milesian race. 

From this period the Irish historians 
trace a gradual refinement of their coun- 
trymen from a state of the grossest bar- 
barity, until a monarch, named OUam 
Fodla, established a regular form of gov- 
ernment, erected a seminary of learning, 
and instituted the Fes, or triennial con- 
vention of provincial kings, priests and 
poets, at Feamor or Tarah in Meath, for 
the establishment of laws and regulation 
of government. It appears that from a 
very early period, the island had been 
divided into the five provincial kingdoms 
above-mentioned, and four of these had 
been subject to the fifth, who was nomi- 
nal monarch of the whole island. About 
this time, these four, however, proved 
such obstinate disturbers of the peace, 
that the reigning monarch, to break their 
power, divided the country into twenty- 
five dynasties, binding them by oath to 
accept no other monarch but one of his 
own family. 

About 100 B. C. the pentarchal gov- 
ernment was restored, and it is said to 
have been succeeded by a considerable 
revolution in politics. The Irish bards 
58 



had for many ages dispensed the laws, 
and the whole nation submitted to their 
decisions ; but as their laws were ex- 
ceedingly obscure, and could be inter- 
preted only by themselves, they of course 
oppressed the people, who at last rose in 
a body, and would have destroyed them, 
had they not fled to Coavocar-Mac-Nessa, 
the reigning monarch, who granted them 
his protection ; but at the same time, to 
quiet the just complaints of his people, he 
employed the most talented among them 
10 compile an intelligible, equitable, and 
distinct body of laws, which were digni- 
fied with the name of celestial decisions. 
These decisions seem to have produced 
but very little reformation among the 
people in general. 

Ireland remained in the same state of 
confusion and ignorance till the introduc- 
tion of Christianity by St. Patrick, which 
took place about the middle of the fifth 
century. This saint also introduced let- 
ters into Ireland, and this laid the foun- 
dations of their future civilization. 

The introduction of Christianity appears 
to have had but little effect on the habits 
or welfare of this fertile but mismanaged 
island. The same wars between the 
chiefs continued ; and the same murders 
took place among its inhabitants, till they 
were invaded by the Danes or Normans, 
about the end of the eighth century. At 
this time the monarchical power was 
weak, on account of the factions and as- 
suming disposition of the inferior dy- 
nasties ; but also the evils of the political 
constitution of Ireland had considerably 
subsided by the respect paid to religion 
and learning. The first invasions of the 
Danes were made in small parties for the 
sake of plunder, and were repelled by 
the chieftain whose dominions were in- 
vaded. Other parties appeared hi dif- 
ferent parts of the island, and alarmed 
the inhabitants by the havoc they com- 
mitted. These were, in like manner, put 
to flight, but they never failed to return 
in a short time. But some years elapsed 
before the inhabitants thought of putting 
an end to their intestine quarrels, and 
uniting against the common enemy. The 
northern pirates, either by force or trea- 
ty, gradually obtained some small settle- 
ments on the island; and, at length, 



458 



RE LAND. 



Turgcs, or Turf^esius, a warlike Norwe- 
gian, landed with a powerful army in the 
year 815. He divided his fleet and army, 
in order to strike terror in different quar- 
ters. His uncivilized followers spread 
desolation wherever they went ; and, as 
the Danes already settled in Ireland 
flocked to his standard, and the native 
chiefs were still engrossed by their pri- 
vate feuds, he found little difficulty in 
possessing himself of the whole island. 

The new king ruled with so despotic 
a sway, that the inhabitants formed a con- 
spiracy against him ; and he was seized 
by Melachlinc, prince of Meath, in a time 
of apparent peace. A universal insur- 
rection ensued ; the Danes were massa- 
cred or dispersed; their leader condemned 
to death for his cruelties, and drowned in 
a lake. The remnant of these foreigners, 
however, were not exterminated, but al- 
lowed to continue on the island as sub- 
jects or tributaries to some particular 
chieftain. A new colony soon arrived, 
under pretence of peaceable intentions, 
and a design of enriching the country by 
commerce. The Irish, through an in- 
fatuated policy, suffered them to become 
masters of Dublin, Limerick, Waterford, 
and other maritime places, which they 
enlarged and fortified with such works 
as had till then been unknown in Ireland. 
The Danes failed not to make use of 
every opportunity of enlarging their terri- 
tories, and new wars quickly ensued. — 
The Irish were sometimes victorious, 
and sometimes not ; but were never able 
to drive out their enemies, so that they 
continued to be a very distinguished and 
powerful sept, or tribe, in Ireland. The 
wars with the Danes were no sooner at 
an end, than the natives turned their arms 
against each other. The country was 
harassed by the competitions of their 
chiefs ; laws and religion lost their in- 
fluence, and licentiousness and immoral- 
ity prevailed. In this state of affairs, 
Magnus, king of Norway, invaded the 
island ; but the enterprise failed in con- 
sequence of his own rashness ; for, hav- 
ing encountered no opposition while 
landing, he advanced into the country, 
and was surrounded and cut to pieces 
with all his followers. His death, how- 
ever, proved of little benefit to Ireland ; 



the same disorders which had gradually 
reduced the kingdom to a state of extreme 
weakness, still continued to operate, and 
to facilitate the success of the English 
invasion, which occurred in the reign of 
Henry II. 

The king, after having provided for 
the security of all his newly-acquired 
territories, and placed garrisons in the 
cities of Limerick, Cork, Waterford, and 
Wexford, proceeded to take possession 
of Dublin, which had been surrendered 
by Strongbow, the earl of Chepstow. 
The neighboring lords took the oppor- 
tunity of submitting to him as he ad- 
vanced. O'Carrol of Argial, a chieftain 
of great consequence, repaired to his 
camp, and engaged to become his tribu- 
tary ; and even O'Ruarc, whom Roderick 
had made lord of a considerable part of 
Meath, voluntarily submitted to the new 
sovereign. 

Roderick, of the O'Connor family, and 
monarch of the northern division of Ire- 
land, surprised at the defection of many 
of his allies, still determined to maintain 
his own dignity, and at least preserve his 
province of Connaught, feeling he could 
no longer call himself monarch of the 
whole island. With this design he in- 
trenched himself on the banks of the 
Shannon ; and now, when disencumbered 
from a crowd of faithless and discontented 
followers, he appears to have acted with 
a spirit and dignity becoming his station. 
Hugh de Lacey and William Fitz-Andelm 
were commissioned by the king to attack 
him, but Roderick was too strong to be 
attacked with any probability of success 
by a detachment of the English army ; 
and he at least affected to believe that his 
situation was not yet so totally desperate 
as to reduce him to the necessity of re- 
signing his dignity and authority, while 
his own territory remained inviolate, and 
the brave and powerful chiefs of Ulster 
still kept retired in their own districts, 
without any thoughts of submission. — 
Henry, in the mean time, attempted to 
attach the Irish lords to his interest by 
magnificent entertainments. Some his- 
torians pretend that he established the 
English laws in all those parts which 
had submitted to his jurisdiction; but 
this must appear extremely improbable, 



IRELAND. 



459 



when we consider how tenacious a nide 
and barbarous people are of their ancient 
laws and customs. To complete the 
whole system, a chief governor, or rep- 
resentative of the king, was appointed. 
His business was to exercise the royal 
authority, or such parts of it as might be 
committed to him in the king's absence ; 
and, as the present state of Ireland, and 
the apprehensions of war orinsurrections, 
made it necessary to guard against sud- 
den accidents, it was provided, that in 
case of the death of any chief governor, 
the chancellor, treasurer, chief justice, 
and chief baron, keeper of the rolls, and 
king's Serjeant at law, should be empow- 
ered, with consent of the nobles of the 
land, to elect a successor, who was to 
exercise the full power and authority of 
this office, until the royal pleasure should 
be further known. 

But while Henry was thus regulating 
the government of his new dominions, he 
received the unwelcome news that two 
cardinals, Albert and Theodric, delegated 
by the pope, had arrived in Normandy 
the year before, to make inquisition into 
the death of Becket ; that having waited 
the king's arrival until their patience was 
exhausted, they now summoned him to 
appear without delay, as he would avert 
the dreadful sentence of excommunica- 
tion, and preserve his dominions from a 
general interdict. Such denunciations 
were of too great consequence to admit 
of his longer stay in Ireland ; he there- 
fore ordered his forces and the officers 
of his household to embark without delay, 
reserving three ships for the conveyance 
of himself and his immediate attendants. 
Henry was no sooner gone, than his ba- 
rons began to contrive how they might 
best strengthen their own interests, and 
the Irish how they might best shake off 
the yoke to which they had so readily 
submitted. De Lacey divided out the 
lands of Meath to his friends and adhe- 
rents, and commenced erecting forts to 
keep the ancient inhabitants in awe. — 
Roderick, the principal Irish chieftain, 
committed great devastations in Meath. 
By the vigorous conduct of the English 
commander, however, he was not only 
prevented from doing farther mischief, 
but at last convinced of the folly of resis- 



tance, and therefore determined to make 
a final submission. Yet, conscious of 
his dignity, he disdained to submit to a 
subject ; and, therefore, instead of treat- 
ing with earl Richard, he sent deputies 
directly to the king. 

The terms of this submission, by which 
Henry became sole monarch of Ireland, 
were as follows:. Roderick consented to . 
do homage and pay tribute, as liege-man 
to the king of England ; on which condi- 
tion he was allowed to hold the kingdom 
of Connaught, as well as his other lands 
and sovereignties, in as ample a manner 
as he had enjoyed them before the arrival 
of Henry in Ireland. His vassals were 
to hold their estates under him in peace, 
as long as they paid their tribute and 
continued faithful to the king of England ; 
in which Roderick was to enforce their 
due obedience, and for this purpose to 
call to his assistance the English govern- 
ment, if necessary. 

Many of the Irish lords, in their sub- 
mission to Henry, hi effect disavowed and 
renounced the sovereignty of Roderick ; 
but now his supremacy was acknowl- 
edged, that the present submission might 
appear virtually the submission of all the 
subordinate princes, and thus the king of 
England be finally invested with the 
sovereignty of the whole island. The 
marks of sovereignty, however, were no 
more than homage and tribute ; in every 
other particular the regal rights of Rode- 
rick were left inviolate. The Enghsh 
laws were only to be enforced in the 
English pale ; and, even there, the Irish 
tenant might live in peace, as the subject 
of the Irish monarch ; bound only to pay 
his quota of tribute, and not to take arms 
against the king of England. 

But though the whole island of Ireland 
thus became subject to the king of Eng- 
land, it was far from being settled in 
tranquillity, or indeed, from having the 
situation of its inhabitants improved in 
any degree. 

Another cause of the distresses of Ire- 
land was, the great power of the English 
barons, among whom Henry had divided 
the greater part of his Irish dominions. 
The extent of their authority only inflam- 
ed them with a desire for more, and, in- 
stead of contributing their endeavors to 



460 



RELAND. 



increase the power of their sovereign, or 
to civilize the barbarous people over 
whom they were placed, their only aim 
was to aggrandize themselves and coun- 
teract the schemes of each other. 

Nothing, indeed, can be conceived more 
terrible than the state of Ireland during 
the reign of Henry III. The powerful 
English lords not only subverted the 
peace and security of the people, by re- 
fusing to admit the salutary laws of their 
own country, but behaved with injustice 
and violence to the natives who did not 
enjoy the benefits of the English consti- 
tution. The clergy appear to have been 
equally tyrannical and abandoned with 
the rest. 

Matters continued in the same state 
during the reign of Edward I, with this 
additional grievance, that the kingdom 
suffered an invasion of the Scots. The 
English monarch, indeed, possessed all 
that prudence and valor which were 
necessary to have reduced the island to 
a slate of tranquillity ; but his project of 
conquering Scotland left him but little 
leisure to attend to the distracted state of 
Ireland. Certain it is, however, that the 
distress of that country gave him great 
uneasiness ; and he commanded the Irish 
prelates to interpose their spiritual au- 
thority for composing the public disorders. 
About the same time, the Irish presented 
a petition to the king, offering to pay him 
8,000 merks, upon condition that they 
were admitted to the privileges of English 
subjects. To this petition he returned a 
favorable answer ; but his good intentions 
were defeated by the licentious nobility, 
who knew that these laws would circum- 
scribe their rapacious views, and control 
their violence and oppression. Like pe- 
titions were often repeated during this 
reign, but as often defeated, though sev- 
eral important measures were taken for 
the peace of the kingdom, such as the 
frequent calling of parliaments, appointing 
sheriffs, &c. 

These means were not altogether with- 
out effect. They served to check the 
disorders of the realm, though by no 
means to terminate or subdue them. The 
incursions of the natives were repressed, 
the English lords began to live on better 
terms with each other, and in 1 3 11 , under 



Edward II, the most powerful of them 
were reconciled by the marriage of Mau- 
rice and Thomas Fitz-John, afterwards 
the heads of the illustrious houses of Des- 
mond and Kildare, to two daughters of 
the earl of Ulster. But just at this period, 
when the nation appeared to have some 
prospect of tranquillity, other calamities 
were about to take place. The Scots 
had just recovered their liberty under 
Robert Bruce, and Edward, the king's 
brother, as a recompense for his services, 
demanded a share of the royal authority. 
This was refused by Robert, and Edward 
was for the present satisfied by being de- 
clared heir apparent to the crown. But 
the king pointed out to his brother the 
island of Ireland, the conquest of which 
would be easy, and which would make 
him an independent sovereign. This 
proposal was eagerly embraced by Ed- 
ward, and on the 23rd of May, 1315, he 
landed on the north-eastern coast of Ire- 
land with 6,000 men, to assert his claim 
to the sovereignty of this kingdom. The 
Irish lords of Ulster, who had invited and 
encouraged him to this enterprise, were 
now prepared to receive their new mon- 
arch, and flocked with eagerness to his 
standard, and their progress was marked 
by desolation and carnage. The Eng- 
lish settlers were slaughtered or driven 
from their possessions, their castles lev- 
elled with the ground, and their towns 
set on fire. The English lords were 
neither prepared to resist the invasion, 
nor sufficiently united among themselves. 
The consequence was, that the enemy 
for some time met with no interruption. 
An intolerable scarcity of provisions, how- 
ever, prevented Bruce from pursuing his 
advantages ; and though his brother land- 
ed in Ireland, with a powerful army, the 
famine prevented him from being of any 
essential service. The forces which he 
left behind him, however, proved of con- 
siderable advantage ; and by means of 
this re-enforcement, he was enabled to 
take the fortress of Carrickfergus. 

The devastations committed by Bruce 
and his associates, induced several Eng- 
lish lords to enter into an association to 
defend their possessions, and repel these 
invaders. For this purpose they raised 
a considerable body of forces ; which 



IRELAND. 



461 



coming to an engagement with Fedlim, 
prince of Connaught, one of Bruce's prin- 
cipal allies, entirely defeated and killed 
him with 8,000 of his men. This defeat, 
however, had very little eflect on the op- 
erations of Bruce himself. He ravaged 
the country to the walls of Dublin, tra- 
versed the district of Ossory, and pene- 
trated into Munster, destroying every 
thing with fire and sword. The English 
continued to augment their army, till it 
amounted to 30,000 men ; and then Bruce, 
no longer able to oppose such a force, 
found it necessary to retire into the pro- 
vince of Ulster. His retreat was effect- 
ed with great difficulty; and during the 
time of his inactivity, the distress of his 
army increased to such a degree, that 
they are said to have fed upon the bodies 
of their dead companions. At last an 
end was put to the sufferings and life of 
this adventurer, in the battle of Dundalk, 
in 1318, where he was defeated and 
killed by the English under Sir Robert 
Erpingham. A brave Enghsh knight 
had rushed forward to encounter Bruce 
himself, and both antagonists met and 
killed each other. The king of Scotland 
had been advancing with powerful suc- 
cors to his brother ; but Edward, confi- 
dent of victory, refused to wait his arri- 
-val ; and Robert, on hearing of his broth- 
er's death, instantly retired. 

The defeat of the Scottish invaders 
did not put an end to the disturbances of 
this unhappy country. The contentions 
of the English with each other, of the 
Irish with the English, and among them- 
selves, still kept the island in a state of 
confusion. An attempt was made, in- 
deed, in the reign of Edward H, to estab- 
lish a university in Dublin ; but for want 
of proper encouragement the institution 
for some time languished, and then ex- 
pired amidst the anarchy and confusion 
of the country. 

The perpetual hostility in which the 
different parties lived, proved an effectual 
bar to the introduction of those arts which 
contribute to the comfort and refinement 
of mankind. Even foreign merchants 
could not venture into such a dangerous 
country without particular letters of pro- 
tection from the throne. The perpetual 
succession of new adventurers from Eng- 



land, led by interest or necessity, served 
only to inflame dissension, instead of in- 
troducing any essential improvement. 

In this situation the kingdom continued 
till the time of Henry VII, who laid the 
foundation of the future civilization of the 
Irish, as he also did of the English na- 
tion. This he effected by enacting some 
salutary laws, and appointing faithful and 
active governors to see them put in exe- 
cution. Of these governors. Sir Edward 
Poyning, contributed more than any other 
to the tranquillity of the state. 

From this time we may date the revi- 
val of the English power in Ireland. The 
authority of the crown, which had at last 
been defied, insulted, and rejected, even 
in the English territory, was restored and 
confirmed, and the rebellious opposed 
and suppressed. The seignory of the 
British crown over the whole body of the 
Irish, which, in former reigns, seemed to 
have been totally forgotten, was now for- 
mally claimed and asserted, and some of 
the most ferocious chieftains, by their 
marriage connections, became the avowed 
friends of the English power. An igno- 
minious tribute, called the Black Rent, 
was indeed still paid to some chieftains ; 
but their hostilities were opposed and 
chastised, and even in their own districts 
they were made to feel the superiority of 
the English government. 

Under the mild sway of James I, Ire- 
land began to assume a new aspect ; that 
monarch did all in his power to promote 
the arts of peace, and civilize his unlettered 
Irish subjects. By repeated conspiracies 
and rebellions, a large tract of land, 
amounting to about 500,000 acres, and 
comprehended within the six northern 
counties of Donegal, Tyrone, Derry, Fer- 
managh, Cavan, and Armagh, had been 
escheated to the king, who resolved to 
dispose of them in such a way as would 
best conduce to the interests of the coun- 
try. He caused surveys to be taken of 
the several counties where the new set- 
tlements were to be established ; describ- 
ed minutely the state of each ; pointed 
out the situations proper for the sites of 
towns and castles ; delineated the char- 
acters of the Irish chieftains, the manner 
in which they should be treated, the tem- 
per and circumstances of the old inhabi 



462 



IRELAND. 



tants, die rights of the new purchasers, 
and the claims of both ; together with the 
iinpeduneuts to former plantations, and 
removing them. He ordered also, that 
the persons to whom lands were assigned 
should be either new settlers from Great 
Britain, especially from Scotland, or ser- 
vitors, as they were termed ; that is, men 
who had for some time served in Ireland, 
either in civil or military offices ; or Irish 
captains or chieftains. Among the last 
were included those who had been en- 
gaged in the rebellion of Tyrone, to whom 
particular indulgence was shown, as 
James wished, by this line of conduct, 
to reconcile them to his government. 
The under-tenants and servants were 
allowed to exercise their own religion ; 
and, while all the other planters were 
compelled to take the oath of allegiance, 
they were tacitly excepted. The servi- 
tors were allowed to take their tenants 
either from Ireland or Britain, provided 
no catholics were admitted. 

The only disturbance that now ensued, 
was from the catholic party, who had an 
unconquerable aversion to seeing the pro- 
testant religion established in preference 
to their own. After numberless ineflec- 
tual machinations and complaints, their 
fury broke out in a terrible massacre of 
the new English settlers in the year 
1641. The affairs of Britain were at 
that time in such confusion, that the re- 
bellion was not quelled in less than ten 
years, during which time the country 
w^as nearly depopulated. It recovered 
again under Cromwell, Charles II, and 
the short reign of James II. On the ac- 
cession of William III, matters were 
once more thrown into confusion by an 
attempt made in favor of the exiled mon- 
arch, who came over to Ireland in March, 
1689, at the head of about 1,200 of his 
native subjects, in the pay of the French 
king. The memorable siege of Derry 
was his first military operation ; and the 
lengtliened opposition he there encoun- 
tered formed the precursor of numerous 
disasters, destructive of his last hope of 
sovereignty. After a considerable de- 
lay, occasioned by the political intrigues 
and embarrassments which attended the 
early stages of William's elevation to the 
throne, James was opposed by an army 



under duke Schomberg ; but the same 
implements in the machinery of govern- 
ment which had retarded the duke's entry 
into Ireland, prevented his achieving any 
military exploit of importance, and the 
great event of the war was reserved for 
the king in person. 

William landed at Carrickfergus on the 
14th of June, 1690, attended by many 
persons of distinction, and was joined 
by duke Schomberg. Passing quickly 
through the north, he sought the army of 
his rival in the vicinity of Drogheda. 

The battle was fought on the 1st of 
July, 1690. At about six in the morn- 
ing, the right wing of William's army 
directed its march towards the bridge of 
Slane. Count Schomberg (son of the 
duke) commanded the cavalry of that 
division, and lieutenant-general Douglas 
the foot. The enemy drew out several 
bodies of horse and foot to oppose them, 
and the chief part of this division eventu- 
ally passed the river at Fords, between 
the site of their camp and Slane bridge. 
Their passage was slightly opposed by 
a regiment of dragoons, but these insuf- 
ficient opponents quickly retired, and the 
English crossed without difficulty, and 
advanced towards the main body of the 
enemy. 

The infantry in the centre of William's 
army, commanded by duke Schomberg, 
crossed the Boj^-ne directly in front of 
the enemy's camp. The Dutch guards 
first entered the river, at the ford of Old 
Bridge, where a strong body was posted 
to oppose their landing. The French 
protestants and Enniskilleners, the levies 
from Brandenburgh, and the English, 
entered at Fords to the left, or eastward. 
The bulk of so many accoutred men, by 
checking the current, caused the water 
to rise at the place of their passage much 
beyond its natural level, and it was in 
some places breast-high, the infantry, in 
those parts, supporting their arms above 
their heads. When they gained the op- 
posite bank, they formed as quickly as 
was attainable, and soon drove back the 
Irish who were stationed on the bank, 
with the advantage of breast-works and 
hedges. Several battalions, and parties 
of Irish horse were received firmly, and 
compelled to retreat. But the passage 



IRELAND. 



463 




Battle of the Boync. 



was not effected by the whole of this 
division of the English army with equal 
success. A squadron of Danes was at- 
tacked by a party of Irish cavalry with 
so much fury that they retreated through 
the river, pursued by their temporary 
conquerors. The Irish, on their return 
fell upon the French Huguenots, who 
were broken with considerable loss. 

King James, throughout this eventful 
day, was stationed on the hill of Donore. 
Here, surrounded by his guards, he stood 
as a spectator rather than a general, whilst 
the crown of three kingdoms was the sub- 
ject of contest between two great armies. 

When king William had securely 
reached the hostile bank of the river, he 
rode to the head of his squadrons, and 
presented to them the animating specta- 
cle of a royal general prepared, with 
sword in hand, to share in all their dan- 
gers. The main body of the Irish re- 
treated towards Donore ; but there they 
faced about, for the protection of the 
quiescent James, then standing in peril 
on the hill, and charged with so much 
fury that the English were obliged to 
give ground. 

When the king was informed by those 
around him that he was in danger of be- 



ing surrounded, he quitted his post, and 
retired to Duleek. His army followed 
and effected a retreat, which was allow- 
ed by all parties to have been admirably 
conducted, through the pass of Duleek. 
The Irish lost 1500 men, while the Eng- 
lish under William lost but 500. 

Shortly after the loss sustained by 
James on that eventful day, he fled to 
France ; but the hopes of his friends did 
not utterly expire on his flight, and much 
blood was yet spilt before the country 
Avas restored to a semblance of tranquil- 
lity. In the subsequent prosecution of 
the war many acts of violence were com- 
mitted by both parties, which long left 
emphatical marks in the desolated build- 
ings of the gentry, and the distress visible 
in every feature of the country. The 
chief military actions were achieved by 
general Ginlile in the siege of Athlone, 
commanded by colonel Richard Grace, 
and in the battle of Aghrim, which de- 
rives its name from a village in Gahvay, 
contiguous to the field of bloodshed. In 
this battle the English were again victo- 
rious, although not animated as before 
by the presence of the king. The war 
was terminated by the celebrated siege 
and reduction of Limerick, Avhich place, 



464 



IRELAND. 



after repelling the efforts of William in 
person, was surrendered to his forces, by 
capitulation, in October, 1691. The for- 
feiture of lands consequent on this war 
was very considerable, and introduced 
an entire new race of settlers. 

Great numbers of the Irish entered 
the French army, and it has been com- 
puted that 450,000 fell in the French 
service, from 1691 to 1745. The de- 
pendence of the Irish parliament on this 
country next became a subject of con- 
troA^ersy, and, in 1719, was passed an 
act declaring that the British parliament 
had full power to make laws binding the 
people of Ireland. The Irish trade and 
industry were also subject to every kind 
of restriction and discouragement ; and 
it was not until the American war broke 
out, that a change became perceptible in 
the conduct and language of the British 
government towards Ireland. The Irish 
parliament demanded free trade, but the 
nation went much further ; and, in 1782, 
the parliament of Ireland was placed on 
the same footing with that of England. 

The American revolution, produced a 
great effect on the affairs of Ireland ; the 
French revolution, which commenced 
about the time of the king's illness, was 
destined to affect the affairs of Ireland in 
a still greater degree, but unfortunately 
not in so favorable a manner. It was 
natural that those in Ireland, who had 
been so long and so ardently endeavoring 
to gain for their own country what they 
deemed its rights and essential to its 
prosperity, should rejoice at the French 
revolution when it began, and that they 
should feel by it inspired to renew their 
attempts to obtain their favorite objects of 
parliamentary reform and catholic eman- 
cipation. The mode in which they might 
hope to attain these objects seemed point- 
ed out to them by the volunteers, by union 
and associations they had prevailed, and 
thus also they might be equally success- 
ful. Accordingly, in June, 1791, there 
appeared at Belfast the plan of an asso- 
ciation, under the name of United Irish- 
men ; and in November this association 
was actually instituted at Dublin ; their 
declared object was, " the forwarding a 
brotherhood of affection, a communion of 
rights, and a union of power among Irish- 



men of every religious persuasion, and 
thereby obtaining a complete reform in 
the legislature, founded on the principles 
of civil, political, and religious liberty." 
Such were their avowed objects ; but there 
is reason to believe, that, even at the first 
formation of this association, the leading 
members looked further. 

The United Irishmen and the Catho- 
lics, both looking forward to a change in 
the laws, were naturally well disposed to 
each other ; but from other quarters the 
claims of the Catholics were most vio- 
lently opposed. The government seem- 
ed to think, that the safest conduct for 
them to pursue was to avoid both ex- 
tremes ; they were not disposed to grant 
all the Catholics wished, nor to withhold 
every thing. In conformity with this de- 
termination, in 1793, the legislature ad- 
mitted the Catholics to the practice of 
the law — to intermarry with Protestants, 
and to an unrestrained education. The 
legislature, during this session of parlia- 
ment, also, passed a law to prevent the 
election, or other appointment, of conven- 
tions, or other unlawful assemblies, imder 
pretence of presenting public petitions, or 
other addresses, to his majesty or parUa- 
ment. This act was directly aimed at a 
proposed meeting of a national conven- 
tion of the United Irish at Athlone, which 
was prevented. 

Archibald Hamilton Rowan was sec- 
retary to the United Irishmen at the time 
their manifesto was published ; he was 
on that account arrested, and in 1794, 
brought to trial. It was suspected at the 
time of his trial, that the views of the 
United Irishmen went farther than they 
avowed, and that the utter subversion of 
the constitution, and the separation of 
Ireland from England, was in their con- 
templation, and the object of their meet- 
ings and schemes. This was afterwards 
proved on the trial of an English clergy- 
man of the name of Jackson, for a trea- 
sonable correspondence with the agents 
of the French government ; for Rowan, 
who had been condemned to a fine, and 
imprisonment for two years, contrived to 
escape out of prison, and fled out of the 
country, conscious that, on the trial of 
Jackson, evidence of his real designs 
would be brought to light. Jackson was 



IRELAND. 



463 



condemned, but he took poison, and ex- 
pired before he was removed from court. 
Two others, who were leading men among 
the violent democratic party, Napper 
Tandy, and Theobald Wolfe Tone, the 
principal framer of the United Irishmen, 
also fled from their country 

In May, 1797, the number of men en- 
rolled as members of the Irish Union in 
Ulster alone*, was nearly 100,000. In 
the other parts of the kingdom, except 
Dublin and the counties of Wexford, Kil- 
dare, east Meath, west Meath, and king's 
county, their numbers were comparative- 
ly few ; but they were using their utmost 
endeavors to extend the Union all over 
Ireland. 

The Irish Union, disappointed in their 
hopes of assistance from France, resolved 
to trust solely to their own power. By 
this time, the number of men sworn into 
the conspiracy amounted nearly to half a 
million, and plans were formed for the 
simultaneous rising of this body. Their 
object, however, was discovered by a man 
of the name of Reynolds, who was a de- 
legate for the province of Leinster ; and 
from his information, the members who 
formed the committee of this province 
were arrested. 

The insurgents did not seem intimida- 
ted by these proceedings against them ; 
and as they were ignorant that govern- 
ment were acquainted with their plans, 
they still persevered in the determination 
to rise in a body on a fixed day. Before 
that day arrived, however, government 
caused lord Edward Fitzgerald, who had 
contrived the plan of attack, and who 
was distinguished for his boldness, ta- 
lents, and influence, to be arrested. He 
made a desperate resistance, and died 
soon afterwards of a wound which he re- 
ceived before he was taken. The two 
brothers Sheares, and other conspirators 
were arrested the same month ; and, on 
the 21st of May, the plan of insurrection 
was announced by lord Castlereagh, sec- 
retary to the lord lieutenant, to the lord 
mayor of Dublin. The night of the 23rd 
was the time fixed for it. An attack on 
the troops stationed near Dublin, and on 
the artillery, was to have been first execu- 
ted. The castle was, about the same time 
to have been surprised ; after which, the 
59 



parties engaged in these enterprises 
were to have united. The stoppage of 
all the mail coaches on the great roads, 
was to have been the signal for the rising 
of the people in the various parts of the 
country. The scheme was certainly well 
arranged, and had it not been discovered 
might have been attended with the most 
disastrous consequences. 

On the 26th of May, the insiurection 
broke out in the county of Wexford, 
where it was not apprehended that the 
insurgents were in great force. They 
were headed by a priest of the name of 
Murphy, a ferocious and ignorant fanatic. 
On the 27th, two bodies of them made 
their appearance at Oulart and Kilthomas. 
At the latter place they were defeated by 
200 or 300 yeomen ; but at the former 
place where Murphy himself commanded, 
they were victorious. Murphy imme- 
diately proceeded to Enniscorlhy, of 
which, by the assistance of the catholic 
inhabitants, he gained possession. The 
inhabitants of the city of Wexford were 
now in great alarm, as they could plainly 
distinguish the flames of the burning 
houses at Enniscorthy. As they were 
little prepared for defence, they resolved 
to negotiate with the insurgents, or rather 
to endeavor to persuade them to return 
peaceably to their homes. For this pur- 
pose, two gentlemen, who had been ar- 
rested on private information, were sent 
to them ; but they kept one of these to 
be their leader, and sent the other back 
to Wexford. Against this place they 
now determined to proceed. Its small 
garrison took a position outside, but af- 
terwards returned into the town, which 
was almost immediately evacuated, and 
taken possession of by the rebels. Their 
force was about 15,000 men ; and by the 
capture of Wexford, the southern parts 
of the county, as well the eastern and 
western, were at their mercy. They 
now divided into two bodies; one of 
which directed its march to Gorey, in 
the northern part of the county, in hopes 
of thus forcing a passage to the capital ; 
and the other to New Ross, by reducing 
which they would be enabled more ea- 
sily to enter the counties of Kilkenny 
and Waterford. The inhabitants of Go- 
rey were apprised of their danger, but 



466 



IRELAND. 



they trusted it would be averted by the 
arrival of troops under general Loftus 
and colonel Walpole, which immediately 
inarched by different routes to attack the 
insurgents, who were posted on a hill 
seven miles from Gorey, under the com- 
mand of a priest of the name of Roche. 
This man seems to have been possessed 
of great military talents, for he imme- 
diately resolved to quit his position with 
his whole force, upwards of 10,000 men, 
and attacked Walpole while separated 
from Loftus' troops. He came up with 
him at Clough, and attacking him quite 
vmexpected, the British were defeated, 
with the loss of their artillery. Loftus, 
in the mean time, following the insur- 
gents to Gorey, ignorant of the defeat 
of Walpole's corps, found them posted so 
strongly that he durst not attack them, 
but retreated into the county of Carlow. 

The body of the rebels who had march- 
ed towards Ross were not so fortunate ; 
they had chosen for their leader a per- 
son of the name of Harvey, whom they 
had liberated from Wexford jail. He 
formed a plan of attacking three sepa- 
rate parts of the town of Ross at the same 
time ; the attack was accordingly made 
in a furious but irregular manner. At 
first the rebels gained some advantages, 
but "they were soon thrown into confu- 
sion ; and general Johnson who com- 
manded a strong party of the regular ar- 
my in the town, took advantage of this 
circumstance, and after a desperate re- 
sistance from some divisions of the re- 
bels, while others were totally without 
discipline or management, he succeeded 
in completely defeating them, and in 
saving the place. Enraged at this de- 
feat, the rebels massacred, in cold blood, 
more than 1 00 of their protestant prison- 
ers at Wexford. 

The insurgents who had defeated Wal- 
pole's corps remained inactive for some 
time afterwards. At length, on the 9lh 
of June, they advanced to the north to 
join another body of insurgents, and, 
when united, to attack Arklow. The 
garrison in this place, not conceiving 
themselves strong enough to defend it 
against the rebels, left it, but afterwards 
returned, in consequence of their not at- 
tempting to seize it. The rebels, how- 



ever, changed their plans, and advanced 
against it ; but on the very day of the at- 
tack, there arrived the Durham fencible 
regiment. The royal force now consist- 
ed of 1,600 men, and being arranged in 
lines, with artillery in front, they were 
enabled to cover three sides of the place, 
a river protecting the other side. The 
force of the insurgents amounted to more 
than 20,000, but only about 4,000 or 5,000 
of these had guns. They advanced with 
great impetuosity to the cannons' mouths, 
but they were in every assault driven 
back with immense slaughter. The bat- 
tle lasted four hours ; and though, dur- 
ing the whole of that time, the Durham 
fencibles bore the brunt of it, yet they 
stood firm and undaunted. The pikemen 
of the insurgents had not, however, yet 
come into action, and general Needham, 
apprehensive that the fencibles, wearied 
out with repeated attacks, would not be 
able to withstand these formidable assail- 
ants, sent directions to colonel Skerret, 
who commanded the fencibles, to retreat. 
This, however, he refused to do ; and 
though it was now dark, and the insur- 
gents might have profited by this circum- 
stance, they discontinued the attack, and 
retreated. 

The insurgents, of whom we have 
been hitherto speaking, consisted almost 
exclusively of catholics. They hoped 
to be assisted in their plans by the pro- 
testants of the north of Ireland ; but in 
this they were disappointed. There 
were, indeed, insurrections in Antrim 
and Down ; but the protestants who en- 
gaged in them, after a few skirmishes 
with the royal troops, gave up the enter- 
prise, chiefly in consequence of being 
assured that the rest of the protestants 
in the north, though in general well dis- 
posed, would not co-operate with them, 
having learned that the insurrection in 
Wexford was totally of a religious char- 
acter, and that the catholics engaged in 
it had repeatedly behaved with great 
cruelty to the protestants. 

The insurgents in Wexford were thus 
left to themselves, and measures were 
taken by government to crush them ef 
feclually and speedily. On the 20th ol 
June, their whole force was assembled 
on Vinegar-hill, near Enniscorthy. Gen- 



IRELAND. 



467 



eral Lake immediately formed liis plan, 
which was, to surround this post ; and 
for this purpose, all the divisions of the 
royal army were put in motion. 

In the mean time, the insurgents were 
guilty of the most atrocious acts of cru- 
elty, not merely against those who had 
opposed their plans, but even against 
those who were known to be favorable 
to them, ill case they were protestants. 
These were dragged to Vinegar-hill, 
where, without trial, they were either 
shot or transfixed with pikes, or, in some 
cases, put to death in a still more barba- 
rous manner. At Killan, the protestants 
of both sexes were collected, with an in- 
tention of burning them alive in their 
parish church, when fortunately their de- 
sign was prevented by the arrival of a 
body of yeomen. 

General Lake had collected nearly 
13,000 troops, with a train of artillery 
proportionate to that number, for the at- 
tack on Vinegar-hill. This attack took 
place on the 21st of June. The town 
of Enniscorthy was the first object of 
attack, and the insurgents were driven 
from their post. They fled through 
a space of ground which was to have 
been occupied by the troops of general 
Needham. These had not come up, 
whether from missing the road, or some 
other accidental cause, or, as was suppos- 
ed, because general Lake wished to leave 
the insurgents some outlet, is not ascer- 
tained. Wexford was taken by the royal 
troops the same day as Enniscorthy ; 
previously, however, a battle had taken 
place at Horetown, between the troops I 
of general Moore and the insurgents un- ! 
der Roche. The combat was long doubt- j 
ful, but at length terminated in the de- 
feat of the rebels. General Moore im- 
mediately encamped near Wexford, in ! 
order to secure the protestants in that 
town from massacre. Before his arrival, 
however, the rebels in it had committed j 
great outrages. These were principally 
directed and encouraged by a man of the 
name of Dixon. While the rebel force 
continued in Wexford, this man had not ^ 
been able to carry his designs into exe- 
cution ; but soon after they marched out , 
against general Moore, Dixon, at the I 
head of a mob, which he had previously ^ 



inflamed with whiskey , murderej the pro- 
testants in a manner to which, for wan- 
ton cruelty, not even the atrocities of 
the French revolution can produce a pa- 
rallel. In the mean time, the battle at 
Vinegar-hill, though strenuously conten- 
ded by the insurgents, ended in their 
complete defeat. 

Before general Moore arrived at this 
town, many of the inhabitants were desi- 
rous of giving up the place. Lord Kings- 
borough, colonel of the North Cork militia, 
was at this time a prisoner in it ; and he 
agreed to receive the surrender, pledging 
his honor for the safety of all, except 
those who had been concerned in the 
murders. On this pledge, which was 
made known to the British general, the 
insurgents who had fled into the town 
after their defeat at Vinegar-hill, evacua- 
ted it, separating into two bodies, in the 
full confidence of the ratification of the 
terms ; but general Lake ordered all the 
chiefs of the rebels to be seized and put 
to death. 

The movements and proceedings of 
the insurgents, after the battle of Vine- 
gar-hill, were desultory, without union or 
plan. One body of them marched to 
Arklow, and, finding no royal troops there* 
massacred many of the inhabitants. An- 
other body, under Murphy, who had ori- 
ginally raised the insurrection in Wex- 
ford, directed their march towards the 
county of Carlow, with the design of 
stirring up the inhabitants there and in 
Kilkenny ; but in this they were disap- 
pointed, partly by the measures of the 
royal forces, and partly by the indisposi- 
tion of the inhabitants. They now de- 
termined to return to W^exford, and on 
the 26th of June arrived at Kilcommy. 
Here they again changed their route, and 
moved towards the Wicklow moimtains ; 
but they soon found that they had no 
other chance of safety but by dispersing 
into small bodies, being no longer capa- 
ble of withstanding the forces that were 
sent against them. After various move- 
ments and skirmishes, therefore, they 
finally dispersed. In 1800, the legisla- 
tive union of Ireland and Great Britain 
was effected. From this period, the lead- 
ing political events of Ireland have been 
blended with those of Great Britain. 



468 



ITALY. 



ITALY. 



"Before Rome had absorbed all the 
vital power of Italy, this country was 
thickly inhabited, and, for the most part, 
by civilized nations. In the north of 
Italy alone, which offered the longest re- 
sistance to the Romans, dwelt the Gauls. 
Farther south, on the Arno and the Tiber, 
a number of small tribes, such as the 
Etrusci, the Samnites, and Latins, en- 
deavored to find safety by forming con- 
federacies. Less closely united, and often 
hostile to each other, were the Greek 
colonies of Lower Italy, called Magna 
Graecia. The story of the subjection of 
these nations to the Roman ambition, be- 
longs to the history of Rome. 

We may now briefly trace the origin 
of the history of Italy, commencing with 
the fall of the Roman empire. Romulus 
Augustus was the last feeble emperor of 
Rome ; he was dethroned by his German 
guards. Odoacer, their leader, assumed 
the title of king of Italy, and thus this 
country was separated from the Roman 
empire. But this valiant barbarian could 
hot communicate a spirit of independence 
and energy to the degenerate Italians ; 
nothing but an amalgamation with a peo- 
ple in a state of nature could efliect their 
regeneration. Such a people already 
stood on the frontiers of Italy. Theo- 
doric, king of the Ostrogoths, instigated 
by Zeno, emperor of the East, overthrew 
the kingdom of Odoacer, and reduced all 
Italy. His Goths spread from the Alps 
to Sicily. In the lagoons of the Adriatic 
alone, some fugitives, who had fled from 
the devastations of Attila, and obtained 
a subsistence as sailors, and by the manu- 
facture of salt, maintained their freedom. 
Theodoric, who combined the vigor of 
the north with the cultivation of the south, 
is justly termed the great, and, under the 
name of Deitrich of Bern, has become one 
of the principal heroes of old German sto- 
ry. But the energy of his people soon 
yielded to Roman corruption. Totila, for 
ten years, contested in vain the almost 
completed conquest with the military skill 
of Belisarius. He fell in battle in 552, 
and Teias in 553, after which Italy was 



annexed to the Eastern empire, under an 
exarch, who resided at Ravenna. But 
the first exarch, Narses, sunk under the 
intrigues of the Byzantine court, and his 
successor neglected the defence of the 
passes of the Alps, so that the country 
was invaded by the Lombards. 

The kingdom of the Lombards inclu- 
ded Upper Italy, Tuscany, and Umbria. 
Alboin also created the duchy of Bene- 
vento, in Lower Italy, with which he in- 
vested Zotto. The whole of Lombardian 
Italy was divided into thirty great fiefs, 
under dukes, counts, &c, which soon be- 
came hereditary. Together with the new 
kingdom, the confederation of the fugi- 
tives in the lagoons still subsisted in un- 
disturbed freedom. The islanders, by 
the election of their first doge, Anafesto, 
in 697, established a central government, 
and the republic of Venice was founded. 
Ravenna, the seat of the exarch, with 
Romagna, the Pentapolis, or the five 
maritime cities, (Rimini, Pesaro, Fano, 
Sinigaglia, and Ancona,) and almost all 
the coasts of Lower Italy, where Amalfi 
and Gaeta had dukes of their own, 
of the Greek nation, remained uncon- 
quered, together with Sicily, and the 
capital, Rome, which was governed by 
a patrician in the name of the empe- 
ror. This slight dependence on the 
court of Byzantium disappeared almost 
entirely in the beginning of the eighth 
century, when Leo, the Isaurian, exasper- 
ated the orthodox Italians by his attack 
on images. The cities expelled his offi- 
cers, and chose consuls and a senate, as 
in ancient times. Rome acknowledged, 
not indeed, the power, but a certain pa- 
ternal authority of its bishops, even in 
secular aflfairs, in consequence of the 
respect which their holiness procured 
them. The popes, in th«ir efforts to se- 
cure the freedom of Rome against the 
Lombards, forsaken by the court of By- 
zantium, generally had recourse to the 
Frankish kings. In consideration of the 
aid expected against king Astolphus, 
pope Stephen III, in 753, not only 
anointed Pepin, who had been made king 



ITALY. 



469 



of the Franks, in 752, with the approba- 
tion of pope Zacharias, but with the as- 
sent of the municipality of Rome, ap- 
pointed him patrician, as the imperial 
governor had hitherto been denominated. 
Charlemagne made war upon Desiderius, 
the king of the Lombards, in defence of 
the Roman church, took him prisoner in 
his capital, Pavia, united his empire with 
the Prankish monarchy, 774, and even- 
tually gave Italy a king in his son Pepin. 
But hi.s attempts against the duchy of 
Benevento, the independence of which 
was maintained by duke Arichis, and 
against the republics in Lower Italy, 
where Naples, Amalfi, and Gaeta in 
particular, had become rich by navigation 
and commerce, wereimsuccessful. The 
exarchate, with the five cities, had alrea- 
dy been presented to the pope by Pepin, 
in 756, and Charlemagne confirmed the 
gift, but the secular supremacy of the 
popes was first completed by Innocent 
III, about the year 1200. 

Leo III, bestowed on the king of the 
Franks, on Christmas day, A. D. 800, 
the imperial crown of the west, which 
needed a Charlemagne to raise it from 
obscurity. But dislike to the Franks, 
whose conquest was viewed as a new in- 
vasion of the barbarians, united the free 
cities, Rome excepted, more closely to 
the eastern empire. Even during the 
life-time of Charlemagne, Prankish Italy 
was given to his grandson Bernard ; who, 
however, having attempted to become in- 
dependent of his uncle, Louis the De- 
bonaire, was deprived of the crown, and 
had his eyes torn out. 

Italy now remained a constituent part 
of the Frankish monarchy, till the parti- 
tion of Verdun, in 843 ; when it was al- 
lotted, with the imperial dignity, and 
what was afterwards termed Lorraine, to 
Lothaire I, eldest son of Louis. Lo- 
thaire left the government to his son 
Louis II, the most estimable of the Ital- 
ian princes of the Carlovingian dynasty. 
After his death, Italy became the apple 
of discord to the whole family. Charles 
the Bald, of France, first took possession 
of it, and after his death, Carloman, king 
of Bavaria, who was succeeded in 880, 
by his brother Charles le Gros, king of 
Suabia, who united the whole Frankish 



monarchy for the last time. His dethrone- 
ment was the epoch of anarchy and civil 
war in Italy. 

The growing wealth of the papal 
court, owing to the munificence of the 
French kings, which had promoted their 
influence in the government, so benefi- 
cial under Leo IV, and popes of a simi- 
lar character, became, through the cor- 
ruption of the Roman court, in the tenth 
century, the first cause of its decline. 
The clergy and people elected the popes 
according to the will of the consuls and 
a few patricians. Alberic of Camerino, 
and his son Octavian, were absolute mas- 
ters of Rome, and the last was pope, un- 
der the name of John XII, when only 
twenty years of age. Otho the Great, 
whom he had crowned emperor in Rome, 
in 962, deposed him, and chose Leo 
VIII in his stead ; but the people, jeal- 
ous of his right of election, chose Bene- 
dict V. From this time, the popes, in- 
stead of ruling the people of Rome, be- 
came dependent on them. In Lower 
Italy, the republics of Naples, Gaeta, 
and Amalfi still defended their indepen- 
dence against the Lombard duchy of 
Benevento, with the more ease, since the 
duchy had been divided between Sicon- 
olphus of Salerno, and Radelghisius of 
Benevento, and subsequently among a 
great number, and since, with the dukes, 
they had a common enemy in the Sara- 
cens, who had been previously invited over 
from Sicily by both parties, as auxilia- 
ries against each other, but who had set- 
tled and maintained themselves in Apu- 
lia. The emperors Louis II and Basi- 
lius Macedo, had, with combined forces, 
broken the power of the Mussulmans ; 
the former was, nevertheless, unable to 
maintain himself in Lower Italy, but the 
Greeks, on the contrary, gained a firmer 
footing, and formed, of the regions taken 
from the Saracens, a separate province, 
called the Thema of Lombardy, which 
continued under their dominion, though 
without prejudice to the liberty of the 
republics, upwards of 100 years, being 
governed by a governor-general, at Bari. 
Otho the Great did not succeed in driving 
them altogether from Italy. The mar- 
riage of his son, Otho II, with the Greek 
princess Theophania, put an end to his 



470 



ITALY. 



exertions for this purpose, as did the un- 
fortunate battle of Basentello, to the simi- 
lar attempts renewed by Otho II. 

In opposition to the designs of the 
count of Tusculum, who wished to sup- 
plant the absent emperor at Rome, a no- 
ble Roman, the consul Crescentius, at- 
tempted to govern Rome under the sem- 
blance of her ancient liberty ; and Otho, 
being occupied with his projects of con- 
quest in Lower Italy, did not interfere 
with this administration, which became 
formidable to the vicious popes, Boniface 
VII, and John XV. But when Otho III, 
who had reigned in Germany since 983, 
raised his kinsman Gregory V to the 
popedom, Crescentius caused the latter 
to be expelled, and John XVI, a Greek, 
to be elected by the people. He also 
endeavored to place Rome again under the 
nominal supremacy of the Byzantine em- 
pire. Otho, however, reinstated Gregory, 
besieged Crescentius in the castle of St. 
Angelo, took him prisoner, and caused 
him to be beheaded with twelve other 
noble Romans. But the Romans again 
threw off their allegiance to the empe- 
ror, and yielded only to force. On the 
death of Otho III, which took place in 
1002, the Italians considered their con- 
nection with the German empire as dis- 
solved. Harduin, marquis of Ivrea, was 
elected king, and crowned at Pavia. 
This was a sufficient motive for Milan, 
the enemy of Pavia, to declare for Henry 
II, of Germany. A civil war ensued, in 
which every city, relying on its walls, 
took a greater or less part. Henry was 
chosen king of Italy, by the nobles as- 
sembled in Pavia ; but disturbances 
arose, in which a part of the city was 
destroyed by fire ; and, not till after Har- 
duin's death, was Henry recognized as 
king by all Lombardy ; he was succeed- 
ed by Conrad II. One of the first acts 
of Conrad was, to make the fiefs heredi- 
tary by a fundamental law of the empire, 
and he endeavored to give stability and 
tranquillity to the state, but without suc- 
cess. The cities (which were daily be- 
coming more powerful) and the bishops 
were engaged in continual quarrels with 
the nobility, and the nobility with their 
vassals, which could not be repressed. 
Republican Rome, under the influence 



of the family of Crescentius, could be 
reduced to obedience neither by kings 
nor by the popes ; for when Henry III, 
son and successor of Conrad, entered 
Italy in 1046, he found three popes in 
Rome, all of whom he deposed, appoint- 
ed in their stead Clement II, and ever 
after filled the papal chair, by his own 
authority, with German ecclesiastics. 
This reform gave the pope new conse- 
quence, which afterward became fatal to 
his successors. During the long minor- 
ity of his son Henry, the policy of the 
popes, directed by Hildebrand, afterwards 
Gregory VII, succeeded in creating an 
opposition, which became formidable to 
the secular power. The Normans also 
contributed to this result. As early as 
1016, warriors from Normandy had es- 
tablished themselves in Calabria and 
Apulia. Allies, sometimes of the Lom- 
bards, sometimes of the republics, some- 
times of the Greeks against each other 
and against the Saracens, they constant- 
ly became more powerful by petty wars ; 
and the great preparations of Leo IX for 
their expulsion terminated in his defeat 
and capture early in 1053. On the other 
hand, Nicolas II united with the Norman 
princes, and, in 1059, invested Robert 
Guiscard with all the territories conquer- 
ed by him in I^ower Italy. From that 
time, the pope, in his conflicts with the 
imperial power, relied on the support of 
his faithful vassal, the duke of Apulia 
and Calabria, to which Sicily was soon 
added. While the small states of the 
south were thus united into one large 
one, the kingdom in the north was dis- 
solving into smaller states. The Lom- 
bard cities were laying the foundation of 
their future importance ; and Venice, 
Genoa, and Pisa, were already powerful. 

In the small republics of the north of 
Italy, the government was, in most cases, 
divided between the consuls, the lesser 
council, the great council, and the popu- 
lar assembly. Petty feuds developed 
their youthful energies. 

Frederic I, of Hohenstaufen, (called 
Barbarossa,) crossed the Alps six times, 
in order to defend his possessions in Italy 
against the republicanism of the Lom- 
bard cities. Embracing the cause of 
Pavia as the weaker, he devastated the 



ITALY, 



471 



territory of Milan, destroyed Tortona, 
and was crowned in Pavia and Rome. 
In 1158, he reduced Milan, demolished 
the fortifications of Piacenza, and held 
a diet at Roncaglia, where he extended 
the imperial prerogatives conformably 
with the Justinian code, gave the cities 
chief magistrates, and proclaimed a gen- 
eral peace. His rigor having excited a 
new rebellion, he reduced Cremona to 
ashes, compelled Milan to submission, 
and, having driven out all the inhabitants, 
demolished the fortifications. When, 
however, the emperor entered Italy, in 
1163, without an army, the cities con- 
cluded a union for maintaining their free- 
dom, which, in 1167, was converted into 
the Lombard confederacy. The confed- 
erates restored Milan, and to hold in 
check the Ghibeline city of Pavia, built 
a new city, called in honor of the pope, 
Alessandria. Neither Frederic's gover- 
nor, Christian, archbishop of Mentz, nor 
he himself, could effect any thing against 
the confederacy; the former failed be- 
fore Ancona, with all the power of Ghi- 
beline Tuscany ; and the latter, with the 
Germans before Alexandria. He was 
also defeated by Legnano, at Milan, in 
1176. He then concluded a concordat 
with Alexander III, and a truce with the 
cities of Venice, and also a peace, which 
secured their independence, at Constance. 
The republics retained foreign noblemen, 
elected by themselves in 1183, as judges 
and generals. As formerly, all were to 
take the oath of fealty and allegiance to 
the emperor. But, instead of strength- 
ening their league into a permanent con- 
federacy, the only safety for Italy, they 
were soon split into new factions, when 
the designs of the Hohenstaufen family 
on the throne of Sicily drew Frederic 
and Henry VI from Lombardy. The 
defeat of the united forces of almost all 
Lombardy on the Oglio, by the inhabi- 
tants of Brescia, though inferior in num- 
bers, is celebrated under the name of 
La mala morte in 1197. 

During the minority of Frederic II, and 
the disputes for the succession to the 
German throne, Innocent III, who was 
Frederic's guardian, succeeded in re-es- 
tablishing the secular authority of the holy 
see in Rome and the surrounding coun- 



try, and in enforcing its claims to the 
donations of Charlemagne and Matilda. 
He also brought over almost all Tuscany, 
except Pisa, to the party of the Guelfs. 
A blind hereditary hatred, rather than a 
zeal for the cause, inspired the parties ; 
for when a Guelf, Otho IV, ascended 
the imperial throne, the Guelfs became 
his party, and the Ghibelines the pope's ; 
but the reversion of the imperial crown 
to the house of Hohenstaufen, in the per- 
son of Frederic II, soon restored the an- 
cient relations. From this period to the 
commencement of the nineteenth centu- 
ry, the history of Italy is but little else 
than a history of petty wars and blood- 
shed, occasioned by the conflicting in- 
terests of popes, prelates, and princes, 
generally disgraceful to all concerned, 
the relation of which would be of little 
interest to the general reader. 

At the peace of Utrecht, Austria ob- 
tained Sardinia and Naples ; Savoy ob- 
tained Sicily, which it exchanged with 
Austria for Sardinia, from which it as- 
sumed the royal title. Mont Genie vre 
was made the boundary between France 
and Italy. The house of Farnese be- 
coming extinct in 1731, the Spanish In- 
fant Charles obtained Parma and Piacen- 
za. In the war for the Polish throne, of 
1733, Charles Emmanuel, of Savoy, in 
alliance with France and Spain, conquer- 
ed the Milanese territory, and received, 
at the peace of Vienna, Novara and Tor- 
tona. Charles, Infant of Spain, became 
king of the two Sicilies, and ceded Parma 
and Piacenza to Austria. The Medici of 
Florence, entitled from 1575, grand dukes 
of Tuscany, became extinct in 1737. Fran- 
cis Stephen, duke of Lorraine, now re- 
ceived Tuscany by the preliminaries of 
Vienna, and, becoming emperor in 1745, 
made it the appanage of the younger line 
of the Austro-Lorraine house. In the war 
of the Austrian succession, the Spaniards 
conquered Milan, but were expelled 
thence by Charles Emmanuel, to whom 
Maria Theresa ceded, in reward, some 
Milanese districts, viz, all of Vigevanas- 
co and Bobbio, and part of Anghiera and 
Pavese. Massa and Carrara fell to Mo- 
dena, in 1743, by right of inheritance. 
The Spanish Infant, don Philip, conquer- 
ed Parma and Piacenza in his own name, 



472 



ITALY, 



lost them, and obtained them again as a 
hereditary duchy, by the peace of Aix-la- 
Chapelle, in 1748. Thus, in the eight- 
eenth centurj', the houses of Lorraine, 
Bourbon, and Savoy, possessed all Italy, 
with the exception of the ecclesiastical 
territories, Modena and the republics, 
which, like a superannuated man, beheld 
with apathy operations in which they 
had no share. 

In September, 1792, the French troops 
first penetrated into Savoy, and planted 
the tree of liberty. Though expelled 
for some time, in 1793, by the Piedmon- 
tese and Austrians, they held it at the 
end of the year. The national conven- 
tion had already declared war against 
Naples; and, in April, 1794, the French 
advanced into the Piedmontese and Ge- 
noese territories, but were expelled from 
Italy in July, 1795, by the Austrians, 
Sardinians, and Neapolitans. In 1796, 
Napoleon Bonaparte received the chief 
command of the French army in Italy. 
He forced the king of Sardinia to con- 
clude a treaty of peace, by which the 
latter Avas obliged to cede Nice and Sa- 
voy to France ; conquered Austrian Lom- 
bardy, with the exception of Mantua ; 
put the duke of Parma and the pope un- 
der contribution ; and struck such con- 
sternation into the king of Naples that 
he sued for peace. 

After Mantua had also fallen, in 1797, 
Bonaparte formed of Milan, Mantua, the 
portion of Parma, north of the Po, and 
Modena, the Cisalpine republic. France 
likewise made war on the pope, and an- 
nexed Bologna, Ferrara, and Romagna, 
to the Cisalpine republic, by the peace 
of Tolentino. The French then advan- 
ced towards Rome, overthrew the eccle- 
siastical government, and erected a Ro- 
man republic. In Genoa, Bonaparte oc- 
casioned a revolution, by which a demo- 
cratic republic was formed after the model 
of the French, under the name of the 
Ligurian republic. The French had, 
meanwhile, penetrated into Austria, 
through the Venetian territory. The 
Venetians now made common cause with 
the brave Tyrolese, who gained advan- 
tages over the French in the Alps. Bo- 
naparte, therefore, occupied Venice with- 
out striking a blow, and gave the repub- 



lic a democratic constitution ; but by the 
peace of Campo-Formio, which took 
place on the 17th of October, 1797, the 
Venetian territory, as far as the Adige, 
was relinquished to Austria, and the rest 
incorporated with the Cisalpine republic. 
The king of Sardinia concluded a treaty 
of alliance and subsidy with France, 
October 25 ; but, in 1798, the directory, 
assailed in Rome from Naples, deemed 
it expedient to compel him to resign his 
territories on the main land. Notwith- 
standing its treaty of amity with France, 
Naples concluded an alliance, in 1798, 
with England and Russia. The French, 
therefore, occupied Naples, and erected 
there the Parthenopean republic. The 
grand duke of Tuscany had likewise 
formed an alliance with Naples and Eng- 
land, afnd his country was, in return, 
compelled by the French to receive, like 
Piedmont, a military administration. 

After the congress of Rastadt was 
broken off, Austria and the German em- 
pire, under Russian support, renewed the 
war against the French, who again left 
Naples and Rome to the English, Rus- 
sians, and Turks. The king and the 
pope returned to their capitals in Lom- 
bardy ; the French were defeated by the 
Austrians, under Kray and Melas, and by 
the Russians under Suwarroff, and lost 
all their fortresses, except Genoa, where 
Massena sustained a vigorous siege, 
while his countrymen had to evacuate all 
Italy. But, in the meanwhile, Bonaparte 
was made first consul after his return 
from Egypt. He marched with a new 
army to Italy, defeated the Austrians at 
the memorable battle of Marengo, and 
compelled them to a capitulation, by 
which all the Italian fortresses were 
again evacuated. By the peace of Lune- 
ville, February 9, 1801, the possession 
of Venice was confirmed to Austria, 
which was to indemnify the duke of Mo- 
dena, by the cession of Brisgau. The 
duke of Parma received Tuscany, and 
afterwards, from Bonaparte, the title of 
king of Etruria. Parma was united with 
France. The Cisalpine and Ligurian 
republics were guaranteed by Austria and 
France, and with the Ligurian territories 
were united the imperial fiefs included 
within their limits. The king of Na- 



ITALY 



473 



pies, who had occupied the States of the 
Church, was obliged to conchide peace 
at Florence, by Russian mediation, he 
escaped with the cession of Piombino, 
the Stato degli Presidj, and his half of 
the island of Elba, together with the pro- 
mise of closing his harbors against the 
English. The other half of Elba Tus- 
cany had already relinquished to France. 
But the whole island was obstinately de- 
fended by the English and Corsicans, 
with the armed inhabitants, and not eva- 
cuated till autumn. France ceded the 
Stato degli Presidj to Etruria, Septem- 
ber 19, but strong detachments of French 
troops remained both in Naples and Tus- 
cany, and their support cost immense 
sums. To the republics of Genoa and 
Lucca the first consul gave new consti- 
tutions in 1801. But in January, 1802, 
the Cisalpine republic was transformed 
into the Italian republic, in imitation of the 
new French constitution, and Bonaparte 
became president. Genoa also received 
a new constitution, and Girolamo Du- 
razzo for doge. Piedmont, however, 
was united Avith France. After Bona- 
parte had become emperor, in 1804, he 
attached, on the 17th of March, 1805, 
the royal crown of Italy to the new im- 
perial crown ; he promised, however, 
never to unite the new monarchy with 
France, and even to give it a king of its 
own. The new constitution was similar 
to that of the French empire. Napoleon 
founded the order of the iron crown, and, 
having placed the crown on his own 
head at Milan, he appointed his step-son, 
Eugene Beauharnois, viceroy of Italy, 
who labored with great zeal for the im- 
provement of all branches of the govern- 
ment, of industry and the arts. 

Circumstances, however, rendered this 
new government oppressive, as the pub- 
lic expenses, during peace, amounted to 
100,000,000 francs, which were all to be 
contributed by less than 4,000,000 peo- 
ple. No European power recognised, 
expressly, the Italian kingdom of Napo- 
leon. The emperor continued to strength- 
en his power against the active enemies 
of the new order of things, and gave to 
his sister Eliza the principality of Piom- 
bino, and to her husband, Pasquale Bac- 
ciocchi, the republic of Lucca, as a prin- 
60 



cipality, both as French fiefs. Parma, 
Piacenza, and Guastalla were incorpora- 
ted with the French empire, July 21st, 
and the pope was obliged to sanction the 
imperial coronation by his presence. 

One of the great improvements which 
took place during the sovereignty of Na- 
poleon in Italy, was the cutting of the 
celebrated pass of the Simplon. It was 
performed at the joint expense of France 
and Italy, and was a work of great diffi- 
culty, occupying several years in its 
execution. 

Austria having acceded to the alliance 
of Russia and England against France. 
Naples, also, again suffered the English 
and Russians to land. But the success 
of the Austrian arms was frustrated by 
the defeats at Ulm and Austerlitz, after 
which the peace of Presburg completed 
the French supremacy in Italy. Austrian 
Venice, with Istria and Dalmatia, was 
united to the kingdom of Italy ; and, 
with all the French institutions, was re- 
cognized by the people. The kingdom 
had now an extent of 35,450 square miles, 
with 5,657,000 inhabitants. Naples was 
evacuated by its auxiliaries, and occupied 
by the French, notwithstanding the at- 
tempts of the queen to excite a universal 
insurrection, and Napoleon gave the 
crown of Naples to his brother Joseph. 
In 1808, the widow of the king of Etru- 
ria, who conducted the regency in behalf 
of her son, was deprived of her kingdom, 
which was united with France. Napo- 
leon, moreover, appointed his brother-in- 
law, the prince Borghese, govenor gene- 
ral of the departments beyond the Alps 
who took up his residence at Turin. As 
Napoleon had, meanwhile, given his broth- 
er Joseph the crown of Spain, he filled 
the throne of Naples with his broth- 
er-in-law Joachim Murat, who entered 
Naples on the 6th of September, 1808. 
In 1809, the emperor gave Tuscany to 
his sister Eliza, of Piombino, with the 
title of grand-duchess. In the same 
year, Austria made new exertions to 
break the excessive power of France ; 
but Napoleon again drove her troops from 
the field, and appeared once more victo- 
rious in Vienna, where he proclaimed the 
end of the secular authority of the popes, 
and the union of the states of the Church 



474 



ITALY. 




Execution of Murat. 



with France. Rome became the second 
city of the empire, and a pension of 
2,000,000 of francs was assijapied to the 
pope. After the peace of Vienna, by 
which Napoleon acquired the Illyrian 
provinces, Istria and Dahiiatia were 
separated from the kingdom of Italy and 
attached to them. On the other hand, 
Bavaria ceded to Italy the circle of the 
Adige, a part of Eisach, and the jurisdic- 
tion of Clausen. The power of the 
French emperor was now, to all appear- 
ance, as firmly established in Italy as in 
the rest of Europe. 

While the Italian people were support- 
ing French armies, sacrificing their own 
troops in the ambitious wars of Napoleon 
in remote regions, and were obliged to 
pay heavy taxes in the midst of the total 
ruin of their commerce, all the periodicals 
were full of praises of the institutions for 
the encouragement of science, arts and 
industry in Italy. After the fatal retreat 
from Russia, Murat, whom Napoleon had 
personally oflended, deserted the cause 
of France, and joined Austria in 1814, 
whose troops penetrated into Italy, imder 
Bellegarde. The viceroy, Eugene, con- 
tinued true to Napoleon and his own 
character, and offered to the enemies of 



his dynasty the boldest resistance, which 
was frustrated by the fall of Napoleon in 
France. After the truce of April 21, 1814, 
the French troops evacuated all Italy, 
and most of the provinces were restored 
to their legitimate sovereigns. The wife 
of Napoleon, however, the empress Ma- 
ria Louisa, obtained the duchies of Par- 
ma, Piacenza, and Guastalla, with rever- 
sion to her son ; and Napoleon himself 
became sovereign of Elba, of which he 
took possession. But, before the con- 
gress of Vienna had organized the politi- 
cal relations of Europe, he effected his 
return to France, March 1, 1815. At 
the same time, the king of Naples, Murat, 
abandoned his former ambiguous attitude, 
and took up arms, as he pretended, for 
the independence of Italy. But his ap- 
peal to the Italians was answered by a 
declaration of war by Austria. Driven 
from Bologna by the Austrian forces, and 
totally defeated by Bianchi Tolentino, he 
lost the kingdom of Naples, into which 
the Austrian general Nugent had pene- 
trated from Rome, and Bianchi from 
Aquili, seven weeks after the opening of 
the campaign. He embarked from Na- 
ples, with a view of escaping to France. 
Ferdinand IV, returned from Palermo, 



ITALY. 



475 



and Murat's family found an asylum in 
Austria. Murat himself made a descent 
in Calabria from Corsica in order to re- 
cover his lost kingdom. He was taken 
prisoner at Pizzo, brought before a court 
martial, and shot, Oct. 13, 1815. 

If the downfall of Napoleon is regretted 
in any quarter of the world it is in Italy. 
This country, which, to the misfortime of 
Germany — that of being split into petty 
divisions, and convulsed by civil dissen- 
sions, for centuries — adds the further 
misfortune of obeying foreign princes, 
had become destitute of every element of 
national life. Its commerce was fettered 
by the numerous political divisions ; its 
administration poisoned and vitiated to a 
degree of, which none can have an idea, 
except an eye-witness ; the cultivators of 
the ground impoverished by the heavy 
rents which they had to pay to the rich 
land-owners ; science enslaved by the 
sway of the clergy ; the noblemen, dis- 
trusted by the foreign governments, where 
they existed, and not admitted to any 
offices of great importance, had lost en- 
ergy and activity; in fact, hardly any 
thing could be said to flourish, with the 
exception of music, and, to a certain de- 
gree, the other fine arts. Under Napo- 
leon every thing was changed. Italian 
armies were created, which gave birth to 
a sense of military honor among the peo- 
ple ; the organization of the judicial 
tribunals was improved, and justice much 
better administered ; industry was awa- 
kened and encouraged ; schools received 
new attention, and the sciences were con- 
centrated in large and effective learned 
societies ; in short, a new life was awa- 
kened, and no Italian, who wishes well 
to his country, can read without deep in- 
terest the passage in Las Cases' Memo- 
rial, in which Napoleon's views on that 
country are given. His prophecy, that 
Italy will one day be united, we hope 
will be fulfilled. Union has been the ar- 
dent wish of reflecting Italians for centu- 
ries, and the want of it is the great cause 
of the sulfering of this beautiful but un- 
fortunate country. 

The congress of Vienna, by the act of 
June 9, 1815, had arranged the affairs of 
Italy in the following manner : — 

1. The king of Sardinia was reinstated 



in his territories, according to the boun- 
daries of 1792, with some alterations on 
the side of Geneva; for the portion of 
Savoy, left in the possession of France 
by the peace of Paris, of May 30, 1814, 
was restored by the treaty of Paris of 
Nov. 20, 1815. To his states was uni- 
ted Genoa, as a duchy, according to the 
boundaries of that republic in 1792, and 
contrary to the promises made to Ge- 
noa. 

2. The emperor of Austria united with 
his hereditary states the new Lombardo- 
Venitian kingdom, consisting of the Ve- 
nitian provinces formerly belonging to 
Austria, the Valteline, Bonnio, and Chia- 
venna, separated from the Grisons, be- 
sides Mantua and Milan. Istria, however, 
was united with the Germanic-Austrian 
kingdom of Illyria ; Dahnatia, with Ra- 
gusa and Cattaro, constituting a distinct 
Austrian kingdom. 

3. The valley of the Po was adopted 
as the boundary between the states of 
the Church and Parma. The Austrian 
house of Este again received Modena, 
Reggio, Mirandola, Massa, and Carrara. 

4. The empress Maria Louisa received 
the state of Parma, as a sovereign duchess, 
but, by the treaty of Paris, June 10, 1817, 
only for life, it being agreed that the 
duchess of Lucca and her descendants 
should inherit it. Lucca, in that case, 
falls to the Tuscan dynasty, which, in re- 
turn, was to have resigned its districts in 
Bohemia to the duke of Reichstadt, now 
dead. 

5. The archduke Ferdinand of Aus- 
tria, became again grand-duke of Tus- 
cany, to which were joined the Stato 
degli Presidj,the formerNeapolitanpartof 
the island of Elba, the principality of Pi- 
ombino, and some small included districts, 
formerly fiefs of the German empire. 
The prince Buoncompagni Ludovisi re- 
tained all his rights of property in Elba 
and Piombino. 

6. The infanta, Maria Louisa, received 
Lucca, of which she took possession as 
a sovereign duchy, in 1817, with an an- 
nuity of 500,000 francs, till the reversion 
of Parma. 

7. The territories of the Church were 
all restored, with the exception of a strip 
of land on the left bank of the Po ; and 



476 



ITALY. 



Austria retained the right of maintaining 
garrisons in Ferrara and Commachio. 

8. Ferdinand IV was again recognised 
as king of the Two Sicilies. England 
retained Malta, and was declared the 
protectress of the United Ionian Islands. 
The knights of Malta, who had recovered 
their possessions in the Slates of the 
Church, and in the kingdom of the Two 
Sicilies, for a time made Catanea, and, 
after 1826, Ferrara, their residence. The 
republic of San Marino, and the prince 
of Monaco, whose mountain fortress the 
Sardinians, and them, the French occu- 
pied, alone remained unharmed amid the 
fifteen political revolutions which Italy- 
had undergone in the course of twenty- 
five years. The Austrian predominance 
was thus more firmly established than 
ever in Italy. 

Meanwhile, the desire of union and 
independence was not extinguished among 
the people of Italy. Traces of a struggle 
for a united and liberal government were 
almost every where visible ; and several 
of the governments, Naples, Rome, and 
Turin, in particular, in vain endeavored 
to protect themselves against secret po- 
litical societies and freemasonry by in- 
quisitorial tribunals, Jesuits, and secret 
police. The fate of this delightful coun- 
try has employed, during the last seven 
years, the cabinets of the first powers of 
Europe, according to the system of mo- 
dern policy founded by the holy alliance, 
and more precisely defined by the con- 
gress of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1818. While 
the spirit of carbonarism, excited by the 
Spanish revolution of January 1, 1820, 
and having for its object the union of 
Italy under one government, and its in- 
dependence of foreign powers, particu- 
larly of Austria, threatened to subvert the 
political institutions of the peninsula in 
in general, and of the single states in par- 
ticular, and in some places, especially in 
Naples, Sicily, and Piedmont, actually 
shook them, by rousing the troops to re- 
volt, and by exciting popular commotions, 
the cabinets labored with equal zeal to 
maintain the principle of stability by the 
suppression of every revolution, and by 
opposing to the popular spirit, the power 
of the police. Thus was a question, 
fraught with the most momentous conse- 



quences for all Europe, practically de- 
cided in Italy, viz, whether one state is 
entitled to interfere in the internal afl'airs 
of another, and overthrow, by force of 
arms, any new constitution which mili- 
tates against the absolute monarchical 
principle. This principle, which was 
proclaimed unconditionally by the leading 
states of the continent, and by Great 
Britain under the supposition of particu- 
lar circumstances threatening imminent 
danger to the neighboring state, resulted 
in Austria (as the nearest interested 
power, which had prevented the introduc- 
tion of the representative system into 
Italy, in 1815,) restoring by force of 
arms, the ancient prerogatives of the 
royal authority in Naples, Sicily, and 
Piedmont, after obtaining the assent of 
the other four leading powers, which had 
been closely allied since 1818, and also 
of the Italian sovereigns, who participa- 
ted at the congress of Laybach, in the 
discussions respecting the affairs of Italy. 
Thus this power not only secured its own 
Italian provinces from the operation of 
liberal principles, but established its po- 
sition as the guardian of the principle of 
stability and absolute monarchy in Italy. 
All this was efiected by a war of four 
days with the revolutionary army of the 
carbonari of Naples, from the 7th to the 
10th of March, 1821, and by a war of 
three days with the federal party of Pied- 
mont, from the 7th to the 9th of April, 
1821 ; so that Russia had no occasion to 
permit its army of 100,000 men, already 
put in motion, to advance against the 
Italian nations. 

The eflbrts of the most intelligent 
Italians, from the time of Macchiavelli 
and Caesar Borgia, son of pope Alexan- 
der VI, to restore the political unity of 
their native country, gave rise to the nu- 
merous secret political societies in Italy, 
who labored to produce a general outbreak 
of insurrection in Italy, in order to surround 
the Austrian army on its advance against 
Naples. Even the advocates of the il- 
liberal system, or the theocratic faction, as 
it was termed, which likewise pursued 
its object in secret societies, took advan- 
tage of the national desire of greater uni- 
ty in Italy. It was therefore natural that 
the idea of connecting the Italian states 



ITALY. 



477 



in a political system similar to the Ger- 
manic confederation should have been 
agitated by the statesmen of the congress ; 
but it seems to have been entirely given 
up, and Italy was left in the hands of 
Austria. On the other hand, measures 
were adopted, by all the Italian states, to 
extirpate the liberal spirit which, propa- 
gating itself under a perpetual variety of 
new forms, had not ceased in the year 
1825, in the June of which year a con- 
spiracy was detected at Rome, to pursue 
its ancient object of uniting all the Italian 
states into one confederacy as a republic 
or constitutional monarchy, and freeing 
them from foreign influence. This dis- 
play of revolutionary spirit is nothing new 
in the history of Italy. The middle ages, 
that golden period of absolute power, ex- 
hibit there an almost uninterrupted series 
of such political conspiracies, republican 
schemes and destructive convulsions, be- 
cause Italy has never yet been permitted 
to be politically a nation, and to adopt a 
form required by its wants and its rights. 
One leading measure was, to occupy 
for some years the kingdom of the Two 
Sicilies and Piedmont, (in which the old 
troops were disbanded), at the expense 
of these states, with Austrian armies, 
which had restored the former state of 
things. This was done conformably with 
the treaties between Austria and king 
Ferdinand, and the king of Sardinia, on 
the 24th of July, 1821. But, in compU- 
ance with the decrees of Verona, the 
Austrian troops, 12,000 in number, were 
gradually removed from Piedmont, and the 
fortress of Alexandria was surrendered, | 
September 30, 1823, to Sardinian troops. 
In the same year, after a new Neapolitan 
army had been organized in Naples, the 
Austrian garrison, of 42,000 men, was 
diminished about 17,000, and, in Sicily, 
only the citadel of Palermo continued to 
be occupied by Austrian troops. The 
last detachment left the kingdom in 1827. 
The influence of Austria on the internal 
administration was, however, still felt. 
The police of each state adopted the 
strictest measures for maintaining internal 
tranquillity. Secret societies were strict- 
ly prohibited ; tribunals were erected, 
and, in Naples, supported by moveable 
columns, to punish the authors of revolu- 



tions ; executions, proscription and ban- 
ishment ensued. 

In September, 1821, the pope excom- 
municated the sect of Carbonari and all 
similar associations, as branches of the 
long-prohibited freemasons ; but in the 
Roman state, Tuscany, Parma and Luc- 
ca, no punishments were inflicted for 
participation in former political societies. 
In general, the papal government, under 
the direction of the cardinal Gonsalvi, 
was distinguished from the others for 
conciliatory measures, and for moderation 
in establishing internal tranquillity. The 
influence of the apostolic see on the states 
convulsed by revolutions was thus, in 
some degree, increased. The press, uni- 
versities and schools were, in particular, 
closely watched. In the kingdom of the 
Two Sicilies, and in Piedmont, strict 
measures were taken for the purification 
and discipline of the literary institutions ; 
the Jesuits were restored, and rendered 
influential in the education of youth, by 
having committed to them at Rome and 
other places, the schools, colleges and 
oratories, which they had before conduct- 
ed. On the other hand, numerous ban- 
ditti disturbed the public security, espe- 
cially in Naples and the states of the 
church. One of them got in their power, 
an Austrian colonel, for whose liberation 
they had the audacity to demand 40,000 
Roman dollars ; but they released him 
on seeing themselves surrounded by Aus- 
trian troops. 

Some notion of the demoralized state 
of this country may be conveyed by the 
fact, that in January, 1824, according to 
the Diario di Roma, a large band of youths 
was discovered in Italy, who had run 
away from their parents, organized them- 
selves into companies, and subsisted by 
frauds and robbery. 

The political character of the Two 
Sicilies entirely changed on the acces- 
sion of Francis I. This event took place 
in 1825, and the almost immediate result 
was, a general restoration of order and 
peace. The estates of the church are 
difl'erently situated, as the whole country 
is so sadly misgoverned, that nothing but 
the influence of Austrian bayonets serves 
to keep the people in order. 

Italy depends almost solely on its agri- 



478 



MEXICO. 



culture for subsistence ; the sources from 
which it formerly drew its support, the 
arts, manufactures, and commerce, being 
ahnost dried up. Commerce with foreign 
countries, which, in Naples especially, is 
altogether stagnant, is, for the most part, 
in the hands of foreigners, and, in a great 
measure, dependent on the British ; 
thence the universal want of specie, the 
financial embarrassments of the govern- 
ments, and the loans negotiated with 
Rothschild. Italy no longer lives, as 
formerly, on her cities, but on her soil. 
And even this source of prosperity main- 



tains but a feeble existence, while taxes 
and tariffs impede the exportation of the 
staple production to foreign countries, or 
bands of banditti and the want of good 
roads obstruct internal intercourse, as in 
Sicily and Calabria. The natural advan- 
tages of Italy entitle her to the highest 
rank in agriculture, commerce, and the 
arts ; but all branches of industry groan 
under political oppression. The govern- 
ment and people look on each other with 
jealousy and hate, and the ecclesiastical 
establishment poisons the springs of na- 
tional activity. 



MEXICO 



The mighty kingdom of the Incas 
which originally bore this name extended 
considerably beyond the present bounda- 
ries of the republic. The origin of the na- 
tions on the eastern continent is obscure, 
that of the inhabitants of the western 
continent, however, is much more so ; 
and, indeed, till within a very few years 
the history of the American nations, till 
the arrival of the Spaniards, has been 
either treated as fabulous, or very slightly 
touched upon by historians. By the in- 
dustry of the abbe Francesco Clavigero, 
we have been furnished with an account 
of the ancient kingdoms just enumerated; 
more full and effective than could have 
been expected, considering the difficulty 
there must have been of procuring ma- 
terials. 

According to Clavigero, it is undenia- 
ble that Mexico was first peopled from 
the more northerly parts of the continent, 
which for many ages had been filled with 
inhabitants. It has been supposed, from 
the traditions of the natives, and the dis- 
covery of very large human skeletons in 
many parts of South America, that this 
country was first inhabited by giants ; but 
though similar conjectures and discover- 
ies have been made in other countries, 
we are by no means warranted from 
thence to conclude that the whole human 
race vi^ere formerly of an immense size ; 
it being most probable that the gigantic 



race were but a few individuals who lived 
at different times and in difTerent nations. 
The Toltecans are the most ancient 
Mexican nation of which we have any 
account. They were expelled from their 
own country (supposed by Clavigero to 
have been Tollan, to the northward of 
Mexico) in the year 472 ; and for some 
time led a migratory and wandering life. 
In whatever place they determined to 
reside for a considerable time, they erect- 
ed houses and cultivated the ground. — 
Thus their migrations were extremely 
slow, and it was not until 1 04 years after 
they first set out that they reached a 
place about fifty miles to the eastward of 
the city of Mexico, where they settled 
for about twenty years, giving to their 
new place of residence the name of Tol- 
lantzinco. From thence they proceeded 
about forty miles farther to the west, 
where they built a city called from the 
name of the country, Tollan, or Tula. 
The Toltecans, during their journeys, 
were conducted by a number of chiefs, 
who, by the time they arrived at Tollant- 
zinco, were reduced to seven, and, after 
their final settlement, the government was 
changed into a monarchy, but by what 
means, or on what account, we are not 
told. Their first king began his reign 
in 667, and their monarchy lasted 384 
years, during which time they reckon 
just eight princes. 



MEXICO. 



479 



It was a custom among them that the 
name of the king should be continued for 
fifty-two years, and no longer, from the 
time he ascended the throne. If he died 
within that period, the government was 
carried on in his name by a regency ; if 
he survived, he was obliged to resign his 
authority. During the four centuries that 
the Toltecan monarchy continued, they 
increased considerably, and built several 
cities ; but when at the height of its pros- 
perity, almost the whole nation was de- 
stroyed by famine occasioned by drought ; 
and a pestilence, probably the conse- 
quence of the former. The surviving 
Toltecans dispersed themselves among 
the surrounding nations, where they were 
well received, on account of their supe- 
rior knowledge and civilization. They 
were succeeded by the Chichemecas, a 
less civilized people, who came from an 
unknown country called Amaquemecan, 
where they had long resided ; but of 
which no traces or remembrance can be 
found among any of the American nations, 
so that Clavigero supposed it nmst have 
been very far to the northward. The 
Chichemecas became afterwards united 
with the Toltecans and others, and from 
them descended the Montezumean kings. 

In 1352, that portion of the continent 
in the immediate neighborhood of the 
Mexican government, was changed from 
an aristocracy of powerful chiefs to a 
despotic monarchy ; but the limits of this 
article will not permit us to trace the his- 
tory of the various kings who ascended 
the throne between this period and the 
time of the great Mexican monarch Mon- 
tezuma, who began his reign in 1436. 
Previous to his coronation, in order to 
comply with the sanguinary rites of his 
religion, Montezuma made war upon the 
Chalcese, that he might procure the 
prisoners who were to be sacrificed at 
his coronation ; and scarce was this cer- 
emony over than a new war commenced, 
which terminated in the destruction of 
that city. This quarrel happened be- 
tween the Chalcese and the Tezcucans. 
Two of the royal princes of Tezcuco hav- 
ing gone a hunting on the mountains 
which overlook the plain of Chalco, while 
employed in the chase, and separated from 
their retinue, with only three Mexican 



lords, fell in with a troop of Chalcese 
soldiers, who carried them as prisoners 
to Chalco, where they were all instantly 
put to death. The king of Tezcuco, 
overwhelmed with grief at this event, 
called for the assistance of the allied 
kings. The city was attacked at once 
by land and water, and its inhabitants, 
knowing that they had no mercy to ex- 
pect, fought like men in despair, not- 
withstanding which they were totally 
defeated, and the most severe vengeance 
executed upon them. 

During the reign of Montezuma, a vio- 
lent inundation happened in Mexico. — 
The lake, swelled by the excessive rains 
which fell in the year 1446, poured its 
waters into the city with so much vio- 
lence, that many houses were destroyed, 
and the streets inundated to such a de- 
gree, that boats were every where made 
use of To prevent accidents of this 
kind for the future, Montezuma construct- 
ed a great dyke nine miles in length, 
consisting of two parallel lines of pali- 
sades, the interval betwixt which Avas 
filled up with stones and sand. The 
greatest difficulty in the construction lay 
in being obliged occasionally to work in 
the lake itself, which in some places 
was of considerable depth ; but this was 
surmounted by the skill and perseverance 
of the workmen. The dyke, when con- 
structed, proved of great service in keep- 
ing out the waters, though it did not en- 
tirely remedy the evil. 

The inundation was followed by a 
famine. This was occasioned by the 
failure of the crop of maize in 1448 ; the 
ears while young and tender being de- 
stroyed by frost. In 1450 the crop was 
totally lost for want of water ; and in 1451, 
besides the unfavorable seasons, there 
was a scarcity of seed. Hence, in 1452, 
the necessities of the people became so 
great, that they were obliged to sell 
themselves for slaves in order to procure 
subsistence. 

The king opened the public granaries 
for the relief of the lower classes ; but 
nothing was able to stop the progress of 
the famine. Many who went for relief 
to other countries perished with hunger 
on their journey ; and great numbers 
who sold themselves for slaves never 



480 



MEXICO. 



returned to their native country. Most 
of the populace supported themselves, 
like their ancestors, on the produce of 
the lake, until all their distresses were 
relieved by a most plentiful harvest in the 
year 1454. 

Montezuma was succeeded by Axaya- 
catl, who, like his predecessor, instantly 
commenced a Avar, for no other reason 
than that he •might have prisoners to 
sacrifice at his coronation. The people 
whom he now attacked inhabited the 
province of Tecuantepec on the coast of 
the Pacific Ocean, and situated at 400 
miles distance from the city of Mexico. 
A desperate battle ensued on this occa- 
sion, in which, however, the Mexicans 
at last prevailed ; and, besides dooming 
to destruction those whom they carried 
off, acquired a considerable spoil, as well 
as a tract of territory extending to Coa- 
tulco, a maritime place much frequented 
in the next century by the Spaniards. 

Axayacatl pursued Montezuma's plan 
of conquest, in which, however, he was 
less successful, many of the provinces 
reduced by that monarch having revolted 
after his death, so that it was necessary 
to re-conquer them. On his returning 
successful from one of these expeditions, 
he built a new temple, to which he gave 
the name of Coatulon ; but the Tlatelolcos, 
whose ancient rivalship seems to have 
revived on the death of Montezuma, built 
another in opposition, which they called 
Coaxolotl. Thus the former hatred be- 
tween the two nations was renewed, and 
a discord took place, which ended in the 
ruin of the Tlatelolcos. 

The Mexicans sustained an irreparable 
loss, in 1469 and 1470, by the death of 
their allies the kings of Tacuba and 
Acolhuacan ; for though the league 
which had been concluded bebiveen the 
three nations continued without any Ado- 
lation till the arrival of the Spaniards, we 
cannot suppose that any of the successors 
of the Tacuban and Acolhuacan princes 
would have the same cordial affection 
for those of Mexico Avhich was enter- 
tained by those who lay under such great 
obligations to Montezuma. The king of 
Tacuba Avas succeeded by his son Chi- 1 
malpopoca, and the Acolhuacan monarch i 
by his son Nezahualpilli. A short time j 



after the accession of the latter, the war 
broke out between the Tlatelolcos and 
Mexicans, which ended in the destruction 
of the former. 

Axayacatl continued to extend his ter- 
ritories to the east and Avest, till his pro- 
gress was stopped by death in 1477. — 
He Avas succeeded by his elder brother 
Tizoc ; of whose reign we know little, 
but that he conquered fourteen cities, 
some of which had been in rebellion. 
Ahuitzot],the brother of Tizoc, succeeded 
him in the kingdom of Mexico. His life 
was a continued series of wars, in all of 
which he proved ultimately successful, 
extending the Mexican dominions as far 
as Guatimala, 900 miles to the south-east 
of Mexico, and in only one expedition 
were the Mexicans defeated Avith dis- 
grace. 

At the time of Ahuitzotl's death, the 
Mexican empire was brought to its high- 
est grandeur. His successor, Montezuma 
Xocojotzin, or Montezuma Junior, Avas a 
person of great bravery, besides Avhich 
he was likewise a priest, and held in 
great estimation on account of his wisdom 
and the dignity of his deportment. His 
election was unanimous ; and the nobles 
congratulated themselves on the happi- 
ness the country was to enjoy under him, 
little thinking hoAv short the duration of 
their happiness or of their empire was 
to be. 

The reign of Montezuma, even before 
the arrival of the Spaniards, was far from 
being so glorious in war as those of his 
predecessors had been. He reduced 
indeed one rebellious province, and con- 
quered another which had never before 
been subjugated; but in his war Avith 
Tlascala he was by no means successful. 
This was but a small republic, at no great 
distance from the capital, but the inhabi- 
tants were remarkable for their bravery 
and independent spirit. The neighboring 
states, however, Avho had been reduced 
by the Mexicans, envious of their liberty 
and prosperity, exasperated the Mexicans 
against them, by representing that the 
Tlascalans were desirous of making 
themselves masters of the maritime pro- 
vinces on the Mexican Gulf, and that by 
their commerce with these provinces they 
were increasing their wealth and power, 



MEXICO. 



481 



and gaining the hearts of the people with 
whom they were to traffic. In conse- 
quence of this representation, strong gar- 
risons were placed on the frontiers of 
Tlascala, to obstruct the commerce of 
the inhabitants, and thus to deprive them 
of the means of obtaining some of the 
necessaries of life. The Tlascalans 
complained ; but received no other an- 
swer than that the king of Mexico was 
lord of all the world, and that the Tlasca- 
lans must submit and pay tribute to him. 
The Tlascalans returned a spirited an- 
swer to this speech, and began to fortify 
their frontier; and so well did they de- 
fend themselves, that though they were 
frequently attacked by the neighboring 
states in alliance with Mexico, or subject 
to it, not one of them was able to wrest 
a foot of ground from them. A continual 
series of wars and engagements took 
place between the states of Mexico and 
this republic, which continued till the 
arrival of the Spaniards. 

The West India Islands had been dis- 
covered by Columbus, in 1492; he had 
made frequent voyages, and had even 
discovered the continent. Settlements 
had been made ; the Spaniards had 
shown their prowess and their cruelty; 
and their is no doubt, but that many of 
the islanders quitted their habitations to 
escape the fury of the invaders. It would 
naturally occur to these fugitives, that 
the arms of these new comers could not 
be resisted by those of the western na- 
tions, while their relentless cruelty might 
easily suggest that they would destroy 
all before them. From the year 1492, 
therefore, to 1508, there was time enough 
for this report to have reached Mexico ; 
and we can only attribute it to the barbar- 
ous state of ignorance in which the Amer- 
icans were, that the Spaniards were not 
perfectly known and described before 
their arrival. 

The Spaniards having at length estab- 
lished themselves in the island of Cuba 
and Hispaniola, numbers of adventurers 
now prepared expeditions to the conti- 
nent also, with a view to extend the do- 
minions of their sovereign, and to satiate, 
if possible, their own appetites for wealth. 

Mexico itself was first discovered, 
though imperfectly, by a Spaniard named 
61 



Nunez de Balboa ; but in 1518, the con- 
quest of it was undertaken by a celebrated 
adventurer named Ferdinando Cortes. 

The Spaniards had no sooner gained 
a competent knowledge of the nature of 
the extent and government of the kingdom 
of Mexico, than they formed the resolu- 
tion of conquering it, partly by force of 
arms, and partly by stratagem. They 
obtained powerful supplies from Spain, 
and after having overcome the almost 
insurmountable difficulties attendant on 
so bold an undertaking, they finally took 
possession of the Mexican empire ; but 
not till they had broken down the ancient 
land marks, destroyed the cities, and 
almost exterminated the ancient posses- 
sors of the soil. From that period up to 
the time of the late revolutionary struggle, 
the powerful kingdom of the Incas re- 
mained in the hands of the victorious 
Spaniards. They have, however, been 
compelled to render up their ill-gotten 
territories, and are now expelled from 
the land over which they had so long 
ruled with an iron sway. 

But few of the aborigines still remain, 
as the natives were nearly exterminated 
by the Spaniards. The gold mines, 
which had first tempted the cupidity of 
their invaders, swallowed up nearly all 
those who inhabited the metalliferous 
districts, and though they are still found 
in the neighborhood of large cities, they 
are only employed in the humblest me- 
nial capacity. 

Under the government of Spain, Mex- 
ico was one of the four great vice-royal- 
ties of Spanish America. The viceroy 
was endowed with all the prerogatives 
of the king. The only checks upon him 
were the residencia, or investigation into 
his conduct on his return home, and the 
audiencia, composed of Europeans, and 
of which he was himself president. The 
recopilacion de las leyes de las Indias 
was the name given to the heterogeneous 
mass of decrees by which the colonies 
were governed. Special fueros, or priv- 
ileges, were conferred on different pro- 
fessional and corporate bodies, which 
rendered the confusion complete. All 
the higher officers, in church and state, 
were Europeans. A system of dilapida- 
tion, beginning with the chiefs, extended 



482 



MEXICO. 



through all the offices of government, and ' 
a monstrous corruption perverted the 
whole administration. The colony was 
not allowed to manufacture any article 
which could be supplied by the mother 
country, the whole trade was confined to ! 
a single port in Spain, and all foreigners | 
were rigidly excluded. Books were pro- 1 
hibited, schools' discouraged or suppress- 1 
ed, and every measure taken to prevent 
information from being spread among the 
inhabitants. 

When the events of 1 808 in the Span- 
ish peninsula led to a change in the state 
of afl'airs, the Mexicans were, in general, 
loyally disposed to their sovereign ; but 
the assumption of authority by a new 
body, the Cortes, and their unwise and 
inconsistent proceedings, tended to alien- 
ate their feelings of attachment. Don 
Jose Iturrigaray, the viceroy, in order to 
conciliate the Americans, proposed to 
constitute a junta, formed of representa- 
tives from each province, and composed 
equally of natives and Europeans, which 
should organize a provisional government. 
The latter, however, fearful of losing 
some of their former superiority, arrested 
the viceroy, and sent him out of the coun- 
try. The new viceroy, Venegas, dis- 
played an offensive partiality for the 
Spaniards, and exasperated the Creoles 
by the severity of his measures. An ex- 
tensive conspiracy was organized, and 
the insurrection broke out in September, 
1810. A priest, Hidalgo, a man of strong 
inind and great firmness, put himself at 
the head of the insurgents ; but, after some 
fighting, and the commission of great 
atrocities on both sides, Hidalgo was 
captured and put to death in 1811. Mo- 
relos, a priest in the southern part of the 
country, who had been named captain- 
general of the south-west by Hidalgo, 
liad meanwhile raised a considerable 
force, and meeting with a series of suc- 
cesses, he advanced to within a short 
distance of the capital. In this expedi- 
tion, Victoria first distinguished himself. 
Morelos was obliged to retire, but cap- 
tured Oaxaca and Acapulco. A national 
congress was assembled at Chilpanzingo, 
in 1813, which declared Mexico inde- 
pendent. The forces of the insurgents 
were afterwards almost entirely annihi- 



lated by Iturbide, and Morelos was him- 
self shot in 1815. Victoria retired to 
the mountains, where he remained con- 
cealed eighteen months. Another gene- 
ral named Guerrero alone maintained a 
small force in the south. 

In 1817, general Mina landed with a 
small body of foreigners, and gained 
some temporary success ; but he was 
made prisoner in July of that year, and 
shot. Thus, in 1819, all the insurgent 
chiefs had been pardoned, or executed, ex- 
cept Guerrero. In 1 820, the Cortes having 
ordered the sale of the church property, 
Apodaca, the viceroy, refused to acknow- 
ledge the Cortes ; he employed Iturbide 
to reduce Guerrero, but that general join- 
ed the insurgent chief, proposed the con- 
stitution of Iguala, and proclaimed the 
independence of his country. This oc- 
curred February 24, 1821. 

At this time, the constitutional viceroy, 
O'Donoju, arrived in the country, and 
concluded with Iturbide the peace of 
Cordova, by which it was stipulated that 
the Spanish army should evacuate Mexi- 
co. The viceroy and Iturbide were as- 
sociated in the government, and the ar- 
my was called the army of the three 
guarantees, the objects to be maintained 
being the independence of Mexico as a 
separate monarchy under a Bourbon 
prince, the maintenance of the Catholic 
religion, and the union of all classes. A 
congress was soon assembled to settle the 
principles of the constitution. But the 
Cortes having declared the past proceed- 
ings null, Iturbide caused himself to be 
proclaimed emperor. May 18, 1822, under 
the title of Augustin I. 

A powerful party opposed the new 
state of things. After a bloody struggle, 
the emperor oflfered to abdicate in 1823, 
and was allowed to depart for Europe. 
A new form of government, on federal 
republican principles, was now establish- 
ed. Iturbide returned to the country in 
1824, but was immediately arrested and 
shot. On the banishment of the emperor, 
a poder cxecutivo, or executive, was form- 
ed, consisting of Vittoria, Bravo, and Ne- 
grete, and, in 1824, the constitution was 
adopted and proclaimed. Vittoria was 
chosen president, and Bravo vice-presi- 
dent of the new republic. 



MEXICO, 



483 



The first constitutional congress was 
convened, January 1, 1825, and held an 
extraordinary session in August of the 
same year. The castle of Ulloa was 
soon surrendered by the Spaniards, and 
the whole Mexican soil was now deliv- 
ered from European hands. The pros- 
pect of tranquillity which was held out by 
the complete liberation of the country and 
organization of the government was soon 
interrupted by the violence of parties. 

The animosity of the Escoceses and 
Yorkinos ended in acts of outrage and 
bloodshed, and the land was again dis- 
tracted with civil war. The Escoceses 
(Scotch) was a masonic society of Scotch 
origin, composed of large proprietors and 
persons of distinction, who were mostly 
men of moderate principles, but decided- 
ly favorable to the cause of independence. 
Many of them had, at one time, been in 
favor of a Spanish prince as constitutional 
king of Mexico, and they were therefore 
often styled Borbonistas by their adver- 
saries. The Yorkinos constituted a ma- 
sonic society, which derived its origin 
from a masonic lodge in New- York, 
through the agency of Mr. Poinsett, 
American minister at Mexico. These 
two political parties (for such they had 
become) were arrayed against each other 
on occasion of the choice of the se- 
cond president in 1828, and also differed 
as to the policy to be pursued in the 
treatment of the Spaniards who resided 
in the country, the Yorkinos being in fa- 
vor of their entire expulsion from the 
country. The result of the election, af- 
ter an arduous contest, was the triumph 
of the Escoceses party, whose candidate, 
general Pedrazza, was chosen, by a ma- 
jority of two votes, over general Guerrero, 
the Yorkino candidate. General Santa 
Anna, at the head of a body of troops, 
declared that this vote was not an expres- 
sion of the will of the majority, and pro- 
claimed Guerrero president. This move- 
ment was unsuccessful, but another was 
soon organized, and an armed body de- 



1 manded the expulsion of the Spaniards. 
After some fighting, the government was 
1 obliged to yield, and general Pedrazza, to 
' avoid bloodshed, advised his friends to 
[ submit, and expressed his determination 
to leave the country. Guerrero was 
I accordingly inaugurated president in 
I April, 1829, and a law was passed order- 
ing all Spanish residents to quit the 
country. 

I In the summer of 1829, an expedition 
! was fitted out in the Havana, under the 
command of general Barradas, to under- 
take the conquest of the Mexican repub- 
lic. A force of 4,000 men was landed 
at Tampico, July 27, but on the 10th of 
September surrendered to general Santa 
Anna. But the dangers of a foreign in- 
vasion were no sooner past than domestic 
dissensions were again renewed. Guer- 
rero, who had been invested with dicta- 
torial powers, on the approach of the in- 
vaders, was unwilling to resign them, 
and this was made a pretext for the oppo- 
sition of the discontented. Bustamente, 
the vice-president, placed himself at the 
head of a body of troops in December, 
1829, and issued a proclamation denounc- 
ing the abuses of the executive. He im- 
mediately advanced upon the capital, and 
was joined by the forces there. Guerrero, 
finding himself deserted, abdicated the 
presidency, and Bustamente was elected 
by the army his successor. In the latter 
part of 1830, new disturbances com- 
menced, and a civil war ensued. Guer- 
rero, who was made prisoner in February, 
1831, was condemned to death for bear- 
ing arms against the established govern- 
ment, and shot. Since this period gene- 
ral Santa Anna has been raised to the 
presidency of Mexico ; he was, however, 
defeated and taken prisoner in an attempt 
to quell an insurrection in Texas, a 
Mexican province bordering on the Uni- 
ted States. He was released, and is at 
present at the head of the Mexican army, 
opposing the invasion of the French who 
are at war with Mexico. 



484 



NETHERLANDS. 



NETHERLANDS. 



The early history of the Netherlands 
has nothing in it very interesting or pe- 
culiar. Like that of most European 
states, it commences with an account of 
their subjugation. The Romans had pen- 
etrated into those countries, and conquer- 
ed them all before the beginning of the 
Christian era. The people had not 
yielded tamely. The Belgoe, inhabiting 
the left bank of the Rhine, are described 
by Caesar as the only Gallic tribe brave 
enough to withstand the irruptions of the 
Teutones and Cimbri ; the Frisians, oc- 
cupying the right bank of the same river, 
made a stubborn opposition in the middle 
of their swamps ; and the Batavians, who 
dwelt upon the islands of Zealand, were 
honored as the boldest of all the neigh- 
boring clans. Their opposition was vain, 
however ; and their gallant attempt to 
cast off the yoke in Vespasian's time was 
equally vain. They submitted to the 
Romans, and participated in the improve- 
ments which that people usually commu- 
nicated to the nations it conquered. The 
canal of Drusus, from the Rhine to the 
Flevo or Zuyder Zee, still exists, though 
its character is altered ; and the first 
dykes, which protected Holland from the 
ocean, are ascribed to the enterprising 
industry of those governors. The stout 
spirit of resistance shown by the Bata- 
vians had procured them respect in the 
eyes of their conquerors. The tribute of 
the province was paid in soldiers : Bata- 
vians formed the body-guard of the em- 
peror, as Swiss have done in later times ; 
and the valor which had been displayed 
on the banks of the Rhine, was equally 
conspicuous in other quarters of the em- 
pire. Agricola was accompanied and 
powerfully aided by them in his progress 
through Britain ; and the Dacian hosts 
recoiled when Batavians, in full armor, 
swam across the Danube to attack them. 

During four centuries we find Bata- 
vians enumerated among the Roman ar- 
mies ; but after the time of Honorius, 
their name vanishes from history. The 
irruption of the northern nations swept 
Qver their country in its course, and de- 



stroyed all the monuments of Roman pow- 
er and ingenuity. The monarchy of the 
Franks which arose on the ruins of Gaul, 
had, in the sixth and seventh centuries, 
embraced all the provinces of the Neth- 
erlands, and planted the Christian faith 
in them. After an obstinate struggle, 
Charles Martel overcame Friesland the 
last of all ; and Charlemagne united the 
whole of those countries with the wide 
empire, which he had formed for himself 
out of Germany, France, and Lombardy. 
When Charlemagne's possessions were 
again divided among his successors, the 
Netherlands became at one time provin- 
ces of Germany, at another of France ; 
and we find them at last designated by the 
names of Friesland and Lower Lorraine. 
With the Franks arrived also the con- 
stitution of the north ; and here, as else- 
where, it gradually degenerated. The 
stronger vassals separated in process of 
time from the crown ; and the royal offi- 
cers laid hold of the districts over which 
they were sent to preside, and rendered 
them hereditary in their families. But 
those revolted vassals could not hope to 
resist their king, except by the help of 
their inferior retainers ; and the support 
thus required was repaid by fresh infeu- 
dations. The priesthood, in the mean 
time, also, growing wealthy and power- 
ful, had extorted for itself an independent 
existence in its abbeys and episcopal 
sees. And thus, in the tenth, eleventh, 
twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, the 
Netherlands were split down into a num- 
ber of petty sovereignties, the heads of 
which held partly of the empire, partly 
of France. By purchase, marriage, in- 
heritance, or conquest, several of these 
lordships were frequently united under 
one master ; and in the fifteenth century 
we find the house of Burgundy in pos- 
session of almost the whole. Philip the 
Good, by prosecuting various claims, just 
and the contrary, had at last succeeded in 
uniting eleven of the provinces imder his 
authority ; and Charles the Bold, his son, 
increased them by the conquest of other 
two. And thus a new state had silently 



NETHERLANDS. 



485 



arisen in Europe, to which nothing but 
the name was wanting to make it the 
most flourishing kingdom in that quarter 
of the world. Such extensive posses- 
sions made the duke of Burgundy a sus- 
picious neighbor to the king of France ; 
and inspired the restless spirit of Charles 
the Bold with the plan of a conquest, 
destined to include the whole tract of 
country extending between Alsace and 
the mouths of the Rhine. The duke's 
inexhaustible resources justified, in some 
measure, this proud chimera : a power- 
ful army threatened to realize it ; and 
Switzerland already trembled for its free- 
dom. But fortune forsook Charles at the 
battles of Granson, of Morat, of Nancy: 
he fell by an unknown hand ; and his 
very corpse was all but lost among the 
carnage of his followers. 

The future husband of his sole daugh- 
ter and heiress, Maria, would now be- 
come the richest prince of the time. 
Maximilian, duke, afterwards emperor 
of Austria, and Louis XI, of France, were 
rivals for this honor, and excluded the 
claims of humbler competitors. The 
States of the Netherlands dreaded the 
power and tyranny of Louis : Maximilian 
was weaker and more distant ; they de- 
cided for him. Their political foresight 
corresponded ill with the event. Philip 
the Fair, Maximilian's and Maria's son, 
acquired with his Spanish bride, the ex- 
tensive monarchy which Ferdinand and 
Isabella had lately founded; Charles V, 
the next heir, augmented this inheritance 
by his grandfather's imperial crown ; and 
the Netherlands, thus become the pro- 
vince of an overwhelming empire, had 
soon cause to experience and repent the 
change in their situation. During the 
succeeding age, this connection with 
Spain gave rise to the most terrible, as 
well as the most glorious event of their 
history. 

Prior to the Burgundian dynasty, and 
under it, the Netherlands, profiting by 
their natural advantages for commerce, 
had acquired considerable wealth ; their 
wealth secured to them a free though 
complicated constitution ; and they grad- 
ually rose to be the first trading nation 
in the world. 

The new light of the Reformation, 



which in his reign was dazzling or illu- 
minating every corner of Europe, had 
early found its way into the Netherlands, 
and excited instant notice there. Foreign 
merchants, assuming the liberty of speech 
and action natural to persons in their sit- 
uation, had already professed the doc- 
trines of Luther. The Swiss and Ger- 
man soldiers of Charles were often Pro- 
testants : the nobles of the country were 
accustomed to study in the academies of 
Geneva: refugees from France and Eng- 
land were allured by the freedom of the 
Low Countries to escape from the pres- 
sure of domestic persecution ; their me- 
chanical skill or commercial capital was 
welcomed as a benefit ; and their opin- 
ions Avere listened to with toleration or 
approval. The art of printing circulated 
those speculations among the higher 
classes. Bands of adventurers, animated 
by the love of truth or the love of change, 
moved over the country from place to 
place, to circulate them among the lower. 
To the serious, those speakers, as they 
were named, could preach with all the 
fervid zeal of missionaries and apostates : 
for the careless and light of heart, they 
had songs, and farces, and buffooneries 
in every possible style of contrivance. 
Such multifarious causes did not work in 
vain. The Romish church in the Neth- 
erlands, attacked at once by argument 
and ridicule, by enthusiasm and self-in- 
terest, was nodding to its fall before the 
danger had been met or even noticed. 
Its guardians at length awoke, and the 
usual expedients were put in motion. 
Charles V had agreed to tolerate the 
Evangelical creed in Germany, because 
its professors were formidable in their 
united strength ; but he seemed anxious 
to make amends for this compelled for- 
bearance, by a double severity in ti"eat- 
ing the heretics of the Netherlands. Fifty 
thousand persons perished on the scaffold 
here, " suffering for conscience' sake," 
during his reign. No privacy, however 
sacred, was secure ; no age, or sex, or 
rank, was spared ; and this once cheer- 
ful land was overshadowed with grief, 
and terror, and silence. 

Charles, however, was less a bigot 
than a despot : he relaxed his cruelties 
when he found they would interfere with 



486 



NETHERLANDS. 



the prosperity of a country whose reven- 
ues he needed so much ; and he prefer- 
red allowing the contiiuiance of errone- 
ous doctrines at Antwerp, to the hazard 
of destroying the commerce of the city 
in extirpating them by an Inquisition 
similar to that of Spain. The people, 
too, were inclined to suffer much at his 
hands. He was their countryman ; spoke 
their language, adopted their manners, 
and visited them often. The fame of his 
victories, his talents, and his power, laid 
hold of their admiration ; and the promo- 
tions which he lavished on their chief 
men, secured him a permanent interest 
among the inferior. And if all those per- 
suasives could not lead to obedience, the 
extent of his other dominions was suffi- 
cient io force it. The prompt and hard 
punishment to which he had condemned 
the mutinous inhabitants of Ghent, was 
a lesson of humility and submission to all. 

But in the case of Philip II, his son, 
every thing was different. With a heart 
as stony as his father's, Philip united an 
mtellect vastly inferior by nature ; and 
the gloomy tutelage of monks had nar- 
rowed and obscured it still farther. He 
was born in Spain ; and the harsh sad- 
ness of his temper was best fitted to rel- 
ish the solemn and monotonous style of 
society prevalent there. In his youth he 
had been sent to visit the Netherlands, 
that his presence might conciliate the 
affections of the people ; but his haughty 
deportment, his unaccommodating char- 
acter, produced quite an opposite effect. 
Philip loved not the Netherlands ; and 
the feeling was mutual. At the abdica- 
tion of his father ( 1 556,) the States evinc- 
ed their distrust of Philip's intentions by 
the vain attempt which they made to guard 
against them. The splendor of a spec- 
tacle so extraordinary could not lull their 
vigilance ; and an additional oath was 
imposed on Philip, "forbidding every 
shadow of innovation in the established 
laws of the country. 

The suspicions which arose so early 
were soon abundantly confirmed. By 
the treaty of Chateau-Cambresis, Philip 
was delivered from all foreign enemies ; 
yet he obstinately continued, under the 
shallowest pretences, to retain a body of 
Spanish troops, occupying the garrisons 



and consuming the resources of the 
country. The edicts of his father were 
brought forward anew, and the more 
strict and impressive execution of them 
was intrusted to Cardinal Granvella, a 
man whose inflexible disposition and 
consummate political skill were well fitted 
for the purposes of Philip ; but whose 
proud contemptuous behavior disgusted 
the nobles, while his rigid severity exas- 
perated the people. The nobles partici- 
pating in the discontents of the populace, 
to which peculiar discontents were added 
to their own case, seconded, though they 
affected not to countenance the popular 
proceedings ; and formed themselves 
into a combination, which has become 
known to history by the epithet Gueux 
(beggars) applied to the members of it in 
contempt, by a minion of the court, when 
they appeared in Brussels to lay their 
petition and remonstrance before the re- 
gent. The name Gueux was adopted 
with an indignant smile, by the confed- 
eracy itself ; and the symbols of beggary, 
the wallet and staff in miniature, became 
the rallying emblems of the dissatisfied, 
and were to be seen on the persons of 
men and women over all the country. 

Alarmed by these unequivocal symp- 
toms of general revolt, Philip despatched 
the duke of Alva from Spain, at the head 
of 10,000 men, to enforce obedience, and 
avenge the opposition already shown to 
his mandates. The duchess of Parma, 
the regent of the Netherlands, was glad 
to retire from the storm, which, in con- 
trasting Alva's character with the circum- 
stances of the state, she saw clearly to 
be approaching ; and Alva was appointed 
governor in her stead. His entrance 
upon office was the signal for universal 
despair. Bigoted in his creed, immove- 
able in his determinations, savage in his 
temper, he hated the Flemings for the 
favor shown them in the former reign ; 
and the country soon groaned under the 
weight of his resentment. With his 
council of twelve, nominated by himself, 
and entirely at his discretion, he pro- 
ceeded strongly in the work of destruc- 
tion ; and the scaffolds soon reeked with 
the blood of thousands, guilty or inno- 
cent, as they happened to incur his dis. 
pleasure. The people were driven to 



NETHERLANDS. 



487 



madness ; they wanted but a leader to 
rise in open rebellion, and brave the very 
utmost of their tyrant's fury. A leader 
was soon presented to them ; and one 
fitted for the crisis beyond any other per- 
son of his time. 

William, prince of Orange, was the 
representative of the noble family of Nas- 
sau, which had once given an emperor 
to Germany, and for many ages had oc- 
cupied an honorable rank among the 
chiefs of that country. He had exten- 
sive possessions in the Netherlands ; 
and had been employed there by Charles 
in various important duties, in the dis- 
charge of which, his talents, his integrity, 
his manners, had procured him universal 
confidence and respect. Disappointed 
in his expectation of the regency under 
Philip, who hated and feared him, he had 
continued to act with the same calm stead- 
fastness, equally resisting the arbitrary 
measures of government, and repressing 
the rash attempts of the harassed people. 
On Alva's approach he retired to Germa- 
ny ; and the fate of count Egmont, who 
shared the national favor with him, and 
had perished on the scaffold at Antwerp 
for no other crime but sharing it, soon 
showed how prudent this step had been. 
The tribunal which had condemned his 
friend, now summoned William to appear 
likewise ; and as he naturally refused to 
comply, they proceeded to confiscate his 
property, and brand him as a traitor. 
William was not of a humor to brook 
such treatment tamely ; and patriotism 
combined with ambition to strengthen 
his purpose of finding redress. Having 
formed an alliance with several princes 
of Germany, and collected a body of 
troops, which multitudes of Flemish ex- 
iles were rapidly augmenting, he formal- 
ly renounced his allegiance to the gov- 
ernor, and entered Friesland at the head 
of an army in 1569. 

His beginning was unsuccessful. Al- 
va hastened to meet him ; the raw soldier 
could not stand against the veteran ; Wil- 
liam retired into Germany once more ; 
and the Spaniard returned in triumph to 
Brussels. But his triumph was not long | 
undisturbed. He had erected a statue j 
of himself in the citadel of Antwerp ; I 
he had represented it as treading under 



foot two smaller statues emblematic of 
the States of the Netherlands ; and was 
proceeding quickly to demonstrate the 
correctness of this allegorical device, by 
levying the most oppressive taxes, of his 
own authority, and massacreing, with 
every circumstance of ignominy and sav- 
ageness, all such as refused to comply 
with his requisitions, — when his bloody 
career was interrupted by intelligence 
that the town of Brille was taken, and 
the whole island ready to revolt. He 
hastened thither to quell the tumult, and 
crush the Gueux patriots, or pirates as 
he called them, who had caused it. But 
the infamy of his conduct preceded him ; 
William of Orange, under whose instruc- 
tions the conquerors of Brille had acted, 
was advancing from the east with a fresh 
army ; and the entire provinces of Zea- 
land and Holland simultaneously threw 
off" the Spanish yoke. Alva made vast 
efforts ; but they were fruitless. He 
took Naerden and Haarlem, and butch- 
ered their inhabitants ; but he failed be- 
fore Alcmaar ; a fleet which he put to 
sea with great exertion, was defeated 
and destroyed by the Zealanders ; and 
on Philip's order he returned to Spain, 
to boast that in five years he had deliv- 
ered 18,000 heretics into the hands of 
the executioner. 

Requesens succeeded Alva. He was 
a milder and a better man ; but the time 
for mildness was gone by. Some years 
before, a governor like Requesens might 
have retained the Netherlands under 
Philip ; but the horrors of Alva's regen- 
cy, the massacre of St. Bartholomew in 
France, had put to flight " respective 
lenity," and " fire-eyed fury" was their 
conduct now. It is dangerous to drive 
even the feeblest of creatures to despair ; 
and Philip found he had calculated too 
far on the phlegmatic patience of his 
northern subjects. The dull perseve- 
rance of their ordinary character was 
now changed into a grim and adaman- 
tine fixedness of purpose to suffer all, to 
dare all, but never to submit. " Talk 
not of surrender," replied they to Valdez, 
the general of Requesens, at the siege 
of Leyden, when famine was already 
carrying them in hundreds to the grave : 
" Our provisions are not exhausted, and 



488 



NETHERLANDS. 



if they were, if all else should fail, we 
would eat our left arms and fight with 
our right, that we might die fighting 
against our tjTants." Their firmness, 
on tliis occasion was rewarded. The 
sluices were opened, the country was 
laid under water ; a strong south-west 
wind rendered fruitless every attempt to 
drain it ; and the Spaniard made a fright- 
ful retreat, leaving the flower of his army 
buried in the marshes, or hewn to pieces 
by the Flushing boatmen, who hung upon 
his skirts, with fury and revenge in their 
hearts — their harsh countenances ren- 
dered harsher by scars sustained from 
the same enemy in former broils, and 
their caps surmounted each by a cres- 
cent, having the inscription, Turks he- 
fore Papists. 

This ineffectual siege of Leyden is 
the most remarkable transaction of Re- 
quesens in the Low Countries. It was 
followed in 1575, by some abortive at- 
tempts at negotiation, the emperor Ro- 
dolph, and queen Elizabeth of England, 
acting as mediators. Neither party was 
in a mood for negotiating ; and Philip 
instructed Requesens to prosecute the 
war with fresh vigor. The latter en- 
deavored to comply ; he was beaten back 
at Woerden ; but he reduced Ziriozee, 
had entered Zealand, and was meditating 
an attack on Holland, when death over- 
took him suddenly, and the Netherlands 
were left without a governor. 

To obviate the evils of dissension, 
William assembled the Northern or Pro- 
testant States, among whom his influence 
was the most extensive, and who hitherto 
had stood the brunt of the war alone. — 
He was fortunate enough at last, to com- 
bine them into a permanent whole. On 
the 23rd of January, 1579, was signed 
the famous Union of Utrecht, at the 
city whose name it bears, by deputies 
from the provinces of Holland, Zealand, 
Utrecht, Friesland,Groningen, Overyssel, 
and Gelderland. It was the fundamental 
article of the Dutch Republic, destined 
after to become so conspicuous an agent 
in the political transactions of Europe. 
The main stipulations, for the present, 
were, that the seven provinces should 
join themselves in interest as one, each 
individual still retaining its own private 



customs ; that in disputes between two, 
the rest should interfere only as media- 
tors, and that all should assist each with 
life and fortune against every foreign 
enemy. Separately, the provinces were 
weak ; and though united as firmly as 
the bundle of arrows, the badge and 
embliem of their alliance, it might still 
seem doubtful if this new republic would 
survive its infancy. 

It was indeed a perilous enterprise in 
which they were engaged. A small 
community of fishers and herdsmen, hith- 
erto unknown among nations, had come 
down into the lists against a monarch, 
before whom the most powerful kingdoms 
of the world had lately trembled for their 
liberties. With no resources but their 
own activity, no tactics but their own 
despair, the Dutch had ventured to defy 
the commander of the veterans of Charles 
V, and the possessor of the American 
mines. The contest at first view might 
appear hopeless, and preferable to sub- 
mission, only, as dying nobly on the field 
of battle is preferable to dying unjustly 
on the scaffold. A closer inspection, 
however, showed the prospect in less 
gloomy colors. The Hollanders were 
poor ; but the enemy's wealth lay widely 
scattered, and bold adventure might 
snatch a part of it. The Flemish exiles, 
driven from the peaceful occupations of 
the land, had betaken themselves in great 
numbers to another element ; and the 
rich fleets of Spain were often captured 
by them. By degrees, too, the trade 
which was thus obstructed, sought out 
other channels ; and Holland, the asylum 
of the persecuted from every nation, (who 
were naturally the most inquisitive and 
enterprising of each nation,) soon abound- 
ed in persons fitted for all kinds of com- 
merce, and ready to grasp at every branch 
of it within their reach. As their mari- 
time speculations prospered, greater num- 
bers, and more capital, became engaged 
in them ; they at length acquired a navy, ^ 

which could venture to the Indies, and ' 

strike at the root of their oppressor's' 
prosperity. 

With William of Orange at its head, j 

therefore, the new confederacy did not ' 

despair. Philip, who knew the Prince's 
importance, attempted to detach him by 



NETHERLANDS. 



489 



promises and gifts ; when this was found 
to be impossible, he set a price upon his 
head. Superstitious fervor, so justified 
and rewarded, was likely in time to find 
some wicked maniac whom it could con- 
vert into an assassin. A first attempt 
failed ; a second was successful. Bal- 
thazar Gerard murdered the Prince of 
Orange at Delft, (1584,) being impelled, 
as he stated at first, by the Divinity ; but 
allured also, as he afterwards confessed, 
by the less elevated hope of Philip's 
earthly recompence to do the deed. 

William's death was a heavy stroke 
to his fellow-citizens ; but in proportion 
as it excited grief for the fate and for the 
loss of their leader, it rendered more 
implacable their hatred of his destroyer. 
Elizabeth of England, though she reject- 
ed the sovereignty of the Netherlands 
repeatedly offered to her, had been indu- 
ced to lend them secret assistance in 
troops and money ; and she now openly 
espoused their quarrel. As security for 
payment, the States delivered up to her 
the towns of Bille and Flushing, with the 
castle of Rammekens ; and she sent them 
an army, with the earl of Leicester to be 
their governor. Leicester dissatisfied 
the people, and was recalled; but the 
soldiers continued ; and being joined 
under Lord Willoughby, with the forces 
of the republic, were placed at the dis- 
posal of Maurice, the late Prince's son, 
a young man whom the gratitude of his 
country had raised to the station of gov- 
ernor, and who soon showed talents that 
would have deserved it independently of 
gratitude. 

His talents, however, were all required 
in this emergency ; and but for other 
circumstances, they would hardly have 
sufficed to meet it. Parma had already 
secured Ghent, Bruges, and lastly Ant- 
werp, the hardest of his conquests, as 
well as the most serviceable. In the 
south, every thing must soon have been 
entirely at his disposal ; and Holland 
might then have justly trembled before 
his accumulated force. But Philip's 
wars with England, his Invincible Arma- 
da, thinned the ranks of Parma, and dis- 
sipated the treasures which should have 
maintained him. 

At length, in 1598, Philip closed his 
62 



restless reign. The burden which had 
galled him near forty years, had long ago 
vanquished even his obstinacy ; and Al- 
bert of Austria, husband of the Infanta 
Isabella, had, some time previously been 
promised the sovereignty of the Nether- 
lands, with merely a reversion in favor 
of Spain, should that princess die child« 
less. Philip HI punctually obeyed the 
intentions of his father ; but the states of 
Holland listened in silence to Albert's 
claim. At the head of a great army, he 
prepared to enforce it. Prince Maurice 
met him at Nieuport (1600 ;) and, with 
the aid of sir Francis Vere, and the 
English auxiUaries led by him, gained a 
complete and splendid victory. Albert 
wasted his remaining forces in the 
trenches of Ostend ; the town was gal- 
lantly maintained by Vere and his follow- 
ers ; and did not yield even to the talents 
of Spinola, till after it had stood a siege 
of three years, and cost him above 70,000 
men. Under the same able general, 
Spain, to whom the reversion of the 
Netherlands was now become secure, 
Isabella having no children, made a last 
eflx>rt far beyond its diminished strength. 
But new efforts yielded no adequate re- 
sult ; Philip was weary of the contest ; 
and, by the advice of Spinola, he agreed 
to treat of peace. After innumerable 
obstructions and delays on the part of the 
Dutch, who had now begun to reap profit 
from the war, and principally on the part 
of Maurice's faction, who hoped to make 
it ser\^iceable to his ambition, a truce of 
twelve years was at last concluded, by 
the mediation of France and England, at 
the Hague, in 1609, Spain acknowledging 
the United Provinces as a free republic, 
and granting them every privilege which 
a free country has a right to demand. 
The revolt in Bohemia, which was al- 
ready breaking out, the appearance of 
Gustavus Adolphus, and his victorious 
progress in Germany, soon gave full em- 
ployment elsewhere to all the branches 
of the Hapsburg family. Combined with 
the vigorous administration of Richelieu, 
those events extinguished in Spain all 
desire of renewing its pretensions to 
Holland ; no farther hostilities occurred, 
1 and a definitive treaty was signed in 
i 1647, and ratified at the great peace of 



490 



NETHERLANDS. 



Westphalia next year, securing the rights 
of the United Provinces in the most am- 
ple manner, and finally stipulating the 
continuance of peace and free intercourse 
between two nations, whose strife had 
been so lengthened, so obstinate, and so 
bloody. 

After the termination of this contest, 
which had established the freedom of 
seven provinces, and riveted the chains 
of ten, the history of the Netherlands 
presents nothing equally remarkable. — 
What remains of it may be despatched 
more briefly. Belgium continued quietly 
subject to Spain, and lost all its com- 
merce and enterprise ; Holland went on 
rapidly increasing in both. Cornelius 
Houtmann had led the way to India in 
1599; the Portuguese settlements, then 
subject to Spain, were in no condition to 
resist ; and the Dutch by degrees acquired 
almost the whole of that lucrative trade. 
They planted colonies in the spice islands 
of the East; they gained settlements in 
America ; their naval power continued to 
augment ; they gradually became the 
factors and carriers of Europe. It is 
true, their government, at peace from 
without, was not equally at peace from 
within ; theological disputes between 
Arminius and Gomar, to which political 
feelings soon became conjoined, had agi- 
tated the people violently in 1619, and 
tarnished the name of Prince Maurice 
by his share in the persecution of Gro- 
tius, and the death of the Pensionary 
Barnvelt. A more strict republican party 
also afterwards arose under the auspices 
of the De Witts, who had force and dex- 
terity enough at the death of William II, 
(1650,) to procure the abolition of the 
Stadtholdership. But those political fer- 
mentations slightly aflected the industry 
and success of the great body of the na- 
tion. The public prosperity was stead- 
fastly advancing ; it had mounted so high 
in 1652, that the States did not hesitate 
to throw down the gauntlet to England, 
though her power was at that time 
wielded by the firm and steady hand of 
Cromwell. 

Naval superiority was the subject of 
this contest; commercial and political 
jealousy embittered it. The Dutch had 
given refuge and countenance to many 



of the exiled royalists ; their admirals 
refused to pay to the British the custom- 
ar)^ acknowledgment of superiority ; Van 
Tromp, on the contrary, placed a broom 
at his mast-head, to signify that he would 
sweep the seas, and reign triumphant in 
them. But the cannon of Blake soon 
levelled this rude emblem, and the claim 
which it typified ; De Ruyter and Van 
Tromp were beaten by him off Portland 
in 1653, after a furious contest of two 
days ; and next year. Van Tromp was 
shot through the body, off the coast of 
Holland, while gallantly animating his 
men on the third morning of a battle, 
which his energy alone had protracted 
so long. Monk was the victor on this 
occasion. The Dutch were glad to make 
peace, and leave the dominion of the 
ocean in the hands where it was, and 
has ever since continued. 

A severer trial awaited the Dutch 
republic shortly afterwards. In 1668, 
Louis XIV, profiting by the feebleness 
of Spain, had entered the Low Countries 
with an army, which bore down all op- 
position. He soon conquered Belgium ; 
he made himself master of Franche 
Compte, and was fast extending his do- 
minions on every side, when the Triple 
Alliance, concluded at the Hague in 1 669, 
arrested his ambitious career. Irritated 
by the share which Holland had taken 
in this transaction, Louis made great 
preparations for revenge. The profligate 
ministry of Charles II, of England, was 
hired to support his views ; and in 1672, 
he crossed the Rhine at the head of an 
immense army. Basely deserted by 
their natural ally, agitated by internal 
factions, the Dutch had nothing but a 
few undisciplined troops, and a general 
scarcely arrived at manhood, wherewith 
to oppose the progress of 130,000 vete- 
rans, led on by Conde, Turenne, and 
Vauban. The issue could scarce be 
doubtful. Louis overran the country in 
a few weeks ; and Amsterdam was soon 
the last asylum of Dutch liberty. The 
De Witts proposed surrendering, but the 
States, with their young general, William, 
Prince of Orange, at their head, deter- 
mined on a braver expedient. Preferring 
independence to every other advantage, 
they opened the sluices of their sea- 



NETHERLANDS. 



491 



dykes ; and Amsterdam once more be- 
came an island of the ocean, from which 
it had been gained. The king returned 
into France ; his generals retired out of 
Holland ; and before the triumphal arch 
at the gate of St. Dennis, in honor of his 
conquest, was completed, Louis possessed 
no foot of ground within the conquered 
territories. Far from yielding, the Dutch 
in their turn became aggressors ; and 
their young prince, now appointed Stad- 
tholder, ever henceforth continued the 
unwearied and successful adversary of 
all the covetous schemes of Louis. By 
his efforts the present war was ended in 
1 679 ; and when he mounted the throne 
of England, his augmented power still 
thwarted the increasing projects of 
France. In 1697, the treaty of Ryswick 
concluded a new war of eight years, in 
the conduct of which he had been inde- 
fatigable, in the result of which he was 
superior ; and before his death, he had 
prepared the materials of that coalition 
which, under Marlborough and Prince 
Eugene, brought Louis to the brink of ruin. 
The peace of Utrecht saved Louis from 
absolute destruction, and consigned Bel- 
gium to the throne of Austria, that of 
Spain being now filled by a Bourbon. 
The Dutch had exerted themselves vig- 
orously in all those quarrels ; but from 
this period their internal prosperity began 
to langiush, their political importance 
gradually to lessen. The English had 
acquired their arts and manufactures, and 
almost entirely supplanted their East In- 
dia commerce. The American colonies, 
added to this, gave the English navy an 
irresistible preponderance. Holland still 
continued diligent and contented ; but 
the rise of neighboring nations had eclips- 
ed its power. About the middle of the 
last century, it was farther threatened 
with the calamities of foreign invasion. 
When Maria Theresa's right to the im- 
perial throne was disputed in 1740, the 
Dutch had taken up her side ; the French 
that of theElector of Bavaria. During the 
contest, Louis XV had penetrated into 
the Netherlands ; and the Mareschal de 
Saxe had conquered Belgium for him. 
In 1748, the same general made an at- 
tack on Holland. Bergen-op-Zoom had 
fallen, Maestricht was falling ; and the 



Dutch barrier must have been forced, had 
not the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which 
restored Belgium to Austria, while it se- 
cured the deliverance of Holland, put a 
stop to hostilities. 

The Dutch took no part in the seven 
years' war. A long period of outward 
tranquillity was only disturbed by contests 
between the people and the Stadtholder, 
whose office had been declared heredi- 
tary in the Orange family in the year 
1747. The French Revolution, and the 
victories of Dumourier, took Belgium 
from Austria in 1792 ; it was recovered 
next summer, but the recovery was only 
for a year, and confirmed the victors in 
their conquest. Those apostles of change 
were eagerly welcomed by the Diitch 
people soon after. But the latter had 
quickly reason to repent of this predilec- 
tion. The French oppressed Holland 
with every species of tyranny ; even 
Louis Bonaparte, for whom it had been 
erected into a kingdom, gave it up in de- 
spair. Various attempts to relieve it 
failed, till at last, in 1814, the successes 
of the allied sovereigns put the Low 
Countries into their hands. The British 
cabinet accomplished its often projected 
scheme ; Belgium was united with the 
seven provinces into the Kingdom of the 
Netherlands ; and the Prince of Or- 
ange, who had taken refuge in England, 
now ascended the throne. On the 18th 
of June, 1815, the great battle of Water- 
loo, which decided the fate of the em- 
peror Napoleon, was fought near Brus- 
sels. The following account of this 
memorable action is from Sir Walter 
Scott's Life of Napoleon. 

It was three o'clock on the afternoon 
of the 1 7th, when the British came on 
the field, and took up their bivouac for 
the night in the order of battle in which 
they were to fight the next day. It was 
much later before Napoleon reached the 
heights of Belle Alliance in person, and 
his army did not come up in full force 
till the morning of the 1 8th. Great part 
of the French had passed the night in the 
little village of Genappe, and Napoleon's 
own quarters had been at the fai"m-house 
called Caillou, about a mile in the rear 
of La Belle Alliance. 

In the morning, when Napoleon had 



492 



NETHERLANDS. 



formed his line of battle, liis brother Je- 
rome, to whom he ascribed the posses- 
sion of very considerable military talents, 
commanded on the left — Counts Reille 
and D'Erlon the centre — and Count Lo- 
bau on the right. Marscchals Soult and 
Ney acted as lieutenant-generals to the em- 
peror. The French force on the field 
consisted probably of about 75,000 men. 
The English army did not exceed that 
number, at the highest computation. 
Each army was commanded by the Chief, 
under whom they had offered to defy the 
world. So far tlie forces were equal. But 
the French had the very great advantage 
of being trained and experienced soldiers 
of the same nation, whereas the English, 
in the Duke of Wellington's army, did 
not exceed 35,000 ; and although the 
German Legion were veteran troops, the 
other soldiers under his command were 
those of the German contingents, lately 
levied, unaccustomed to act together, and 
in some instances -suspected to be luke- 
warm to the cause in which they were 
engaged; so that it would have been im- 
prudent to trust more to tlioir assistance 
and co-operation, than could not possibly 
be avoided. In Bonaparte's mode of 
calculating, allowing one Frenchman 
to stand as equal to one Englishman, and 
one Englishman or Frenchman against 
two of any other nation, the inequality 
of force on the Duke of Wellington's side 
was very considerable. 

The British army thus composed, was 
divided into two lines. The right of the 
first line consisted of the second and fourth 
English divisions, the third and sixth 
Hanoverians, and the first corps of Bel- 
gians, under lord Hill. The centre was 
composed of the corps of the prince of 
Orange, withthe Brunswickers and troops 
of Nassau, having the Guards, under gen- 
eral Cooke, on the right, and the division 
of general Alten on the left. The left 
wing consisted of the divisions of Picton, 
Lambert, and Kempt. The second line 
was, in most instances, formed of the 
troops deemed least worthy of confidence, 
or which had suffered too severely in the 
action of the 16th, to be again exposed 
until extremity. It was placed behind 
the declivity of the heights to the rear, 
in order to be sheltered from the cannon- 



ade, but sustained much loss from shells 
during the action. The cavalry were 
stationed in the rear, distributed all along 
the line, but chiefiy posted on the left of 
the centre, to the east of the Charleroi 
causeway. The farm-house of La Haye 
Sainte, in the front of the centre, was 
garrisoned, but there was not time to pre- 
pare it effectually for defence. The villa, 
gardens, and farm-yard of Hougomont, 
formed a strong advanced post towards 
the centre of the right. The whole Brit- 
ish position formed a sort of curve, the 
centre of which was nearest to the ene- 
my, and the extremities, particularly on 
their right, drawn considerably back- 
ward. 

The plans of these two great generals 
were extremely simple. The object of 
the duke of VVellington was to maintain 
his line of defence, imtil the Prussians 
coming up, should give him a decided 
superiority of force. They were expect- 
ed about eleven or twelve o'clock ; but 
the extreme badness of the roads, owing 
to the violence of the storm, detained 
them several hours later. 

Napoleon's scheme was equally plain 
and decided. He trusted, by his usual 
rapidity of attack, to break and destroy 
the British army before the Prussians 
should arrive on the field; after which, 
he calculated to have an opportunity of 
destroying the Prussians, by attacking 
them on their march through the broken 
ground interposed betwixt them and the 
British. In these expectations he was the 
more confident, that he believed Grouchy's 
force, detached on the 17th in pursuit of 
Blucher, was sufficient to retard, if not 
altogether to check, the march of the 
Prussians. His grounds for entertaining 
this latter opinion, were, as we shall af- 
terwards show, too hastily adopted. 

Commencing the action according to 
his usual system, Napoleon kept his 
Guard in reserve, in order to take oppor- 
tunity of charging with them, when re- 
peated attacks of column after column, 
and squadron after squadron, should in- 
duce his wearied enemy to show some 
symptoms of irresolution. But Napoleon's 
movements were not very rapid. His 
army had suffered by the storm even 
more than the English, who were in bi- 



NETHERLANDS. 



493 



vouac at three in the afternoon of the 
1 7th June ; while the French were still 
under march, and could not get into line 
on the heights of La Belle Alliance until 
ten or eleven o'clock of the 18th. The 
English army had thus some leisure to 
take food, and to prepare their arms be- 
fore the action ; and Napoleon lost sev- 
eral hours ere he could commence the 
attack. Time was, indeed, inestimably 
precious for both parties, and hours, nay, 
minutes, were of importance. But of this 
Napoleon was less aware than was the 
duke of Wellington. 

The tempest, which had raged with 
tropical violence all night, abated in the 
morning ; but the weather continued 
gusty and stormy during the Avhole day. 
Betwixt eleven and twelve, before noon, 
on the memorable 18th June, this dread- 
ful and decisive action commenced, with 
a carmonade on the part of the French, 
instantly followed by an attack, com- 
manded by Jerome, on the advanced post 
of Hougomont. The troops of Nassau, 
which occupied the wood around the 
chateau, were driven out by the French, 
but the utmost efforts of the assailants 
were unable to force the house, garden, 
and farm-offices, which a party of the 
Guards sustained with the most dauntless 
resolution. The French redoubled their 
efforts, and precipitated themselves in 
numbers on the exterior hedge, which 
screens the garden wall, not perhaps 
aware of the internal defence afforded 
by the latter. They fell in great num- 
bers on this point by the fire of the de- 
fenders, to which they were exposed in 
every direction. The number of their 
troops, however, enabled them, by pos- 
session of the wood, to mask Hougomont 
for a time, and to push on with their 
cavalry and artillery against the British 
right, which formed in squares to receive 
them. The fire was incessant, but with- 
out apparent advantage on either side. 
The attack was at length repelled so far, 
that the British again opened their com- 
munication with Hougomont, and that 
important garrison was re-enforced by 
colonel Hepburn and a body of the 
Guards. 

Meantime, the fire of artillery having 
become general along the line, the force 



of the French attack was transferred to 
the British centre. It was made with 
the most desperate fury, and received 
with the most stubborn resolution. The 
assault was here made upon the farm- 
house of Saint Jean by four columns of 
infantry, and a large mass of cuirassiers, 
who took the advance. The cuirassiers 
came with the utmost intrepidity along 
the Genappe causeway, where they were 
encountered and charged by the English 
heavy cavalry ; and a combat was main- 
tained at the sword's point, till the French 
were driven back on their own position, 
where they were protected by their artil- 
lery. The four columns of French in- 
fantry, engaged in the same attack, forced 
their way foi'ward beyond the fann of 
La Haye Sainte, and, dispersing a Bel- 
gian regiment, were in the act of estab- 
lishing themselves in the centre of the 
British position, when they were attack- 
ed by the brigade of general Pack, 
brought up from the second line by gen- 
eral Picton, while, at the same time, a 
brigade of British heavy cavalry wheeled 
round their own infantry, and attacked 
the French charging columns in flank, at 
the moment when they were checked by 
the fire of the musketry. The results 
were decisive. The French columns 
were broken with great slaughter, and 
two eagles, with more than 2,000 men, 
were made prisoners. The latter were 
sent instantly off for Brussels. 

The British cavalry, however, follow- 
ed their success too far. They got in- 
volved amongst the French infantry, and 
some hostile cavalry which were detach- 
ed to support them, and were obliged to 
retire with considerable loss. In this 
part of the action, the gallant general 
Picton, so distinguished for enterprise 
and bravery, met his death, as did gen- 
eral Ponsonby, who commanded the cav- 
alry. 

About this period the French made 
themselves masters of the farm of La 
Haye Sainte, cutting to pieces about two 
hundred Hanoverian sharp-shooters, by 
whom it was most gallantly defended. 
The French retained this post for some 
time, till they were at last driven out of 
it by shells. 

Shortly after this event, the scene of 



494 



NETHERLANDS. 



conflict again shifted to the right, where 
a general attack of French cavalry was 
made on the squares, chiefly towards the 
centre of the British right, or between 
that and the causeway. They came up 
with the most dauntless resolution, in 
despite of the continued fire of thirty 
pieces of artiller\', placed in front of the 
line, and compelled the artillerymen, by 
whom they were served, to retreat within 
the squares. The enemy had no means, 
however, to secure the gims, or even to 
spike them, and at every favorable mo- 
ment the British artillerymen sallied from 
their place of refuge, again manned their 
pieces, and fired on the assailants, — a 
manosuvre which seems peculiar to the 
British service. The cuirassiers, how- 
ever, continued their dreadful onset, and 
rode up to the squares in the full confi- 
dence, apparently, of sweeping them be- 
fore the impetuosity of their charge. 
Their onset and reception was like a fu- 
rious ocean pouring itself against a chain 
of insulated rocks. The British squares 
stood unmoved, and never gave fire until 
the cavalry were within ten yards, when 
men rolled one way, horses galloped 
another, and the cuirassiers were in 
every instance driven back. 

The French authors have pretended, 
that squares were broken, and colors 
taken ; but this assertion, upon the united 
testimony of every British officer present, 
is a positive untruth. This was not, 
however, the fault of the cuirassiers, who 
displayed an almost frantic valor. They 
rallied again and again, and returned to 
the onset, till the British could recog- 
nize even the faces of individuals among 
their enemies. Some rode close up to 
the bayonets, fired their pistols, and cut 
with their swords with reckless and use- 
less valor. Some stood at gaze, and 
were destroyed by the musketry and ar- 
tillery. Some squadrons, passing through 
the intervals of the first line, charged the 
squares of Belgians posted there, with as 
little success. At length the cuirassiers 
suffered so severely on every hand, that 
they were compelled to abandon the at- 
tempt, which they had made with such 
intrepid and desperate courage. In this 
unheard-of struggle, the greater part of 
the French heavy cavalry were absolute- 



ly destroyed. Bonaparte hints at it in 
his bulletin as an attempt made without 
orders, and continued only by the desper- 
ate courage of the soldiers and their offi- 
cers. It is certain, that in the destruc- 
tion of this noble body of cuirassiers, he 
lost the corps which might have been 
most effectual in covering his retreat. 
After the broken remains of this fine cav- 
alry were drawn oflf, the French confined 
themselves for a time to a heavy cannon- 
ade, from which the British sheltered 
themselves in part by lying down on the 
ground, while the enemy prepared for an 
attack on another quarter, and to be con- 
ducted in a different manner. 

It was now about six o'clock, and dur- 
ing this long succession of the most fu- 
rious attacks, the French had gained no 
success, save occupying for a time the 
wood around Hougomont, from which 
they had been expelled, and the farm- 
house of La Haye Sainte, which had 
been also recovered. The British, on 
the other hand, had suffered very severe- 
ly, but had not lost one inch of ground, 
save the two posts now regained. Ten 
thousand men were, however, killed and 
wounded ; some of the foreign regiments 
had given way, though others had shown 
the most desperate valor. And the ranks 
were thinned, both by the actual fugitives, 
and by the absence of individuals, who 
left the bloody field for the purpose of 
carrying oflT the wounded, and some of 
whom might naturally be in no hurry to 
return to so fatal a scene. 

But the French, besides losing about 
15,000 men, together with a column of 
prisoners more than 2,000 in number, 
began now to be disturbed by the opera- 
tions of the Prussians on their right flank ; 
and the secret of the duke of Wellington 
was disclosing itself by its consequences. 
Blucher, faithfid to his engagement, had, 
early in the morning, put in motion Bu- 
low'a division, which had not been en- 
gaged at Ligny, to communicate with the 
English army, and operate a diversion 
on the right flank and rear of the French. 
But although there were only about 
twelve or fourteen miles between Wavre 
and the field of Waterloo, yet the march 
was, by unavoidable circumstances, much 
delayed. The rugged face of the coun- 



NETHERLANDS. 



495 



try, together with the state of the roads, 
so often referred to, offered the most se- 
rious obstacles to the progress of the 
Prussians, especially as they moved with 
an unusually large train of artillery. A 
fire, also, which broke out in Wavre on 
the morning of the ] 8th, prevented Bu- 
low's corps from marching through that 
town, and obliged them to pursue a cir- 
cuitous and inconvenient route. After 
traversing, with great difficulty, the cross- 
roads by Chapelle Lambert, Bulow.with 
the 4th Prussian corps, who had been 
expected by the duke of Wellington 
about eleven o'clock, announced his arri- 
val by a distant fire, about half-past four. 
The first Prussian corps, following the 
same route with Bulow, was yet later in 
coming up. The second division made 
a lateral movement in the same direction 
as the fourth and first, but by the hamlet 
of Ohain, nearer to the English flank. 
The emperor instantly opposed to Bulow, 
who appeared long before the others, the 
sixth French corps, which he had kept in 
reserve for that service ; and as only the 
advanced guard was come up, they suc- 
ceeded in keeping the Prussians in check 
for the moment. The first and second 
Prussian corps appeared on the field still 
later than the fourth. The third corps 
had put themselves in motion to follow 
in the same direction, when they Avere 
furiously attacked by the French under 
mareschal Grouchy, Avho, as already 
stated, was detatched to engage the at- 
tention of Bulcher, whose whole force 
he believed he had before him. 

Instead of being surprised, as an ordi- 
nary general might have been, with this 
attack upon his rear, Blucher contented 
himself with sending back orders to 
Thielman who commanded the third 
corps, to defend himself as well as he 
could upon the line of the Dyle. In the 
meantime, without weakening the army 
under his own command, by detaching 
any part of it to support Thielman, the 
veteran rather hastened than suspended 
his march towards the field of battle, 
where he was aware that the war was 
likely to be decided in a manner so com- 
plete, as would leave victory or defeat 
on every other point, a matter of subordi- 
nate consideration. 



At half-past six, or thereabouts, the 
second grand division of the Prussian 
army began to enter into communication 
with the British left, by the village of 
Ohain, while Bulow pressed forward 
from Chapelle Lambert on the French 
right and rear, by a hollow or valley 
called Frischemont. It became now 
evident that the Prussians were to enter 
seriously into the battle, and with great 
force. Napoleon had still the means of 
opposing them, and of achieving a re- 
treat, at the certainty, however, of being 
attacked upon the ensuing day by the 
combined armies of Britain and Prussia. 
His celebrated Guard had not yet taken 
any part in the conflict, and would now 
have been capable of affording him pro- 
tection after a battle, which hitherto he 
had fought at disadvantage, but without 
being defeated. But the circumstances 
by which he was surrounded must have 
pressed on his mind at once. He had 
no succors to look for ; a re-union with 
Grouchy was the only resource which 
could strengthen his forces ; the Rus- 
sians were advancing upon the Rhine 
with forced marches ; the republicans at 
Paris were agitating schemes against his 
authority. It seemed as if all must be 
decided on that day, and on that field. 
Surrounded by these ill-omened circum- 
stances, a desperate effort for victory, 
ere the Prussians could act effectually, 
might perhaps yet drive the English from 
their position ; and he determined to ven- 
ture on this daring experiment. 

About seven o'clock. Napoleon's Guard 
were fonned in two columns, under his 
own eye, near the bottom of the declivity 
of La Belle Alliance. They were put 
under command of the daimtless Ney. 
Bonaparte told the soldiers, and indeed 
imposed the same fiction on their com- 
mander, that the Prussians whom they 
saw on the right were retreating before 
Grouchy. Perhaps he might himself be- 
lieve that this was ti-ue. The Guard 
answered for the last time, with shouts 
of Vive PEmpereur, and moved resolutely 
forward, having for their support four bat- 
talions of the Old Guard in reserve, who 
stood prepared to protect the advance of 
their comrades. A gradual change had 
taken place in the English line of battle, 



496 



NETHERLANDS. 



^ifMk-^y 


..^.J 


)^..^v^^ ^rw^/:-- . ''c^,^ -'^^^^t^^^W^^^^^^^^f^ ^-l^^^S^ 



BaUle of Waterloo. 



in consequence of the repe.ated repulse 
of the French. Advancing by slow de- 
grees, the right, which, at the beginning 
of the conflict, presented a segment of a 
convex circle, now resembled one that 
was concave, the extreme right, which 
had been thrown back, being now rather 
brought forward, so that their fire, both 
of artillery and infantry, fell upon the 
flank of the French, who had also to sus- 
tain that which was poured on their front 
from the heights. The British were ar- 
ranged in a line of four men deep, to meet 
the advancing columns of the French 
Guard, and poured upon them a storm of 
musketry which never ceased an instant. 
The soldiers fired independently, as it is 
called ; each man loading and discharg- 
ing his piece as fast as he could. At 
length the British moved forward, as if 
to close rovmd the heads of the columns, 
and at the same time continued to pour 
their shot upon the enemy's flanks. The 
French gallantly attempted to deploy, for 
the purpose nf returning the discharge. 
But in tlioir eflbrt to do so, under so dread- 
ful a fire, they stopt, staggered, became 
disordered, were blended into one mass, 
and at length gave way, retiring, or rather 



flying, in the utmost confusion. This 
was the last effort of the enemy, and Na- 
poleon gave orders for the retreat ; to 
protect which, he had now no troops left, 
save the last four battalions of the Old 
Guard, which had been stationed in the 
rear of the attacking columns. These 
threw themselves into squares, and stood 
firm. But at this moment the duke of 
Wellington commanded the Avhole Brit- 
ish line to advance, so that whatever 
the bravery and skill of these gallant vet- 
erans, they also were thrown into disor- 
der, and swept away in the general rout, 
in spite of the efforts of Ney, who, hav- 
ing had his horse killed, fought sword in 
hand, and on foot, in the front of the bat- 
tle, till the veiy last. That mareschal, 
whose military virtues at least cannot be 
challenged, bore personal evidence against 
two circumstances, industriously circu- 
lated by the friends of Napoleon. One 
of these fictions occurs in his own bul- 
letin, which charges the loss of the battle 
to a panic fear, brought about by the 
treachery of some unknown persons, who 
raised the cry of, " Sauve qui pent." 
Another figment, greedily credited at 
Paris, bore, that the four battalions of 



NETHERLANDS. 



497 



Old Guard, the last who maintained the 
semblance of order, answered a summons 
to surrender, by the magnanimous reply, 
" The Guard can die, but cannot yield." 
And one edition of the story adds, that 
thereupon the battalions made a half wheel 
inwards, and discharged their muskets 
into each other's bosoms, to save them- 
selves from dying by the hands of the 
English. Neither the original reply, nor 
the pretended self-sacrifice of the Guard, 
have the slightest foundation. Cambrone, 
in whose mouth the speech was placed, 
gave up his own sword, and remained 
prisoner ; and the military conduct of the 
French Guard is better eulogized by the 
undisputed truth, that they fought to ex- 
tremity, with the most unyieldnig con- 
stancy, than by imputing to them an act 
of regimental suicide upon the lost field 
of battle. Every attribute of brave men 
they have a just right to claim. It is no 
compliment to ascribe to them that of 
madmen. Whether the words were used 
by Cambrone or no, the Guard well de- 
served to have them inscribed on their 
monument. 

Whilst this decisive movement took 
place, Bulow, who had concentrated his 
troops, and was at length qualified to act 
in force, carried the village of Planche- 
noit in the French rear, and was now 
firing so close on their right wing, that 
the cannonade annoyed the British who 
were in pursuit, and was suspended in 
consequence. Moving in oblique lines, 
the British and Prussian armies came 
into contact with each other on the heights 
so lately occupied by the French, and 
celebrated the victory with loud shouts 
of mutual congratulation. 

The French army was now in total 
and inextricable confusion and rout ; and 
when the victorious generals met at the 
farm-house of La Belle Alliance, it was 
agreed that the Prussians, who were fresh 
in comparison, should follow up the chase, 
a duty for which the British, exhausted 
by the fatigues of a battle of eight hours, 
were totally inadequate. 

During the whole action. Napoleon 
maintained the utmost serenity. He re- 
mained on the heights of La Belle Alli- 
ance, keeping pretty near the centre, 
from which he had a full view of the field, 
63 



which does not exceed a mile and a half 
in length. He expressed no solicitude 
on the fate of the battle for a long time, 
noticed the behavior of particular regi- 
ments, and praised the English several 
times, always, however, talking of them 
as an assured prey. When forming his 
Guard for the last fatal effort, he descend- 
ed near them, half down the causeway 
from La Belle Alliance, to bestow upon 
them what proved his parting exhortation. 
He watched intently their progress with a 
spyglass, and refused to listen to one or 
two aides-de-camp, who at that moment 
came from the right to inform him of the 
appearance of the Prussians. At length, 
on seeing the attacking columns stagger 
and become confused, his countenance, 
said our informer, became pale as that of a 
corpse, and muttering to himself, " They 
are mingled together," he said to his at- 
tendants, " All is lost for the present," 
and rode off the field ; not stopping or 
taking refreshment till he reached Char- 
leroi, where he paused for a moment in 
a meadow, and occupied a tent which 
had been pitched for his accommoda- 
tion. 

Meantime the pursuit of his discomfit- 
ed army was followed up by Blucher, 
with the most determined perseverance. 
He accelerated the march of the Prus- 
sian advanced guard, and despatched 
every man and horse of his cavalry upon 
the pursuit of the fugitive French. At 
Genappe they attempted something like 
defence, by barricading the bridge and 
streets ; but the Prussians forced them 
in a moment, and although the French 
were sufficiently numerous for resistance, 
their disorder was so irremediable, and 
their moral courage was so absolutely 
quelled for the m'oment, that in many 
cases they were slaughtered like sheep. 
They were driven frombivouac to bivouac, 
without exhibiting even the shadow of 
their usual courage. One hundred and 
fifty guns were left in the hands of the 
English, and a like number taken by the 
Prussians in course of the pursuit. The 
latter obtained possession also of all Na- 
poleon's baggage, and of his carriage, 
where, amongst many articles of curiosi- 
ty, was found a proclamation intended to 
be made pubhc at Brussels the next day. 



498 



PERSIA, 



The loss on the British side during 
this dreadful battle was, as the duke of 
Wellington, no user of exaggerated ex- 
pressions, truly termed it, immense. One 
hundred officers slain, five hundred 
wounded, many of them to death, fifteen 
thousand men killed and wounded, (in- 
dependent of the Prussian loss at Wavre,) 
threw half Britain into mourning. Many 
officers of distinction fell. It required 
all the glory, and all the solid advantages, 
of this iuimortal day, to reconcile the 
mind to the high price at which it was 
purchased. The commander-in-chief, 
compelled to be on every point of danger, 
Avas repeatedly in the greatest jeopardy. 
Only the duke himself, and one gentle- 
man of his numerous staff, escaped un- 
wounded in horse and person. 

It would be difficult to form a guess at 
the extent of the French loss. Besides 
those who fell in the battle and flight, 
great numbers deserted. We do not be- 
lieve, that of 75,000 men, the half were 
ever again collected under arms. 

The revolution in July, 1830, was soon 
followed by one in Belgium. It may be 
said to date its commencement from a 
meeting, principally composed of citizens, 
which was called at Brussels, August 24, 
1830. It appears that the people of the 
Belgian provinces were never cordially 
united with Holland and the other Dutch 
provinces. ^ King William (the prince of 
Orange) attempted, but without much 



success, to unite two millions of Dutch 
Calvinists, engaged principally in com- 
merce, with four millions of Belgian 
Catholics, employed in agriculture and 
manufactures, whose interests, language 
and manners were widely opposed to the 
Dutch. They also had some just cause 
of complaint against some arbitrary mea- 
sures of William's government. The 
Belgians, therefore, rose and followed the 
example of the French by throwing off 
a government forced upon them against 
their wishes. They made a formal decla- 
ration of independence, October 4,1830. 
After a short struggle with the Dutch 
troops, France lent her aid in the con- 
test ; and the European powers having 
become mediators for the express pur- 
pose of dismembering the countries, it 
was finally settled that Leopold of Saxe 
Coburg should become head of the fu- 
ture kingdom. Leopold made his public 
entry into Brussels, July 21, 1831, and 
took the oath to observe the constitution 
and maintain the national independence. 
Since this period but little has occurred 
to disturb the tranquillity of the two coun- 
tries, with the exception of the attack on 
the fortress at Antwerp, which the Dutch 
were very unwilling to give up. It was 
attacked by the French troops, and bravely 
defended by general Chasse. The French 
by using artillery of a most formidable 
character, forced the garrison to capitu- 
late, December 23, 1832. 



PERSIA. 



Sir William Jones divides the ancient 
history of the Persians into three dis- 
tinct periods : The " dark and fabulous," 
comprehending the ages preceding the 
Kaianian dynasty ; the " heroic and poet- 
ical," commencing with the Kaianian 
dynasty and terminating with the acces- 
sion of Ardisheer Babigan ; and the " his- 
torical," which includes the reigns of the 
Sassanian Kings. 

The Persians rose into notice and 
power by the conquest of Cyrus, who is 
celebrated both in profane and sacred his- 



tory. Cyrus was the son of a Persian 
nobleman, and married the daughter of 
the king of the Medes, and by this means 
Persia and Media became one kingdom. 
He conquered the Lydians, made himself 
master of Sardis, their capital, and took 
prisoner the king Crcesus, so celebrated 
for his vast riches. He conquered Baby- 
lon and subjected the greater part of 
Asia Minor, and made himself master of 
Syria and Arabia. The religion of the 
ancient Persians was of great antiquity. 
Zoroaster was the founder of the sect of 



PERSIA. 



499 



Magi, in the eastern world, and particu- 
larly in Persia. This sect adored the 
sun, and paid great veneration to fire — 
hence they were called fire-worshippers. 
The conquest of the Grecian states 
seems to have been a favorite object with 
the Persians from the time of Cyrus. 
They entered Greece under Xerxes and 
others, but the Grecian states by uniting 
drove the invaders from their country. 
Alexander the Great, on his return from 
Egypt, went into Assyria, where he was 
met at Arbcla by Darius the Persian king 
at the head of 700,000 men. A battle took 
place, in which the Persians were defeat- 
ed with the loss of 300,000 men. Darius 
escaped, and fled from province to prov- 
ince, until he was at last murdered by one 
of his own officers. This ended the Per- 
sian Empire, which submitted to the con- 
queror 330 years before the christian era. 
The Persian historians before the time 
of Cyrus and Alexander the Great, and 
even for a period afterwards, are so in- 
termixed with fabulous accounts, that it 
is difficult to ascertain the truth from their 
records. We learn, however, from the 
more authentic records of the Greeks, 
that Persia on the death of Alexander 
fell to Seleucus, who reigned also over 
Syria, and whose descendants kept pos- 
session of it for sixty-two years, when 
one of the tributary chiefs, named Ar- 
saces, revolted, and having slain Aga- 
thocles, the viceroy of Antiochus Theos, 
rescued Persia from the dominion of the 
Seleucides, and established what is termed 
the Parthian dynasty of the Arsacides. 
Of this dynasty there were two branches ; 
the first comprehending twenty kings, 
who ruled over Persia for 270 years ; 
and the reigns of the eleven monarchs of 
the second branch included a space of 
221 years. This brings us down to the 
foundation of the Sassanian dynasty, at 
which commences " the historical pe- 
riod;" and here we may observe, that, 
though the Persian accounts are embel- 
lished with hyperbolical descriptions, 
and blended with some fables, they are 
more correct in the general narrative 
than western writers, who confine their 
history chiefly to those transactions in 
which they themselves were more imme- 
diately concerned. 



Arduan, the last of the Parthian mon- 
archs, at this time ruled over Persia, 
when Ardisheer Babigan, the son of an 
inferior officer in the public service, and 
a descendant of Sassan, the grandson 
of the celebrated Isfundear, had so dis- 
tinguished himself by his courage and 
his genius, that he was appointed gov- 
ernor of Darabjird. This rapid rise in 
his fortunes filled his mind with more 
ambitious views, and soon led him to 
grasp at the Persian sceptre. Having 
represented to the Persian nobility the 
disgrace of submitting to a foreign yoke, 
and the honor and advantage to be gained 
by a revolution, he brought many of 
them over to his interest, and he and his 
adherents got possession of Fars, Ker- 
man, and Irak, before the king had taken 
any steps to oppose his progress. Ardu- 
an was now compelled to take the field, 
and, having collected a numerous army, 
resolved to stake his crown on a single 
action. The hostile armies engaged on the 
plain of Hoormuz, where Arduan lost both 
his crown and his life. This battle raised 
Ardisheer to the sovreignty of Persia. 
The other provinces soon submitted to his 
sway ; and he assumed the proud title of 
Shahan Shah, or " king of kings." In 
extending his empire towards the west, 
he had to contend with the Roman ar- 
mies ; and though the accounts given of 
this war by western and eastern authors 
are somewhat opposite, yet, upon the 
whole, it would seem that the result was 
favorable to the Persian arms. Having 
established by wise regulations the tran- 
quillity of his dominions, he restored to 
its ancient purity the religion of Zoroas^ 
ter, which had fallen into neglect and 
corruption during the Parthian rule. He 
is said to have rebuilt the city of Madain 
on the banks of the Tigris, and made it 
the capital of the empire. After a most 
prosperous reign of fourteen years, he 
resigned his sceptre to his son Shahpoor, 

Ardisheer is represented as a prince 
of extraordinary wisdom and valor. — 
Though born in a low station, he, by his 
talents and intrepidity, delivered his coun- 
try from thraldom, and restored the glory 
of the Persian name. While he was al- 
most adored by his subjects, his friend- 
ship was courted by the greatest mon- 



500 



PERSIA. 



archs of the age ; and his character was 
held up as a model to his successors. 

Shahpoor was a prince of considera- 
ble reputation, but is chiefly distinguished 
by his wars with the Romans. His first 
achievement was the recovery of Juzcer- 
ah, or the countries between the Tigris 
and the Euphrates, and the capture of 
the famous fort of Nisibis, which had 
long resisted all his efforts to subdue it. 
He then carried his arms into the Roman 
territories ; he took the emperor Valerian 
prisoner, and compelled his captive army 
to receive an emperor of his own ap> 
pointment. His success, however, was 
not of long duration. He was defeated 
by Odenatus, prince of Palmyrene, and 
driven with immense loss within his own 
boundaries. The latter years of the reign 
of this monarch were employed in de- 
corating his dominions with many cities 
and public buildings. He built the city 
of Shuster, and erected an immense 
dyke, over which he brought the river 
Karoon, in order to supply the adjacent 
country with water. Nishapore in Kho- 
rassan, and Shahpoor in Fars, owe their 
existence to him ; and the sculptured 
rocks, near the latter place, commemo- 
rate his capture of a Roman emperor. 

It was during the reign of Sliahpoor, 
that Mani, the founder of the sect of the 
Manichaeans, first began to propagate his 
opinions. He attempted to reconcile the 
doctrines of the Metempsychosis, as 
taught by the Hindoos, and the two prin- 
ciples of good and evil of Zoroaster, 
with the tenets of the christian religion ; 
but he and almost all his disciples were 
afterwards put to death by order of king 
Baharam, and the skin of the impostor 
was stripped off, and hung up at the gate 
of the city of Shahpoor. 

A remarkable circumstance is recorded 
of Hoormuz, the successor of Shahpoor, 
before he ascended the throne. He was the 
governor of Khorassan,and had been most 
successful in establishing the tranquil- 
lity of that imsettled province. But some 
of his enemies had excited suspicions of 
his fidelity in the breast of Shahpoor ; 
of which Hoormuz was no sooner made 
acquainted than he made one of his hands 
to be cut off, and sent it to his father as 
a mark of his devoted allegiance. Shah- 



! poor was so struck with horror at the 
deed, which his rash suspicions had 
caused, that he immediately sent for him 
to court, and treated him with the most 
unbounded affection and confidence. This 
good prince founded the city of Ram- 
Hoormuz, and reigned only one year. 

In the reigns of the three Baharams, 
nothing remarkable occurred worth not- 
ing. Their successor Narsi was a prince 
of a mild disposition ; but he had the 
misfortune to engage in war with the 
Romans, who at that time had many great 
generals. His arms were at first suc- 
cessful. He defeated the emperor Gale- 
rius, and subdued almost all Armenia ; 
but his subsequent discomfitures forced 
him to conclude an ignominious peace, 
by which he ceded the province of Ju- 
zeerah, and five districts east of the 
Tigris 

We pass over the reign of Hoormuz 
II, as affording no event of importance, 
to record the achievements of Shahpoor 
II. On the demise of Hoormuz, Persia 
was about to become a prey to all the 
troubles which accompany a disputed 
succession, when a lady of the harem 
declared she was pregnant. The nobles 
of the kingdom, in order to preserve their 
country from the horrors of a civil war, 
resolved to swear allegiance to the unborn 
child of Hoormuz. This child proved to 
be a male, and the unanimous voice of 
the nobles bestowed upon him the name of 
Shahpoor. His education was conduct- 
ed with the most affectionate solicitude ; 
and every care was taken that he should 
imbibe those principles and views which 
became his high destiny. During his 
minority the kingdom was exposed to the 
insults and ravages of the neighboring 
tribes, particularly the Arabs, who car- 
ried desolation into the fertile valleys of 
Persia. But the young monarch took 
signal vengeance upon these marauders ; 
and their chastisement is perpetuated in 
his title of Zoolaktaf, or " Lord of the 
shoulders." He overran Yemen, put 
many of the inhabitants to the sword, 
and dislocated the shoulders of all his 
prisoners who were able to bear arms. 
He made no great attempt to extend his 
dominions on the west during the life 
of Constantine the Great. An improba- 



PERSIA. 



501 



ble story is recorded of his having gone 
to Constantinople in the disguise of an 
ambassador from his own court, in order 
to acquire an acquaintance with the Ro- 
man empire, but being discovered, he 
was imprisoned and treated with great 
indignity. 

The disorders which followed the death 
of Constantine aflbrded Shahpoor an op- 
portunity of recovering from the Romans 
those provinces which they had wrested 
from his grandfather. He therefore took 
the field ; but though successful in many 
engagements, the fort of Nisibis defied 
all his efforts ; and in the battle of Sin- 
gara he was severely repulsed, and was 
forced to retire with the loss of his son. 
Leaving the defence of the frontiers to 
some of his generals, he turned his arms 
against the Tartar tribes, many of whom 
he subdued by force, while others yield- 
ed without resistance to his authority. 
The emperor Constans now made over- 
tures for peace ; but Shahpoor claiming 
Armenia and Juzeerah as belonging to 
the Persian empire, the treaty was brok- 
en oft', and preparations made for renew- 
ing the war. Nothing decisive, however, 
happened during the life of Constans. 
But when Julian had assumed the pur- 
ple, he resolved to break the Persian 
power so eflectually, as to prevent them 
for ever from again disturbing the fron- 
tier provinces of the Roman empire. 
He therefore took the field with an im- 
mense army ; but the Persian monarch, 
aware of his inferiority were he to risk 
a pitched battle, retired into the interior 
of his kingdom, and left his capital to be 
pillaged by the Romans. Julian follow- 
ed, and penetrated into the heart of Per- 
sia, and, after a harassing march, and 
much suffering from the intense heat of 
the climate and the scarcity of provi- 
sions, was surprised by Shahpoor, who 
had collected all his forces ; and in a des- 
perate engagement which ensued, the 
Romans were completely routed, with 
the loss of their emperor, who was so 
badly wounded that he died the succeed- 
ing night. The consequence of this vic- 
tory was, an advantageous peace, by 
which Persia recovered the five provin- 
ces yielded by Narsi, and the strong fort 
of Nisibis, which had for a long time 



been the bulwark of the Roman power 
in the east. 

Shahpoor afterwards reduced Armenia 
into a province of the empire, and hav- 
ing raised his country to a state of the 
greatest prosperity, he died at the age of 
seventy-one. This prince, renowned for 
wisdom and valor, was alike remarkable 
for his knowledge of the human mind. 
He used to say, " that words may prove 
more vivifying than the showers of spring, 
and sharper than the sword of destruc- 
tion. The point of a lance may be with- 
drawn from the body, but a cruel expres- 
sion can never be extracted from the 
heart that it has once wounded." 

The names of Ardisheer H, Shahpoor 
HI, Baharam IV, and Yezdijird Ulathin, 
are all that is worth recording. Upon 
the death of Yezdijird, the succession of 
his son Baharam V, was opposed by the 
luxurious nobles at the court of Madain. 
This prince, while yet a child, had been 
entrusted by his father to the care of 
Noman, prince of Hirah, to be educated 
after the manner of the Arabs ; and they 
could not submit to be ruled by a mon- 
arch whose manners and habits of life 
were so different from their own. They, 
therefore, raised to the throne another 
prince of the royal family ; but Baharam, 
having collected an army of Arabs, ob- 
tained his right almost without a strug- 
gle. The first acts of his reign were, 
to reward Noman, who had educated and 
assisted him in regaining his crown, and 
to pardon those who had endeavored to de- 
prive him of it. These acts, and his gen- 
eral munificence and generosity, spread 
joy over Persia, and gained him the af- 
fections and esteem of his subjects. It 
was during his reign that musicians and 
minstrels were first introduced from In- 
dia ; and Baharam, who rejoiced in the 
happiness of his people, gave them such 
encouragement, that 1 2,000 were induced 
to settle in his dominions. This joyous 
disposition of the monarch impressed his 
neighbors with the belief that the mar- 
tial spirit of the Persians had yielded to 
the love of merriment and ease. Acting 
upon this impression, the Khan of the 
Hiatilla, or White Huns, a tribe of Tar- 
tars who had taken possession of the 
country beyond the Oxus, suddenly cross- 



502 



PERSIA. 



ed that river with a mighty army, and 
destruction and desolation marked his pro- 
gress. Baharam saw the torrent rolling 
towards his capital, without possessing 
any means to repel it. He therefore 
seemed to yield to its force ; and left his 
kingdom a prey to the conqueror. Re- 
tiring with a chosen body of Persian 
warriors, he passed the straits of Der- 
bent, and, coasting the Caspian, came 
into Tartary. Here he refreshed his 
troops ; and while the Tartars were feast- 
ing in supposed security, believing that 
he had taken refuge in the Roman em- 
pire, he silently entered Persia, surpris- 
ed their camp, and having slain their 
chief with his own hand, drove them 
with terrible slaughter across the Oxus. 
This victory struck awe into the Tartar 
tribes, and secured their forbearance 
during the life of the conqueror. 

The Christians, who, in the former 
reign, had been encouraged and protected, 
at this time suffered much from the per- 
secutions of the Magi. These persecu- 
tions, however, were chiefly owing to 
the imprudence of the Persian Prelate, 
who in a lit of zeal burnt to the ground 
one of the Magian temples, which so 
roused the indignation of the priests, that 
they demolished all the Christian church- 
es, and put the Christian bishop to death. 
A war with the emperor Theodosius im- 
mediately followed, which was attended 
with various success ; but it was immor- 
talized by the conduct of a Christian 
bishop,which did more to secure the good- 
will of Baharam to the Christians, than 
all the threatenings of Theodosius. In 
the beginning of the war, 7,000 Persian 
prisoners, who had been brought to the 
city of Amida, had fallen into extreme 
distress. Acacius, bishop of that place, 
having assembled his clergy, observed 
that the Almighty preferred mercy to sa- 
crifice, and proposed that the plate of 
their church should be sold for the relief 
of these captives. The proposal was 
highly applauded. The Persians were 
liberally and aflectionately treated during 
the war, and at last dismissed with pre- 
sents to their native country. 

Baharam received the surname of Gour, 
from his being enthusiastically devoted 
to the chase, particularly of the gour, or 



" wild ass," a diversion which he had 
learned among the Arabs. It was while 
pursuing this favorite amusement that he 
lost his life, by his horse coming sudden~ 
ly upon a deep spring, and plunging into 
it with his royal master, when both dis- 
appeared. The body of the king was 
never found, though every search was 
made for it by his inconsolable mother. 

Baharam Gour reigned eighteen years, 
and was one of the best monarchs, and 
most beloved by his subjects, that ever 
ruled in Persia. His successor Yezdi- 
jird II, was a prince of great knowledge 
and experience, and received the title of 
Sipahdost, or " The soldiers' friend," 
from his great attention to their wants 
and comforts. In the only expedition 
which he undertook against the emperor 
of Constantinople, who had refused to 
pay the usual tribute, he not only brought 
that prince to compliance, but secured 
the good opinion of the provinces through 
which he passed. He compelled his 
troops to pay for every thing they had, 
to treat the iidiabitants with the greatest 
civility, and to conduct themselves rather 
like strangers who came to see the coim- 
try, than like enemies disposed to de- 
stroy it. 

Yezdijird, before his death, had soli- 
cited the nobles to support his favorite 
son, Hoormuz III, on the throne, in op- 
position to his elder brother Firoze, who, 
in order to facilitate that measure, had 
been appointed to the command of a re- 
mote province. Firoze, as soon as he 
heard of the accession of his brother, 
took refuge with Khoosh-Nuaz, or " the 
bountiful monarch," one of the kings of 
the Hiatilla. This prince welcomed him 
to his court, loaded him with kindness, 
and supplied him with an army to recov- 
er his birth-right. Hoormuz was dethron- 
ed and put to death. A seven years' 
drought immediately followed the eleva- 
tion of Firoze, which was regarded as a 
punishment from heaven for their crimes ; 
but no sooner was his country relieved 
from this calamity, than the ungrateful 
prince employed all the resources of the 
empire to destroy the generous benefactor 
who had placed him on the throne. He 
crossed the Oxus with his troops ; and 
Koosh-Nuaz, unable to oppose him, re- 



PERSIA. 



503 



tired at bis approach. But the king of 
the Huns was saved by the patriotic de- 
votion of one of his chief officers. This 
person, after communicating his plan to 
his sovereign, caused his body to be 
mangled, with the loss of some of his 
limbs, and to be laid on the road where 
the Persian army should pass. Being 
conveyed to Firoze, that prince demand- 
ed the cause of such cruel treatment. 
The artful Hun answered, that it was the 
tyrant Koosh-Nuaz, who had punished 
him for the advice which he had given, 
as a faithful servant, to submit to any 
conditions rather than engage in war with 
the hero Firoze. " But I will be re- 
venged," he added, " I will lead you by 
a short route, where you shall, in a few 
days, intercept the tyrant, and rid the 
world of a monster." The situation and 
words of the wounded chief established 
the belief of his sincerity in the mind 
of the Persian king; and he suffered 
his army to be led by the direction of 
the Tartar, till thinned with hunger and 
fatigue, they were compelled to submit 
to the mercy of the enemy. The gener- 
ous Koosh-Nuaz, instead of punishing 
the ungrateful Firoze, offered to conduct 
him and the remains of his army safely 
back to Persia, provided he took an oath 
that he would not again invade his do- 
minions. With this Firoze was obliged 
to comply. But his soul could not brook 
the recollection of his degradation; and 
his first determination, on his return, was 
to wipe away his disgrace by the ruin of 
his benefactor. Having appointed a no- 
bleman, named Sukhvar, regent in his 
absence, he, in breach of his solemn 
oath, and in defiance of the advice of 
his sagest counsellors, led his army once 
more against the bestower of his crown, 
and now the preserver of his life. On the 
approach of the two armies, the Tartar 
prince presented, on the point of his lance, 
the treaty to which Firoze had sworn ; 
and besought him to desist, before he had 
destroyed his fame for ever. But Firoze 
nished to the attack. The Huns gave 
way, and the Persians were received into 
deep pits, which had been dug for the 
purpose, and covered over with brush- 
wood and earth ; when the incorrigible 
injrratitude of the Persian monarch was 



punished with the loss of his army and 
his life. 

Pallas, the son of Firoze, ascended 
the throne, but his reign was of short 
duration ; and the long reign of his suc- 
cessor Kobad is remarkable, chiefly for 
the encouragement which he gave to an 
impostor of the name of Mazdak, who 
propagated the popular doctrine of a com- 
munity of females and of property. The 
progress of this doctrine spread anarchy, 
rapine, and lust, throughout the kingdom. 
But the nobles, who cherished different 
sentiments from their monarch, combined 
for their own preservation, and having 
confined Kobad, they placed his brother 
Jamasp upon the throne. They would 
also have imprisoned Mazdak, but his 
followers were numerous, and he contriv- 
ed to elude all their efforts. Kobad hav- 
ing escaped from prison by the dexterity 
and address of his sister, who, it is said, 
was connected with him by other ties than 
those of kindred, and is in fact called, 
by western writers, his queen, fled to the 
Tartar court, and by the assistance of 
its monarch soon regained his throne. 
On his return, he greatly reformed his 
conduct, and though still secretly inclined 
to the sect of Mazdak, he durst never 
carry his notions into practice. This 
prince carried on a long and successful 
war with the Romans ; and not only ex- 
tended his empire by his arms, but im- 
proved it by the encouragement which he 
gave to the arts, and died respected 
abroad and beloved at home. 

By the will of Kobad, the crown was 
bequeathed to Chosroes, his favorite son, 
who was surnamed Nousheerwan, or 
" The Magnanimous." This prince was 
distinguished by great abilities and mild- 
ness of disposition, and is considered by 
oriental historians as the most glorious 
monarch that ever ruled in Persia. His 
first efforts were directed to the proscrip- 
tion of the pestilential and abominable 
tenets of Mazdak, whom he ordered to 
be executed, with many of his followers. 
He then set himself to reform many 
great abuses which had crept into the 
government. He fixed the revenue and 
taxes ; and the system which was then 
established, continued to be followed for 
many centuries. For the better adrainis- 



504 



PERSIA. 



tration of justice, and the more easy 
management of public affairs, he divided 
the kingdom into four governments. — 
Over each of these he appointed a gov- 
ernor of the blood royal, and established 
such regulations as seemed best adapted 
to prevent the abuse of power in these 
officers. He was indefatigable in his 
endeavors to promote the prosperity of 
his kingdom. He founded schools and 
colleges, and gave great encouragement 
to learned men of every country, who 
resorted to his court. The famous fa- 
bles of Pilpay were introduced by him 
from India, and translated into Persian ; 
and he also caused to be published, a 
multitude of copies of a work entitled 
" Ardisheer's Instructions for all Degrees 
of Men," and obliged every family to re- 
ceive one. In all these measures he was 
assisted by the extraordinary wisdom and 
virtues of his favorite vizier Abouzurg- 
a-Mihir, who had been raised by the dis- 
cernment of his master from the lowest 
station to the first rank in the kingdom. 
Nousheerwan very early entered into a 
Avar with the Romans, during which An- 
tioch was taken, and its inhabitants trans- 
planted to the banks of the Tigris. We 
cannot enter, however, into the long wars 
which he waged with Justinian, and his 
two successors, Justin and Tiberius ; 
but the capture of Antioch, with the re- 
duction of Syria, the conquest of Iberia 
and Colchos, and his unopposed progress 
to the shores of the Mediterranean, tes- 
tify the ability and success with which 
they were prosecuted. He was equally 
successful in other quarters. He checked 
the encroachments of the Huns, who had 
seized a large territory south of the Ox- 
us. He drove them beyond that river, 
and extended his dominions as far as 
Ferghana. The countries to the east 
reaching to the Indus, some provinces 
of India, and the finest districts of Ara- 
bia, also acknowledged his sway. 

Having settled the boundaries of his 
vast dominions, Nousheerwan returned 
to his capital, Madain, which he adorned 
with many beautiful buildings, among 
which was the palace, denominated " the 
dome of Chosroes," which was consider- 
ed one of the wonders of the East ; and 
his court was crowded with ambassadors 



from the greatest potentates of the world, 
who came, loaded with the richest pre- 
sents, to compliment him on his victo- 
ries, and to court his friendship. But 
the prosperous reign of this monarch was 
clouded by the rebellion of his son Nous- 
chizad. This prince had been educated 
in the christian faith by his mother, who 
was a christian captive of great beauty, 
and of whom the king was passionately 
fond, and was so impressed with the 
truth of its doctrines, that he could not 
be moved, either by the threats of the 
Magi or the entreaties of his father. 
Nousheerwan, who was a strict observer 
of the worship of fire, dreading the evil 
consequences of religious disputes among 
his subjects, and fearing that many might 
be induced to embrace the religion of the 
heir-apparent to the throne, placed his 
son in a kind of confinement. During 
the absence of the king in Syria, a re- 
port of his death had reached Persia, 
upon which Nouschizad, having effected 
his escape, drew together a considerable 
force, of which many were christians ; 
and continued to increase his army, even 
after he had been informed that his father 
was alive and well. As soon as Nous- 
heerwan heard of this revolt, he despatch- 
ed one of his generals against his rebel- 
Uous son ; and the insurrection was 
quelled by the death of the prince, who 
fell in the first encounter. 

Perhaps no monarch was ever more 
zealous in promoting the general hap- 
piness of his people than Nousheerwan. 
His impartial administration of justice, 
and his vigilance in detecting and pun- 
ishing every act of oppression in his in- 
ferior officers, gave confidence and secu- 
rity to all. Many anecdotes are record- 
ed of his strict adherence to justice, 
which seems to have been a principal 
feature in his character. He was sur- 
named by the Arabians, Al-Malek, or, 
" The Just ;" and Mahomed used to boast 
of his good fortune in being born under 
the reign of so just a king. A Roman 
ambassador, one day, admiring the noble 
prospect from the windows of the impe- 
rial palace, remarked an uneven piece of 
ground, and inquired the reason why it 
was not made uniform. A Persian noble 
replied, " It is the property of an old 



PERSIA. 



505 



woman, who has objections to sell it, ! 
though often requested to do so by our 
king ; and he is more willing to have his 
prospect spoiled, than to commit vio- 
lence." " That irregular spot," said the 
Roman, " consecrated as it is by justice, 
appears more beautiful than all the sur- 
rounding scene." " This prince," says 
Khondemir, " possessed in a sovereign 
degree, as well the good qualities which 
render amiable a private man, as the ex- 
alted virtues which add lustre to a dia- 
dem." He resisted the influence of that 
luxury by which he was courted, neither 
giving himself up to indulgence, nor per- 
mitting it in others ; and he remained, to 
the last hour of a life protracted to more 
than eighty years, unconquered by pros- 
perity. 

With Nousheerwan expired the glory 
of Persia. His son, Hoormuz HI, who 
had been entrusted to the care of Abou- 
zurg-a-Mihir, soon forgot the example of 
his father, and the instructions of his vir- 
tuous minister , and plunging into every 
excess of indulgence and cruelty, ren- 
dered himself hateful to his subjects, and 
contemptible to his enemies. The prov- 
inces of India and Arabia, which ac- 
knowledged the power of Nousheerwan, 
disdained to yield obedience to his un- 
worthy successor ; and the Khan of Tar- 
tary crossed the Oxus, and demanded a 
free passage through Persia, under the 
pretence of invading the Roman empire. 
This chief, however, was opposed by 
Baharam, the Persian general, with on- 
ly 12,000 chosen troops, and slain in 
the first engagement. In a subsequent 
battle, the son of the Khan was taken 
prisoner, and sent to Madain with 250 
camels loaded with treasure. Hoormuz 
was at first delighted with his general's 
success ; but a worthless favorite mali- 
ciously insinuated, that Baharam had re- 
served the best of the spoil for his own 
use, or, according to the Persian expres- 
sion, " he had only sent the ear of the 
cow." The suspicious temper of the 
king immediately took the alarm, and, 
instead of a habit of honor, the usual 
present of Persian kings, he sent to Ba- 
haram as a mark of disgrace, the apparel 
of a woman, a distaft' and spindle. The 
hardy warrior, arrayed in his new apparel, 
64 



presented himself to his army. " Behold," 
said he, "the reward of all my services." 
The soldiers were filled with indignation, 
and immediately hailed Baharam as their 
king. The deposition and murder of 
Hoormuz soon followed ; and his son 
Khoosroo Purveez, who had collected a 
considerable army to support his father's 
throne, was completely defeated in the 
battle of Nahrwan, and fled for refuge 
to the emperor Maurice, where he met 
with a most hospitable and friendly re- 
ception. 

Baharam assumed the reins of govern- 
ment ; but his rule was short. Within 
eight months of his elevation, he was de- 
feated by Khoosroo, supported l)y an ar- 
my of Romans, and, flying into Tartary, 
was welcomed and protected by a people 
whose armies he had often vanquished. 
He was soon afterwards cut oflf by poi- 
son, at the instance, it is alleged, of the 
Persian king. 

Khoosroo, during the life-time of the 
emperor Maurice, maintained inviolable 
his friendship with the Romans, many 
of whom he treated with great favor and 
distinction ; but upon the murder of that 
prince by the centurion Phocas, he des- 
patched an immense army into the Ro- 
man territories, under the pretence of 
avenging the death of his benefactor. 
His generals overran and pillaged Syria 
and Palestine ; sacked the city of Jeru- 
salem ; and the true cross, attended by 
a crowd of captive priests and bishops, 
was borne in triumph to Madain. But 
while his arms were every where victo- 
rious, this monarch, who had given him- 
I self up to every species of luxury and 
self-indulgence, seemed to value his con- 
quests only as they added to his pleas- 
ures. The vast territories which his gen- 
erals had subdued were exhausted, to add 
to the magnificence of his palaces, and 
swell the gorgeous pomp of his royal 
person. He built a noble palace for every 
season ; and his principal throne, called 
Takh-dis, was supported with 40,000 sil- 
ver columns, and in the concave over 
them, which was formed to represent the 
twelve signs of the Zodiac, and adorned 
with a thousand globes of gold, were 
seen all the planets and great constella- 
tions performing their natural revolutions. 



506 



PERSIA. 



Twelve thousand females, the most beau- 
tiful in Persia, tilled his harem, 6,000 
horses stood in the royal stables, 12,000 
elephants followed his armies, and his 
treasures were deposited in 100 vaults. 
No monarch ever surpassed him in royal 
luxury and splendor, and for thirty years 
his arms were marked with complete 
success. His victorious troops carried 
the Persian banners to the frontiers of 
Ethiopia, and added Arabia, Egypt, and 
Colchos, to his dominions. 

Put Khoosroo was aroused from his 
dream of happiness and of conquest, by 
the victories of the Emperor Heraclius. 
This prince, who was as remarkable for 
his weakness and indecision in the cab- 
inet, as for his extraordinary valor and 
skill in the field, had long endeavored by 
negotiation, to avert the total overthrow 
of the Roman name, and had even sent 
deputies to express his desire to pur- 
chase peace upon any terms. He was, 
however, awakened from his lethargy by 
the insulting answer of the Persian king. 
" I will hearken to no terms, till your mas- 
ter shall renounce his crucified God, and 
adore the God of the Persians." Herac- 
lius, upon this, took the field in person, 
and in six glorious campaigns, stript 
Khoosroo of all his conquests, overran 
the finest provinces of his empire, des- 
troyed his magnificent palaces, plundered 
his hoarded treasures, and dispersed, in 
every direction, the countless slaves of 
his pleasures. The troops of Persia 
were overthrown in every encounter ; 
and Khoosroo was at last deposed by his 
own subjects, and murdered by the com- 
mand of his own son. Schirouch enjoy- 
ed the reward of his parricide only eight 
months ; and, during the four succeeding 
years, the kingdom was so distracted by 
intestine divisions, that seven sovereigns, 
two of whom were daughters of Khoosroo 
Purveez, were raised to the throne by the 
ambitious nobles, and successively mur- 
dered. Yezdijird III, the grandson of 
Khoosroo, was next called to wield the 
sceptre of Persia ; and he has obtained 
celebrity only as being the last sovereign 
of the house of Sassan ; and in whose 
reign the Arabs accomplished the subver- 
sion of the Persian empire. 

The first attempt of Mahomed to ex- 



tend his religion over Persia was in the 
reign of Khoosroo Purveez, who was so 
enraged at being called upon by an ob- 
scure Arabian to renounce the religion 
of his fathers, that he tore to pieces the 
letter of the prophet ; and to that sacrile- 
gious act, Mahomedan historians impute 
all that prince's subsequent misfortunes. 
The next attempt was made by the Ca- 
liph Omar, who commanded a body of 
Arabs to pass the Euphrates. They 
were at first severely repulsed in several 
engagements ; but by their valor and per- 
severance they at last obtained an impor- 
tant victory, which laid the foundation of 
the Mahomedan power in that country. 

The armies of the faithful soon ex- 
tended the authority of their master from 
the Euphrates to the Oxus, destroying 
with savage fury every vistage of idol- 
atry, and the inhabitants were every 
where compelled to submit to the reli- 
gion of the conquerors, or seek an asy- 
lum in other lands. Lieutenants were 
then appointed to the different districts of 
the country, and Persia, for more than two 
centuries, was held as a province under 
the Arabian Caliphs. In process of time, 
however, the fever of religious frenzy 
abated, and the power of the caliphs de- 
clined. The discontented and mutinous 
armies of the impotent successors of 
Omar and Aly were scarcely able to pro- 
tect the capital, much less hold in sub- 
jection the distant provinces of the em- 
pire, whose governors exercised almost 
regal power, carried on war Avith each 
other, and gave no mark of allegiance to 
the vicegerent of the prophet, except the 
merely using his name in the public 
prayers. 

While the kingdom was thus divided 
and distracted by the contentions of its 
petty rulers, the sceptre of Persia was 
won by the wisdom and valor of Yacoob- 
ben-Leis, the son of a pewterer and a 
robber. This daring chief was an inhab- 
itant of Seistan, and was characterized 
by great simplicity of manners. He pos- 
sessed the devoted attachment of his fol- 
lowers, and in no instance did he abuse 
his success, by any wanton act of cru- 
elty or oppression. Having first estab- 
lished his authority in his native prov- 
ince, he, from thence, carried his arms 



PERSIA. 



507 



over the finest districts of Persia, and his 
ambition even led him to threaten des- 
truction to the power and the government 
of the caliphs. He was, however, de- 
feated in the vicinity of Bagdad ; but, 
undismayed by his reverse, he recruited 
his army, and returned again to the at- 
tack of the capital. The caliph dreaded 
the result, and despatched a messenger 
to the camp of Yacoob. This leader, 
though lying dangerously ill, having 
commanded that his sword, some coarse 
bread, and dried onions should be laid be- 
fore him, desired the envoy to be introdu- 
ced. " Tell your master," said he, " that, 
if I live, that sword shall decide betwixt 
us : if I conquer, I will do as I please ; 
if he is victorious, that bread and those 
onions, which thou seest, is my fare ; 
and neither he nor fortune can triumph 
over a man accustomed to such diet." 
But the resolute chief survived only a 
few days, and almost the whole of Per- 
sia fell by succession to his brother Amer. 

Mahmood, the next monarch of note, 
was renowned, not only for his victories, 
but he was a mimificent patron of genius ; 
and it is to his love of literature, and the 
encouragement which he gave to learned 
men, that we owe the noble work of 
Ferdosi, the Shah Namah, or " Book of 
Kings," which contains almost all that 
remains of the ancient history of his coun- 
try. A splendid reward had been prom- 
ised to the poet, upon the completion of 
his task, but Mahmood had been persua- 
ded by envious rivals to lessen the 
amount. Ferdosi spurned the diminished 
present, and after adding to his poem a 
severe satire upon the king's want of 
generosity, left the court, and retired to 
his native city of Toos in Khorassan. 
Sometime afterward the monarch saw his 
error, but it was too late. The rich 
present destined for the poet, entered the 
gates of Toos, as the body of Ferdosi 
was carrying to its sepulchre ; and we | 
are told that his virtuous daughter rejected I 
the wealth which had been denied to the ' 
unrivalled merit of her father. I 

The conquests of Mahmood in the \ 
east, were uniformly marked by religious j 
persecution, and his bigot zeal led him : 
not only to destroy the idols, and pillage j 
the temples of the Hindoo idolaters, but j 



also to cover their cities with desolation. 
In a popular eastern tale, the vizier of 
this prince is represented as pretending 
to be acquainted with the language of 
birds, and as explaining the liberality of 
an old owl, who, after wishing " Mah- 
mood a long life," offered a hundred ru- 
ined villages as a dowry to her daughter. 
But while he was carrying the horrors of 
war and of persecution into every country 
which he visited, his own dominions en- 
joyed perfect tranquillity, which was 
greatly owing to his severe, but equitable 
rule. The following instance of his de- 
termined justice is recorded by all his 
historians. " A poor man had com- 
plained that a young noble of the court 
came constantly to his house at night, 
turned him out of doors, and slept with 
his wife. The monarch bade him give 
notice the next time this occurred. He 
did as he was directed, and Mahmood 
went with him to his house. When he 
reached it, he put out a lamp that was 
burning, and having found the paramour, 
struck off his head with one blow of his 
cimiter. He then called for a light, and, 
after viewing the corpse, fell upon his 
knees, and returned thanks to heaven, 
after which he bade the astonished hus- 
band bring him water, of which he drank 
an immoderate quantity. ' You are sur- 
prised at my actions,' said Mahmood, 
" but know, that since you informed me 
of the outrage you suffered, I have nei- 
ther slept, eat, nor drank. 1 conceived 
that no person, except one of my sons, 
would dare openly to commit so great a 
crime ; resolved to do justice, I extin- 
guished the light, that my feelings as a 
father might not prevent nie from doing 
my duty as a sovereign ; my prayers were 
a thanksgiving to the Almighty, when I 
saw that I had not been compelled to slay 
one of my own offspring, and I drank, as 
you observed, like a man that was ex- 
piring from thirst.' " 

The successors of Mahmood were un- 
able to maintain the glory which he had 
acquired, and were soon swept from the 
list of monarchs by the leader of a Tar- 
tar tribe, who at first had been permitted 
to lead their flocks over the rich pastures 
of Khorassan, but who soon became mas- 
ters of that province, and at last drove 



508 



PERSIA. 



the monarchs of Ghizni beyond the lim- 
its of Persia. The territory of this Tar- 
tar tribe of Seljookee stretched from the 
Oxus to the laxartes. But as soon as 
their chief, Toghrul Beg, had got posses- 
sion of Khorassan, he assumed the title 
and state of a sovereign, and extending 
his conquests to the west, overran Irak, 
and, by the reduction of Bagdad, became 
master of the person of the caliph Ul- 
Kaim. Having completely subdued the 
whole of Persia, he sought to strengthen 
his authority by a close alliance with the 
family of the successors of the prophet. 
Ul-Kaim had married his sister, and he 
himself demanded the daughter of the 
commander of the faithful. The depend- 
ent condition of the Caliph forbade him to 
refuse compliance, but the aged bride- 
groom enjoyed his union only for a few 
months. 

His nephew Alp-Arselan ascended the 
throne, and upheld by his valor and gen- 
erosity the glory of the empire which his 
imcle had founded. His first enterprise 
was directed against the tottering power 
of Constantinople. He invaded Geor- 
gia, and advanced into the province of 
Phrygia ; but he found an enemy worthy 
of the name, in the emperor Romanus. 
The Persian armies were forced to fall 
back upon their frontiers. A general en- 
gagement followed, where the troops of 
Romanus were at first successful ; but 
the treachery and cowardice of one of 
his principal ofiicers, who withdrew with 
a large division of his forces, gave the 
victory to the Persians. The courage 
of Romanus, strengthened by despair, 
was unable to retrieve his fortunes ; and 
being at last wounded and overwhelmed 
by numbers, he was taken prisoner, and 
carried into the presence of his con- 
queror. " What would you have done, had 
fortune reversed our lot ?" demanded the 
Persian. " I would have given you many 
a stripe," was the reply. Alp-Arselan 
smiled at his inoffensive rage ; and asked 
what treatment he now expected from 
him. " If thou art cruel," said Romanus, 
"put me to death. If vain-glorious, load 
me with chains, and drag me in triumph 
to thy capital. If generous, grant me 
my liberty." Alp-Arselan was generous. 
He nobly released the emperor and all 



his officers, and treated them with every 
mark of friendship and regard. 

*The Persian king now led his armies 
to the conquest of the country of his 
fathers. He crossed the Oxus without 
opposition by a bridge, which he had 
commanded to be thrown over that river ; 
but here his career of conquest was clos- 
ed. The protracted resistance of a small 
fortress had retarded the progress of the 
Persian army, which so irritated the 
monarch, that he commanded its gallant 
commander into his presence ; and, after 
loading him with reproaches, ordered 
him for execution. The brave soldier 
drew his dagger and rushed towards the 
sultan. The guards interposed ; but Alp- 
Arselan, who considered himself une- 
qualled as an archer, seized his bow, and 
ordered them to stand back. He, how- 
ever, missed his aim, and before he could 
draw another arrow, he fell under the 
dagger of his prisoner. 

After a series of intestine wars, the 
reigning princes were all swept away 
by the inundation of the Tartars under 
Genghis Khan. This destroyer of the 
human race divided his immense con- 
quests among his four sons, when Persia, 
Khorassan, and Cabul, were assigned to 
Tuli Khan, who survived his father but a 
few years, and was succeeded by his son, 
the celebrated Hulakoo Khan. 

This monarch having captured Bagdad, 
and extirpated the race of the caliphs, 
fixed his residence at Maragha. In this 
delightful spot he spent the remainder of 
his life, enjoying the society of learned 
men, and promoting every work of sci- 
ence to the utmost of his power. Phi- 
losophers and astronomers were assem- 
bled from every part of his dominions, 
who, under the direction of his favorite 
and learned minister Nasser-u-deen, 
formed those astronomical tables, known 
under the name of the tables of Eel- 
Khannee. The remains of a building 
situated on the summit of a low mountain 
near Maragha still marks the spot sacred 
to science, where these learned men 
carried on their observations. Hulakoo 
died before his observatory was comple- 
ted, and bequeathed his sceptre to his 
son Abaka, a prince equally renowned 
for courage and wisdom and moderation. 



PERSIA. 



509 



The reigns of this prince and of his 
successors, Ahmed; Arghoun, and Key 
Khatou, are marked by no events of im- 
portance, except the attempt of the latter 
to introduce a paper currency throughout 
his dominions, which however cost him 
both his crown and his Hfe. This weak 
prince having exhausted his treasury by 
his unexampled prodigality, listened to 
the schemes of one of the officers of the 
revenue, who proposed to substitute a 
paper exchange in lieu of specie in all 
commercial transactions ; and by this 
means it was expected that all the gold 
and silver in the country would flow into 
the royal coffers, and give life and vigor 
to the government. For this purpose 
banking houses were erected in every 
city and town in Persia, where notes of 
various value were regularly issued ; and 
each note contained a positive mandate 
for all his majesty's subjects to receive 
them, on pain of punishment. This 
measure, however, was so unpopular, 
that it lasted but a few days, when it was 
repealed ; but it lost the monarch the 
confidence of all ranks ; and he was soon 
after deposed and slain by a confederacy 
of his disaffected nobles, at the head of 
which was Baidu Khan, the grandson of 
Hulakoo. Baidu, however, enjoyed the 
crown but a few months, when he fell by 
the hand of his nephew Ghazan Khan. 

This prince, however, refused to as- 
cend the throne till he was regidarly 
elected, like his Mogul ancestors, by the 
assembled chiefs or ameers of the empire. 
He then set himself to reform the many 
abuses which had crept into the govern- 
ment during a succession of weak princes. 

After his death the kingdom was torn 
by intestine divisions, and could offer but 
a feeble resistance to the victorious 
Tamerlane. This insatiable conqueror 
marked his progress by desolation and 
ruin. Many provinces were turned into 
deserts by the destructive ravages of his 
countless hordes ; and even submission 
did not exempt their unfortunate inhabi- 
tants from pillage and massacre. Ispahan 
opened its gates on his approach, but a 
heavy contribution was levied on its citi- 
zens. An imfortunate occurrence, how- 
ever, involved this city in ruin. The 
inhabitants were one night roused by the 



sound of a drum, which a young black- 
smith had been beating for his amuse- 
ment. They rushed together to ascertain 
the cause of their alarm, and, becoming 
irritated by the expressions of misery 
and distress which burst from all ranks, 
they vented their rage by the massacre 
of nearly three thousand Tartar soldiers 
who had been quartered in the city. On 
the morning the gates were shut, and the 
citizens called to arms ; but the resis- 
tance of despair could not save them 
from the fury of Tamerlane, who doomed 
Ispahan, as an example to the other cities 
of the earth. He would listen to no 
terms. The Avails were carried by 
storm ; and, besides giving up the city 
to pillage, he commanded that every 
soldier should bring him a certain number 
of heads. In this horrid massacre seventy 
thousand heads were raised in pyramids 
as monuments of savage revenge. 

Persia now became a province of the 
empire of Tartary, and continued to be 
ruled by the descendants of Tamerlane, 
till the invasion of a tribe of Turkomans 
under Uzun Hussun, who became sole 
master of the empire in 1468. 

Shah Ismail, the next monarch of note, 
was descended from a race of holy men, 
who were Sheahs, or adherents of the 
family of Aly, and who had long been 
settled at Ardebil, where they lived as 
retired devotees. Their reputed sanctity 
had attracted many disciples, and had 
acquired them the reverence and respect 
of the temporal rulers of their country. 

Though Sultan Khodah-bundah, about 
two centuries before, had embraced the 
faith of the sect of Aly, yet it was to Is- 
mail that it owed its establishment as the 
religion of the empire ; and it was prin- 
cipally to the nature of its tenets, that he 
was indebted for the rise of his fortunes. 
From the sanctity of his own character, 
and also of that of his ancestors, he was 
regarded by his followers as one raised 
up and favored by heaven for the propa- 
gation of the new faith. They gloried in 
the name of Sheah, or " sectary," and 
vowed eternal hostility against all Son- 
nites. So enthusiastic were they in this 
feeling, that many of his soldiers dis- 
dained to wear armor when fighting under 
Ismail, but bared their breasts, and court- 



510 



PERSIA. 



ed death in the midst of their enemies, ex- 
claiming, " Sheah ! Sheah!" to mark the 
holy cause for which they fought. The 
memory of Ismail is still cherished with 
affection in Persia ; and the dynasty, of 
which he was the founder, ruled over 
this country for more than two centuries. 

His son Tamasp was only ten years 
of age when he ascended the throne. 
Though not distinguished by great abili- 
ties, this prince possessed a kind and gen- 
erous disposition, was not wanting either 
in spirit or in prudence. During a long 
reign of fifty-three years, which was al- 
most periodically disturbed by the inva- 
sion of the Turks, on the one hand, and by 
the inroads of the Usbegs on the other, 
he maintained the integrity of the empire, 
and added Georgia to the conquests of 
his father. His generous reception of 
the emperor Hoomayoon, when driven 
from the throne of India, is remembered by 
his countrymen with national pride ; and 
the munificent and royal hospitality which 
that prince experienced, and the effectual 
assistance which he received to replace 
him on his throne, called forth the praise 
even of distant nations. It was during 
the reign of this prince, that Queen Eliza- 
beth accredited an English merchant, 
named Jenkinson, to visit the court of 
Persia, for the purpose of extending the 
commerce of her kingdom ; but Tamasp, 
who was most bigoted in his religious 
sentiments, told him that he had no need 
of the aid of infidels, and bade him depart. 

For nearly ten years, subsequent to 
the death of Shah Tamasp, the empire 
was torn by the contentions of his chil- 
dren, when his grandson Abbas was raised 
to the throne by the chiefs of Khorassan. 

Having restored tranquillity throughout 
the empire. Shah Abbas set himself to 
promote its general welfare and improve- 
ment. He fixed his residence at Ispa- 
han, which he made the capital of his 
dominions, and greatly beautified ; and 
its population was more than doubled du- 
ring his reign. 

There have been few sovereigns more 
deserving of the title of Great than Shah 
Abbas, if we consider the substantial 
benefits which he rendered to his country. 
Though distinguished as a military lead- 
er, and possessed of great means, he 



deemed the improvement of his dominions 
a nobler object than the pursuit of con- 
quest. He attended to the cultivation 
and commerce of Persia beyond all for- 
mer monarchs, and his liberal policy at- 
tracted to his dominions Europeans from 
almost every country in Christendom, 
who enjoyed during his reign the most 
abundant toleration. The impression 
which his noble munificence in the erec- 
tion of so many useful public buildings 
made upon the minds of his subjects, has 
descended to their children ; and the 
ready answer, which is received to every 
inquiry respecting the founder of any an- 
cient building in this country, is, " Shah 
Abbas the Great," which is given not 
from their knowledge of the fact, but 
from the habit of considering him as the 
author of all improvements. 

During the greater part of his reign, 
Persia enjoyed an internal tranquillity 
which had been unknown for centuries ; 
and the impartial Chardiii has summed 
up his character in this respect in few 
words. " When this great prince ceased 
to live, Persia ceased to prosper." But 
notwithstanding this high eulogy, we 
cannot forget the many cruelties of which 
he was guilty, particularly towards the 
members of his own family, which nei- 
ther the stern dictates of policy nor the 
jealousy of power can ever justify. This 
monarch died at the age of seventy, and 
bequeathed the sceptre of Persia to his 
grandson Sam Meerza, the son of Suffee 
Meerza. 

Previous to the time of Abbas the 
Great, the Persian princes had been 
brought up as soldiers, and had often the 
command of the armies ; but the jealousy 
of that sovereign, led him to change en- 
tirely this system of education ; and sub- 
sequent to the death of his sons, the 
princes of the Suffavean dynasty were 
from their infancy immured in the harem, 
and associated only with women and 
eunuchs. His successors consequently 
bore indelible marks of this pernicious 
system. Their characters were formed 
by their condition. Inexperienced and 
effeminate, they trusted the direction of 
public affairs to their ministers, and revel- 
ed in every sensual gratification. Ef- 
feminacy begat cowardice, and cowardice 



PERSIA. 



511 



cruelty ; and all who were at any time 
denounced as dangerous to their power, 
were immediately destroyed. 

Sam Meerza was seventeen years of 
age when he was taken from the harem 
and set upon the throne of the Great 
Abbas. He was a tyrant without one 
redeeming quality. Every male of the 
blood-royal, however distantly related, 
and every officer of rank or reputation, 
were either put to death or deprived of 
sight ; and the list of his victims was 
swelled by a great number of females of 
the highest rank, among whom were his 
aunt, his mother, and his queen. He died 
at Kashan, after a reign of fourteen years, 
every one of which presented the same 
horrid and disgusting scene of barbarous 
cruelty. 

Abbas II was not ten years old at the 
death of his father, and fell of course into 
the hands of his ministers, who happened 
to be men of devout and austere habits. 
But the restraint in which he was kept 
only led him to indulge the more when 
he escaped from their authority ; and 
though naturally humane and generous, 
yet in his drunken frolics he committed 
the most wanton cruelties. His excesses, 
however, were in a great degree confined 
to the circle of his court. His subjects 
at large knew him only as one of the most 
generous and just monarchs that ever 
ruled in Persia. During his reign the 
country enjoyed complete tranquillity ; 
embassies from almost every nation in 
Europe, as well as from India and Tar- 
tary, visited his court, and experienced 
his kindness. Commerce flourished ; and 
his hospitality and attention to strangers, 
attracted vast numbers to his dominions. 
His excessive indulgence brought on an 
inflammation in the throat, of which he 
died in the thirty-fourth year of his age. 

The reign of Hussein, one of his suc- 
cessors, is memorable chiefly for the in- 
vasion and subjugation of the empire by 
the Afl*ghans in 1722. This race had 
long inhabited the mountainous region 
between Persia and India. Divided into 
tribes, where the chief and his followers 
enjoyed the same savage freedom, they 
opposed every attempt to reduce them to 
one society, whose common danger and 
wants would have cemented their union, 



and rendered them formidable to their 
neighbors. In consequence of this dis- 
union, they were never able to resist any 
serious attack, and their country was long 
divided between the monarchs of Persia 
and India. They were, in general, how- 
ever, able to maintain a considerable de- 
gree of independence by balancing be- 
tween these two powerful states. 

Mahmood, one of the AfTghan princes, 
being proclaimed sovereign of Candahar, 
contemplated with high hopes the subju- 
gation of Persia. This unfortunate coun- 
try was at this period depressed by the 
vacillating measures of its pusillanimous 
ruler. The energies of the empire were 
extinguished by effeminacy and palsied 
by superstition. An unusual denseness 
in the atmosphere, accompanied with an 
extraordinary redness in the appearance 
of the sun on the horizon, which contin- 
ued for nearly two months, was converted 
into a symbol of divine wrath, and prince 
and people anticipated the destruction of 
the capital. Every measure which fanati- 
cism could suggest was adopted to avert 
the threatenings of heaven ; but their 
fears were confirmed by the intelligence 
that the army of the Affghan prince was 
within a few days march of Ispahan. 
This army, it is said, did not exceed 
twenty thousand warriors, while the Per- 
sian forces within the walls of the city 
were more than double its numbers. But 
treachery and cowardice laid Persia at 
the feet of Mahmood, and after a long 
siege, imexampled in horrors,* Ispahan 



* The dreadful extremities to which the inhab- 
itants of Ispahan were reduced, during this siege, 
are described by several eye-witnesses. " The 
flesh of horses, camels, and mules, were so dear, 
that none but the king, some of the nobles, and 
the wealthiest citizens, could afford to purchase 
it. Though the Persians abhor dogs as unclean, 
they ate greedily of them, as well as that of other 
forbidden animals, as long as they were to be ob- 
tained. After these supplies were gone, they fed 
upon the leaves and bark of trees, and on leather, 
which they softened by boiling, and when this sad 
resource was exhausted, they began to devour 
human flesh. Men with their eyes sunk, their 
countenances livid, and their bodies feeble and 
emaciated with hunger, were seen in crowds en- 
deavoring to protract a wretched existence, by 
cutting pieces from the bodies of those who had 
just expired. In many instances, the citizens 
lew each other, and parents murdered their chil- 
dren to furnish the horrid meal. Some more virtu- 



512 



PERSIA. 



opened her gates, and Hussein resigned 
his crown to the Aff'ghan conqueror. 

The measures which Mahmood adopt- 
ed at the commencement of his reign, 
were such as to conciUate the good opin- 
ion of his new subjects, and to promise 
prosperity to Persia. His first care was 
to reheve the inhabitants from famine. 
He received into favor all those nobles 
who had maintained their fidelity to Shah 
Hussein, while he banished or put to 
death those who had proved false to their 
duty. European factories were encour- 
aged and confirmed in all their privileges, 
and Christians of all nations were allowed 
the public performance of their religious 
duties. But all this was but as a gleam of 
sunshine before a tempest. It was an 
eflbrt of virtue, which his cruel and ca- 
pricious nature was unable to support. 
He stood amidst the wreck of a mighty 
empire, and he became alarmed at the 
magnitude of the ruins with which he 
was surrounded. His army had been 
greatly reduced, and he dreaded an in- 
surrection in the capital. In order to 
relieve his fears, he had recourse to 
measures the most cowardly and savage 
recorded in history. The miseries of 
the siege were but as a prelude to the 
bloody tragedy which was to follow ; the 
different acts of which were, the murder 
of three hundred nobles with all their 
male children ; the destruction of three 
thousand guards whom he had taken into 
pay ; the massacre of every Persian who 
had ever been in the service of the former 
government ; the plunder of European 
and other foreigners ; and the murder of 
thirty-nine princes of the blood. Such 
horrible cruelties could only have pro- 
ceeded from a mind, overwhelmed by the 
most servile fears, or under the influence 
of insanity ; and we find that this prince 
soon after was seized with madness in its 
most dreadful form, and in the paroxysms 
of which, according to some accounts, he 
not only tore ofl'his own flesh, but ate it. 
He died under the most excruciatins 



ous, poisoned themselves and families, that they 
might escape the guilt of preserving life by such 
means. These evils were increased by the cruelty 
of the Affghans, who put to death, without dis- 
tmclion of age or sex, all who tried to escape from 
this scene of calamity." 



tortures of mind and body, in the prime 
of life, and after having sat upon the 
throne of Persia only three years. 

The son of Hussein who had escaped 
from Ispahan at the time of the siege, 
was, by the assistance of Nadir Kooli, a 
warlike chieftain, enabled to defeat Ash- 
raff", the successor of Mahmood. He 
entered Ispahan amidst the acclamations 
of his people ; but he is said to have 
burst into tears when he beheld the de- 
faced and solitary halls of his glorious 
ancestors. Ashraff* had led off his forces 
towards Shiraz, carrying with him the 
old men, women, and children of his 
tribe, upon mules and camels, and all the 
spoil that he could collect. Accounts, 
however, daily arrived of the dreadful 
excesses which they committed on their 
march, and Nadir Kooli was urged by 
his sovereign to pursue the fugitives. 
But this chief had other views than re- 
storing a weak prince to the throne of 
his fathers. He saw the sceptre within 
his own grasp, and lost no opportunity 
of securing his future elevation. He 
therefore required the power of levying 
money, as essential to enable him to 
extirpate the Aflghans. This demand 
opened the eyes of Tamasp to, his own 
critical situation ; but the soldiers would 
march under no other leader, and he was 
obliged to comply. Though it was the 
depth of winter, Nadir led his forces 
towards Shiraz ; and in a few months 
Persia was relieved from her barbarous 
oppressors. Few of the Affghans esca- 
ped death, and hardly any returned to 
their native country. They either per- 
ished from want and fatigue in the desert, 
or were taken and sold for slaves. Such 
was the termination of this extraordinary 
usurpation, in which a small band of 
foreigners, seldom exceeding thirty thou- 
sand, held in subjection the mass of a 
great nation ; and during the seven years 
in which they exercised dominion in 
Persia, " nearly a million of her inhabi- 
tants had perished, her finest provinces 
had been rendered desert, and her proud- 
est edifices levelled with the dust." 

On his return. Nadir Kooli was hailed 
as the deliverer of his country ; and, as 
a reward for his great services, received 
the grant of Khorassan, Mazenderan, 



PERSIA. 



513 



Seistan, and Kerraan, with the power of 
exercising the privileges of an indepen- 
dent sovereign. The pageantry of Ta- 
masp was now drawing to a close. Un- 
der the pretence of his having concluded 
an ignominious peace with the Turks, 
while Nadir was quelling a rebellion of 
the Aflghans in Khorassan, he vi^as de- 
throned by his victorious general, who 
raised the infant son of Tamasp to the 
throne, and accepted the office of regent 
of the empire. Nadir now entered into 
a war with the Ottoman Porte, which, 
after a long and doubtful struggle, ter- 
minated with the recovery of all the 
posessions which the Turks had seized 
during the AfTghan invasion. The suc- 
cessful issue of this war stimulated the 
ambition of the regent; and the opportune 
death of the infant king presented to him 
a vacant throne. 

On the plains of Chowal Mogan, and 
at the great festival of the Nouroze, Nadir 
had assembled the nobles and chiefs of 
the empire ; and from them, after much 
affected humility, he condescended to 
accept the crown, upon the condition 
that the nation should abandon the doc- 
trines of the Sheahs, and embrace the 
Sonnee faith. This desire of Nadir to 
change the religion of his country was 
evidently prompted by the hope that it 
would destroy that veneration and attach- 
ment which the Persians cherished for 
the Suffavean dynasty, by Avhose founder 
the Sheah faith was first established. 
The nation at large, however, continued 
attached to their favorite tenets, which 
they openly embraced at the death of 
Nadir Shah. 

The accession of Nadir Shah was 
immediately followed by the reduction of 
the province of Candahar, which was 
possessed by the Affghans ; and the rapid 
conquest of Hindostan, from whence he 
returned laden with the richest treasure, 
calculated to amount to nearly seventy 
millions sterling. His subjects began 
now to feel the benefit of their sovereign's 
triumphs. Taxes were remitted for three 
years ; and Nadir was regarded as the 
destined restorer of Persia to its former 
glory. Within five years, this indefatiga- 
ble conqueror had not only expelled the 
Affghans, but had also subdued the mon- 
65 



archs of Candahar, India, Bokharah, and 
Khaurizm, and had extended the limits 
of the empire to the Oxus on the north, 
and the Indus on the east. 

Hitherto Nadir had exercised his pow- 
er with comparative moderation ; but a 
circumstance occurred at this time,whicli 
seemed to produce a dreadful change in 
his disposition and character. While 
marching through one of the forests of 
Daghestan, in an expedition against the 
Lesghees, a ball from a concealed assas- 
sin wounded him in the hand and killed 
his horse. His suspicions fell upon his 
oldest son Reza Kooli, a prince of great 
valor and acquirements, and who was 
much beloved by his countrymen; and 
his suspicions were so heightened by 
the gross misrepresentations of infamous 
courtiers, that in a moment of rage, he 
ordered the prince to be deprived of sight. 
" Your crimes," said Nadir, "have forced 
me to this dreadful measure." "It is not 
my eyes you have put out," replied Reza 
Kooli, " but those of Persia." No sooner 
was the punishment inflicted than the 
tyrant was penetrated with remorse, and 
vented his fury upon all around him. Fifty 
noblemen, who were present, were put 
to death, on the pretext that they should 
have offered their lives to save the eyes 
of a prince who was the glory of their 
country. From this time Nadir became 
gloomy and irritable; and his conduct 
during the last five years of his life, 
exceeded in cruelty the deeds of the 
most bloody tyrants. His murders were 
not confined to individuals ; the inhabi- 
tants of whole cities were massacred; 
and, according to his partial historian, 
" men left their abodes, and took up their 
habitations in caverns and deserts, in the 
hope of escaping his savage ferocity." 
The only troops that enjoyed his favor, 
and upon vvliom he placed any reliance, 
were the Affghans and Tartars, who were 
of the Sonnee persuasion ; and so suspi- 
cious was he of the fidelity of his coun- 
trymen, who, in general, adhered to the 
Sheah tenets, that in a state of frenzy 
he proposed to put to death every Persian 
in his army ; bxit the bloody purpose was 
prevented by his death ; and he was 
assassinated by some of his chief officers, 
who had been marked as his next victims. 



514 



PERSIA. 



The next ruler of Persia was Kurreem 
Khan, who is celebrated for his virtues ; 
his descendants forfeited by their crimes 
that power which he had attained, and 
were supplanted by Aga Mahomed Khan 
Kujur. His principal opponent was 
Looft Aly Khan, who long stniggled 
against the most fearful odds in support 
of his birth-right. 

Hajee Ibrahim, the prime minister, 
and governor of Shiraz, a nobleman of 
the highest talents and acquirements, and 
who had been the means of placing 
Looft Aly Khan upon the throne, had 
become alarmed for his own safety from 
the irrascible disposition of his master ; 
and, as a measure of self-preservation, 
seized upon Shiraz, and invited Aga Ma- 
homed to take possession of it. A strong 
detachment was immediately despatched 
to the support of Hajee Ibrahim, but it 
was attacked and defeated by the Per- j 
sian prince. Another army, of superior | 
force, and out-numbering the troops of 
Looft Aly more than ten to one, met with 
the same fate ; when Aga Mahomed was 
under the necessity of advancing in per- 
son with an overwhelming force, which 
he conceived Avould at once terminate 
the war. But the brave Looft Aly was 
still undismayed, and, animated by the 
most heroic courage, he determined upon 
one great effort for his crown. He sur- 
prised the advanced guard of the enemy, 
which he defeated, and pursuing the fugi- 
tives to their camp, attacked, with a 
band of a few hundred men, an army of 
more than thirty thotisand. Favored by 
the darkness of the night, and the terror 
which his name inspired, he had dispers- 
ed almost the whole of the enemy, and 
was about to enter the tent of the Kujur 
chief, when he was stopped by the assur- 
ance of one of his followers that Aga 
Mahomed was among the fugitives. De- 
ceived by this report, he dispersed his 
troops to plunder in other directions, re- 
serving for himself the jewels and trea- 
sures of the royal pavilion. But when 
the morning dawned, he was astonished 
to hear the public crier calling to prayers, 
which announced to all that Aga Ma- 
homed Khan was still at his post. Looft 
Aly, awakened from his dream of vic- 
tory, found himself in the midst of his 



enemies, and fled with precipitation, to 
avoid being made prisoner. Aga Ma- 
homed marched his army to Shiraz ; and 
from this time he may be considered the 
actual sovereign of Persia. 

The mind of Looft Aly Khan was still 
unsubdued. Though struggling against 
the most adverse circumstances, he still 
cherished the hope of better fortunes. 
He had still a few faithful followers, who 
had never forsaken him ; and with these 
this most undaunted of warriors deter- 
mined again to take the field. After a 
variety of fortune, he took the city of 
Kerman by assault, and once more as- 
sumed the style of a sovereign ; but this 
was the last of his glorious achievements. 
Aga Mahomed hastened, with all the 
forces he could collect, to crush a foe 
who seemed to rise with rencAved energy 
from every fall. He invested the city 
with an immense army ; and posted a 
strong body of men opposite every gate- 
way, to prevent the escape of his rival. 
The defence was maintained with the 
most heroic ardor for four months ; but 
treachery effected what superiority of 
numbers coxdd not accomplish. The 
citadel was given up to the Persian 
troops ; and Looft Aly and his brave fol- 
lowers, after a severe contest of three 
hours, were overpowered by numbers, 
and obliged to retire. At night the 
young prince crossed the ditch by a 
bridge of planks, and, accompanied by 
three attendants, threw himself upon the 
enemy's lines with a courage strength- 
ened by despair, and effected his escape. 
When Aga Mahomed found in the morn- 
ing that Looft Aly was beyond his reach, 
he gave vent to the cruel passions of his 
nature, and wreaked his vengeance upon 
the innocent inhabitants of Kerman. All 
the males of mature age were command- 
ed to be put to death, or deprived of 
sight; and twenty thousand women and 
children were granted as slaves to his 
soldiers. 

Looft Aly Khan was soon afterwards 
betrayed into the hands of his merciless 
enemy, who, after treating him with the 
most brutal indignity, tore out his eyes, 
and sent him prisoner to Teheran. But 
this gallant prince, even in the wretched 
state to which he was reduced, was still 



PERSIA. 



515 



an object of dread ; and the fears of the 
tyrant could only be allayed by his death. 
Such was the fate of the last prince of 
the Zund dynasty, which had held the 
government of Persia for nearly half a 
century. But their implacable enemy 
was determined upon their extirpation ; 
and every one, who, from his birth, could 
have formed the most remote pretensions 
to the throne, was either put to death or 
deprived of sight ; and not only the mem- 
bers of this tribe, but all who had been 
the active supporters of the family of 
Kurreem Khan, were removed to the 
most distant quarters of the kingdom. 

Aga Mahomed, having now relieved 
himself from all internal foes, resolved 
upon the conquest of Georgia. During 
the troubles which succeeded the death 
of Kurreem Khan, Heraclius, the prince 
of that province, had preserved it in a 
state of tranquillity, and had transferred 
his allegiance from the sovereigns of 
Persia to those of Russia. His motive 
for this measure was declared to be a 
desire to release his Christian subjects 
from the violence and oppression of Ma- 
homedan superiors, and to place them 
under the protection of a great nation of 
their own religion. But it was not to be 
expected that any monarch of Persia 
would tamely suffer the alienation of one 
of the finest provinces of the empire. 
Aga Mahomed, therefore, was determined 
to insure success by the magnitude of 
his force. Sixty thousand men assembled 
at Teheran, and proceeded without resis- 
tance till within about fifteen miles of 
Teflis, the capital of the province, where 
they were met by the forces of Herac- 
lius, amounting to one-fourth of their 
number. The battle which ensued was 
bravely contested ; but the Georgians, 
overpowered by numbers, were compel- 
led to fly. Teflis submitted to the con- 
querors, and was given up to massacre 
and to pillage. In describing the scene 
of carnage which followed, a Mahomedan 
historian observes, "That on this glori- 
ous occasion, the valiant warriors of Per- 
sia gave to the unbelievers of Georgia a 
specimen of what they Avere to expect at 
the day of judgment." Youth and beauty 
alone were spared, and fifteen thousand 
of these were led into bondage. 



The subjection of Georgia was follow- 
ed by that of Khorassan ; and Aga Ma- 
homed was contemplating the conquest 
of Bokharah, when he was recalled by 
the intelligence that the Russians had 
recovered Georgia, and were threatening 
Aderbijan. He hastened to Teheran ; 
j but, as the season was too far advanced 
to commence operations that year, he 
summoned the chiefs of the kingdom to 
meet him in the spring with all their ad- 
herents, for the purpose, as he said, "of 
punishing the insolent unbelievers of Eu- 
rope, who had dared to invade the terri- 
tories of the faithful." Persia, however, 
was relieved from the impending invasion 
by the death of the Empress Catharine, 
when the Russian army was recalled by 
her successor. But, notwithstanding the 
retreat of the Rnssians, Aga Mahomed 
determined to overrun Georgia, and had 
advanced as far as Sheshah, when he 
was arrested by the hand of an assassin. 
Being one day disturbed by a dispute 
between two of his servants, he was so 
enraged at the noise which they made, 
that he commanded them both to be in- 
stantly put to death. Saaduck Khan 
Shekakee, a nobleman of high rank, 
having interceded for their pardon, was 
refused ; but as it was the night of Fri- 
day, and sacred to prayer, their execution 
was delayed till next morning. These 
men knew that their sentence was irre- 
vocable, and, as they were still permitted 
by their infatuated master to perform 
their usual avocations about his person, 
they, as a measure of self-preservation, 
I took advantage of their situation, and de- 
riving courage from despair, poniarded 
the monarch as he laid asleep in his 
tent. Thus perished one of the most 
cruel, but at the same time one of the 
ablest monarchs that ever ruled in Persia. 
The character of this extraordinary 
man, however, must be viewed in refer- 
ence to the distracted state in which he 
found his country, and his desire to se- 
cure its future tranquillity. The great 
object of his life was, to acquire power, 
1 and to render it permanent in his own 
I family ; and he scrupled at no measures 
j for the accomplishment of his purpose. 
j In his early life he had become a pro- 
1 found adept in the art of dissimulation. 



516 



PERSIA. 



While his success was still uncertain, 
he controlled every passion that could 
obstruct his rise ; but, when the mask 
was no longer necessary, he gave full 
scope to the feelings of his savage spirit. 
Every chief whom he deemed in any 
way likely to aspire to the throne, or 
disturb the peace of the kingdom, was 
either put to death or deprived of sight ; 
and, among his victims were two of his 
own brothers. To such a height did he 
carry his barbarous revenge, that he or- 
dered the bones of the virtuous Kurreem 
Khan and of Nadir Shah to be dug up 
and removed to Teheran, where they 
were deposited at the entrance of the 
palace, that he might enjoy the unmanly 
and disgusting gratification of trampling 
upon the graves of two of the principal 
foes of his family. This monarch at- 
tempted to justify his barbarous proceed- 
ings by the plea of necessity ; and, when 
speaking of his successor, the present 
king of Persia, he used often to exclaim, 
" I have shed all this blood, that the boy, 
Baba Khan,* may reign in peace." The 
passion of avarice in this monarch was 
almost as strong as his love of power ; 
and he had recourse to the most unjusti- 
fiable means in the gratification of it. 
When he wished to plunder any of his 
nobles, or principal officers, he was in 
the habit of selling them for a stipulated 
smn, and the purchaser, in order to ena- 
ble him to raise the money, was vested 
with power over every thing belonging 
to the person bought, except his life. 
He is even said to have at one time com- 
bined with a religious mendicant to obtain 
money from his courtiers. He ordered 
a considerable sum to be given him in 
the presence of his principal officers, 
with the secret understanding that it was 
to be returned with the half of what he 
received from the others ; but the wilj^ 
beggar found means to escape with all 
his gains, and the courtiers inwardly re- 

♦ Baba signifies " child," and was the name 
by which the present king of Persia was familiarly- 
known till the death of his uncle. His proper 
name was Futteh Aly. 



joiced in the disappointment of their 
monarch's cupidity. His conduct, how- 
ever, to the aged Shah Rokh, the grand- 
son of Nadir Shah, could only proceed 
from a heart where the love of wealth 
had eradicated every feeling of humanity. 
This weak prince was supposed to have 
concealed many precious stones of great 
value, particularly a ruby of extraordinary 
size and lustre, which had once decora- 
ted the crown of Aurengzebe ; but as he 
solemnly denied the possession of them, 
Aga Mahomed hiad recourse to torture. 
After a variety of pains, a circle of paste 
was put upon the head of his victim, and 
boiling lead poured into it. The ruby 
was discovered, which filled the tyrant 
with joy, but Shah Rokh survived only a 
few days. The person of this monarch 
was extremely slender, and, unless upon 
occasions of ceremory, always dressed 
in the plainest manner. His beardless 
and shrivelled face resembled that of an 
aged and wrinkled woman, and the ex- 
pression of his countenance, at no time 
pleasant, was horrible when clouded, as it 
very often was, with indignation. With 
the meanest vices, Aga Mahomed pos- 
sessed the most splendid talents. During 
his reign, agriculture revived, and com- 
merce flourished under his protection. 
He restored complete tranquillity to a 
distracted kingdom, and fixed his family 
upon a splendid throne. 

Futteh Aly Shah, the nephew and ap- 
pointed successor of Aga Mahomed, after 
a short struggle, was proclaimed king, 
and has hitherto been enabled to main- 
tain the internal peace of his dominions. 
With respect to his frontier provinces, 
however, he has not been so successful. 
Georgia has become a province of Rus- 
sia, and many of the chiefs of Khorassan 
yield him only a nomhial obedience. 
Owing to the comparative mildness and 
justice of his rule, the inhabitants of Per- 
sia have enjoyed a state of happiness 
and prosperity to which they had long 
been strangers ; and he may be regarded 
as holding a high rank among the sover- 
eigns of his country. 



POLAND. 



517 



POLAND. 



Poland formed a district of ancient 
Sarmatia ; and was successively ravaged 
by those various hordes of barbarians 
who plundered the south of Europe, and 
overturned the Roman empire. Its early 
history, like that of most other nations, 
is involved in obscurity and fable. That 
it originally consisted of several indepen- 
dent prhicipalities is sufficiently evident; 
but the period when it became incorpo- 
rated under one sovereign is not clearly 
ascertained. It was, for many ages, 
according to the opinion of the best 
writers, governed by an elective chief, 
bearing the title of duke, or general ; but 
no regular dynasty was established until 
the accession of Piaste in 840. Of this 
election, which, however, did not take 
place till the state was on the very verge 
of ruin, in consequence of the hostility 
and obstinacy of two rival factions, the 
Polish nation had much reason to be 
proud. The wise administration of this 
prince restored peace and tranquillity 
among all orders of the state ; and, after 
a reign of twenty years, spent in advan- 
cing the true interests of his subjects, he 
died in 860, at a very venerable old 
age. So dear was his memory to the 
Poles, that, until last century, they gave 
his name to his successors in the 
throne (Piastes) who were natives of 
the kingdom. 

The family of Piaste filled the throne 
of Poland for upwards of five hundred 
years. The most illustrious princes of 
this house were Miecislaus, who, towards 
the end of the 10th century, introduced 
Christianity into his dominions ; Boles- 
laus, his son, a warlike and intrepid prince, 
who was the first that obtained the title 
of king, an honor conferred on him by 
the Pope ; Casimir I, a virtuous and pa- 
cific sovereign, who was called to the 
throne* after he had assumed the monastic 
habit in the abbey of Cluny ; Casimir II, 
surnamed the Great, who was a liberal 
patron of letters, and founded the academy 
at Cracow, — who encouraged industry, 
commerce, and the arts, and furnished 
the nation with a code of written laws. 



He died in 1370, and was doomed to be 
the last of his illustrious i'amily. 

He was succeeded by his nephew 
Louis, king of Hungary, at whose death 
the Poles elected his youngest daughter, 
Hedwigua, in his room. To obtain the 
hand of this princess, Jagellon, grand 
duke of Lithuania, embraced the Chris- 
tian faith, and was baptized by the name 
of Uladislaus. With Jagellon commenced 
a new line of princes, who swayed the 
sceptre of Poland for two hundred years. 
He united his hereditary dominions to 
those of Poland, conquered Samogitia, 
and defeated the knights of the Teutonic 
Order in the great battle of Tannenberg, 
in 1410. Casimir took Western Prussia 
under his protection, and forced the Teu- 
tonic knights to pay him homage for the 
remainder. Under Sigismond 1, Prussia 
was changed into a secular dukedom. 
Sigismond Augustus effected the same 
thing in regard to Courland : the empire 
of the Teutonic order was at the same 
time placed under the government of a 
duke, and made entirely dependent on 
the crown of Poland. In the reign of 
this monarch, Poland had reached its 
highest pitch of dominion and gloiy. 
He saw Lithuania, Livonia, Volhynia, 
Podolia, and Kiow, submit to his sover- 
eignty. But with him terminated, in 
1572, the male line of the house of Ja- 
gellon, — " a family," says alearned writer, 
" as wise and virtuous as celebrated and 
brave, — a family under whom Poland 
saw herself enjoy internal tranquillity 
and the respect of neighboring nations ; 
under whom she was ruled by wise, es- 
tablished laws, and was rendered emi- 
nent by the multitude of her scholars in 
every department of human knowledge." 

After an interregnum of about a year, 
two powerful candidates appeared for 
the throne, Henry de Valois, brother to 
Charles IX, king of France, and Maxi- 
milian of Austria, of whom the former 
being elected, he soon, by his youth and 
accomplishments, gained the aflections 
of his people. But he had not enjoyed 
the sceptre of the Jagellons above four 



518 



POLAND, 



months, till he inherited, in consequence 
of the death of his brother, that of Valois; 
and he abandoned the cheering hopes 
which the esteem and confidence of his 
adopted subjects held out to him, for the 
troubles with which his natural subjects 
were convulsed, an(Jk,of which he soon 
became the victim. 

On the abdication of Henry, the con- 
tentions of rival factions again revived ; 
and it was not without considerable diffi- 
culty that Stephen Batthori, prince of 
Transylvania, was elected his successor; 
an honor which he gained, not more on 
account of his own many qualifications, 
than of his having married Anne, daugh- 
ter of king Sigismond Augustus. Bat- 
thori, a prince equally eminent for bravery 
and virtue, restored peace to Dantzick, 
the inhabitants of which had rebelled 
against him ; retook Livonia ; chastised 
the Czar of Russia for having invaded 
his dominions, carrying cruelty and de- 
vastation along with him ; and raised a 
new militia, composed of Cossacks, a 
tribe brave and barbarous, whom he uni- 
ted to his kingdom by granting them a 
territory on the Dneiper, and by confer- 
ring on them several important privileges ; 
favors which they abundantly repaid by 
defending Poland from the incursions of 
the Tartars, and by making the Turks 
and Russians respect her. He died in 
1586, leaving behind him a character for 
wisdom, intrepidity, and patriotism, which 
(ew Polish sovereigns have been enabled 
to outshine. 

The death of Batthori was a signal for 
the renewal of civil commotions. Four 
candidates appeared for the crown, each 
supported by a separate party, brave and 
resolute ; and much blood was spilt ere 
the successful candidate, Sigismond of 
Sweden, nephew to the widow of Bat- 
thori, could be put in possession of the 
throne. Having soon afterwards obtained 
the crown of his native dominions, Sigis- 
mond neglected not to avail himself of 
the assistance of Poland against the 
Swedes, with whom he was extremely 
unpopular, and who were endeavoring to 
throw off his yoke. But the Poles, jealous 
of their liberty, were not much devoted 
to the cause, and felt no great disappoint- 
ment in their king's being deprived of his 



hereditary states. This loss, however, 
which the subsequent monarchs of Poland 
wished to repair, gave birth to almost 
continual wars with Sweden, equally 
fatal to both nations ; for though, on the 
one hand, they brought Poland to the 
very verge of submission to the Swedish 
yoke, they conducted, on the other, the 
Swedes to Pultowa, that tomb of their 
glory and their power. 

Sigismond, having lost the throne of 
Sweden, aspired to that of Russia, but 
without success. But he was more un- 
fortunate still in a war in which he was 
engaged with the great Gustavus Adol- 
phus, king of Sweden ; for he was com- 
pelled to forfeit to that monarch Livonia, 
and the towns of Elbing, Memel, Braun- 
berg, and Pillau. He died in 1629, worn 
down with cares and misfortunes, and 
was succeeded by his son Uladislaus, 
who established public tranquillity, and 
reigned not without glory ; but the inter- 
regnum that followed his death was char- 
acterized by a disastrous and bloody war 
with the Cossacks, occasioned by several 
perfidious attempts on the part of the 
Polish nobles to make encroachments 
on their privileges and independence. 
That barbarous people, who felt that their 
very existence as a separate tribe was 
endangered, becoming desperate, van- 
quished their enemies in two great bat- 
tles ; and John Casimir, successor of 
Uladislaus, Avas obliged to conclude with 
them a dishonorable peace. Poland was 
again ravaged by the Swedish army, and 
Charles Gustavus would undoubtedly 
have made the conquest of it, had not 
the bad policy of Denmark drawn into 
that country, almost to the total ruin of 
it, the whole military force of the com- 
mon enemy. Nor did this circumstance, 
favorable as it unquestionably was, prove 
the entire safety of Poland. By the treaty 
of Oliva, (1660,) Casimir was forced to 
cede Livonia to Sweden, Smolensko and 
Kiow to Russia, and to Brandenburgh 
the sovereignty of Prussia. With this 
diminution of her territory, Poland ex- 
perienced a diminution also of her power ; 
and from this period she ceased to be 
regarded as one of the first nations of 
Europe. Casimir indeed gained several 
decisive victories in a war with the Rus- 



POLAND. 



519 



sians ; but these came too late, either to 
gratify the king,or to prove advantageous 
to his people. He had already verged 
into a state of melancholy and despair, 
and Poland was delivered over to all the 
horrors of a civil war. 

In such circumstances, Casimir, who, 
at every period of life, had shown a deep- 
rooted attachment to the exercises of de- 
votion, and the pursuits of literature, re- 
solved to renounce his crown, and to 
spend the remainder of his days in soli- 
tude and peace. Though undaunted in 
opposing the public enemies of his coun- 
try, he shuddered to encounter the agita- 
tions and enormities of internal rebellion. 
His abdication took place in 1668, and 
the Diet absolved him from all the en- 
gagements he had made to his people, 
and particularly from the oath of the 
pacta conventa ; obligations entered into 
by every sovereign at his election. Casi- 
mir survived this event four years, when 
he died in the abbey of St. Germains in 
P'rance, whence his body was removed 
to be interred at Cracow. 

After an interregnum of a year, Casi- 
mir was succeeded by Michel Coributh, 
duke of Wisniowiecki. Though the 
reign of this prince was short, he aliena- 
ted the minds of the nation and the army 
on account of his lethargy in defending 
the republic against the invasion of the 
Turks, and of the shameful treaties which 
he ratified with them. The glory of the 
Polish arms, however, was well main- 
tained by John Sobieski, a warrior of 
extraordinary merit, and than whose there 
occurs not a more illustrious name in the 
annals of his country. 

Sobieski, raised to the sovereign au- 
thority on the death of Wisniowiecki, did 
not long want an opportunity of increas- 
ing his own glory, as well as that of his 
nation. The Turks had, at this time, car- 
ried their conquering arms into Austria, 
and were laying siege to Vienna. The 
fate of Christendom was thought to be 
involved in that of the Austrian capital ; 
and had not the exorbitant power of that 
empire been a source of uneasiness and 
fear to the neighboring states, almost all 
the nations of Europe would have been 
in arms to cliastise these infidels. So- 
bieski, however, either did not experience 



these feelings, or was enabled to over- 
come them. He levied 40,000 men for 
the assistance of the emperor ; put him- 
self at their head ; and his valor and 
genius decided the terrible battle (1683,) 
which forced Soliman to raise the siege 
of Vienna, and eventually, with the loss 
of almost his whole army, to withdraw 
into his own territories. 

The inhabitants of Vienna received 
their deliverer with the most lively de- 
monstrations of gratitude ; and exclama- 
tions of joy accompanied him to the very 
threshold of the chapel, whither he went 
to return thanks to the God of battles for 
the success of his arms. When Te 
Deum was chanted, he himself joined 
very cordially in the service. A sermon 
was delivered on the occasion from a 
text, which the clergyman, in extremely 
bad taste, seems to have selected as pe- 
culiarly appropriate : " There was a man 
sent frotn God, whose name was John." 

But the joy which Sobieski must have 
felt in having performed so important a 
service to the Austrians, and in receiving 
their congratulations, was moderated by 
his unpopularity with his own subjects. 
In this foreign expedition the Poles 
found that their treasury had been drain- 
ed, and that many of their countrymen 
had perished ; while as a compensation 
for these evils, no substantial advantage 
to the republic had resulted, or could be 
expected to result from it. His wish to 
make the crown hereditary in his own 
family, exasperated and disaffected the 
nobles ; and the consequence was, that, 
after his death, which took place in 1696, 
after a reign of twenty-three years, his 
children were ungratefully excluded from 
the throne. Another great cause of his 
unpopularity, was the cession of certain 
lands to Russia ; for which, however, in 
return, he was promised assistance in 
the meditated conquest of Moldavia and 
Wallachia, — schemes which a new as- 
pect of affairs made it not necessary to 
prosecute. 

Whatever suspicions the Poles may 
have attached to his memory, Sobieski 
was undoubtedly a great man. Endowed 
with strength of body, and vigor of mind ; 
skilled in the laws, the constitution, and 
political relations of his country ; as elo- 



520 



POLAND. 



quent and wise in council, as enterprising ' 
and enthusiastic in the field, he possessed 
all the virtues and qualities necessary for I 
a great warrior or an accomplished mon- 
arch. The nobleness and elevation of , 
his mind were clearly shadowed forth in j 
the lineaments of his countenance, and j 
the dignity of his personal appearance. 
He possessed a peculiar art of profiting ! 
by the least advantage, and was charac- ' 
terized by a sure and quick sagacity of fore- 1 
seeing and preventing danger. Reading 
and study formed the amusements of his 
private hours ; he was master of several 
languages, and he delighted in conversing 
with men of letters. His court was bril- 
liant, and filled with strangers of rank 
and distinction. All the powers of Eu- 
rope sent ambassadors to him ; he re- 
ceived an ambassador even from the king 
of Persia, to congratulate him on his vic- 
tories, and to ask his friendship and 
alliance. 

Enthusiasm, which was a predominant 
feature in his character, imparted an 
oracular tone of authority and majesty to 
all his words and expressions, which, on 
this account, are still commemorated and 
applauded. When taking his departure 
from Warsaw in his campaign against the 
Turks, he said emphatically to the am- 
bassadors at his court, " Tell your mas- 
ter that you have seen me mount ray 
horse, and that Vienna is safe !" In this 
expedition, though the greater part of his 
army were well mounted, one battalion 
was so extremely ill clothed, that prince 
Lumboriski advised him for the honor of 
Poland, not to exhibit it before the allies. 
Disregarding this suggestion, he exclaim- 
ed, when the battalion was passing be- 
fore the allied troops, " Examine these 
men attentively ; they are invincible ; and 
have sworn, that in time of war they will 
wear no other dress but that of the ene- 
my ; in the last war they were clothed 
after the Turkish fashion." After the 
defeat at Vienna, a gilt stirrup which had 
belonged to Mustapha having been found, 
" Take that stirrup to the queen," cried 
he, " and tell her, that he, to whom it 
belonged, is conquered." And at the 
same time he wrote to the queen, " that 
the grand vizier had made him his heir, 
and that he had found in his tent the 



value of several millions of ducats. So," 
added he, " say not of us what the Tar- 
tar women say when they see their hus- 
bands return empty-handed, You are not 
men, since you come home without booty .'" 
Such was John Sobieski, the last il- 
lustrious monarch that filled the throne 
of Poland. His character, with all its 
defects, we delight to contemplate, as it 
aflbrds us a bright spot on which to pause 
amid the general gloom. " The spirit of 
discord and anarchy," says Mr. Coxe, 
" was laid for a time by his transcendent 
genius. Under his auspices Poland seem- 
ed to revive from the calamities which 
had long oppressed her, and again to re- 
cover her ancient splendor ; such is the 
powerful ascendancy of a great and su- 
perior mind." The contentions which 
followed his death we have no time at 
present to describe. It maybe sufficient 
to remark that, though the prince of Conti 
had been elected by a majority of votes, 
Augustus, elector of Saxony, backed by 
a powerful army, was ultimately declared 
successor to Sobieski. Augustus began 
his reign auspiciously by concluding a 
peace with the Turks, by which Kami- 
nieck and Podolia were added to his do- 
minions. But this was the only favora- 
ble transaction in which, during a long 
reign, he was engaged. Charles XII, 
the celebrated king of Sweden, having 
invaded his territories, compelled him to 
surrender the crown to Stanislaus Lec- 
zinski, a Pole of noble rank, whose ele- 
vation, however, was of but short contin- 
uance. The battle of Pultowa dissipated 
the Swedish power, and Augustus was 
restored through the friendship of Rus- 
sia, thoiigh not without making the most 
inglorious concessions to that nation. 
Surrounded by Russian and Saxon troops, 
bound to obey every order he received from 
the court of Petersburg, his reign was 
without authority and without honor. He 
was succeeded, at his death, in 1733, by 
his son of the same name, though not 
without the most formidable opposition 
on the part of the French king, who es- 
poused the cause of Stanislaus, whose 
daughter he had married. Augustus II 
had even less merit than his father. His 
reign was an unvaried scene of anarchy 
and rebellion. So extremely unpopular 



POLAND. 



521 



was he, and so completely divested of 
any thing like power, that, when driven 
from Saxony, his patrimonial dominions, 
the Poles would scarcely afford him an 
asylum among them. And after an in- 
efficient and unhappy reign, he died at 
Dresden in 1764, and was, not unfortu- 
nately, doomed to be the last of his fami- 
ly who attempted to wield the sceptre of 
Poland. This ill-fated country had been 
for some time regarded by Russia, and 
not without reason, as a tributary prov- 
ince ; and accordingly Catharine II, 
when the throne became vacant, com- 
pelled the diet to elect for king Stanis- 
laus Poniatowski, under the name of 
Stanislaus Augustus, — a Pole of noble 
rank, who, having resided in Petersburg, 
had by his address and abilities rendered 
himself agreeable to the empress. He 
was an amiable and patriotic, though not 
a very energetic character. Whatever 
had been his talents, however, Poland 
before his time was rapidly hastening to 
decay ; and during his reign he saw it com- 
pletely erased from the chart of the world. 
This plan, for the dismemberment of 
Poland, it is thought, was at first contem- 
plated by Prussia ; but Russia and Aus- 
tria readily enough embraced it, though 
all these kingdoms at different periods 
owed much of their glorj', and even their 
very existence, to the country which they 
thus resolved to destroy. A great pro- 
portion of Poland was thus seized upon 
by these kingdoms, and a treaty to this 
effect was signed by their plenipoten- 
tiaries at Petersburg, in Febnaary, 1772. 
The partitioning powers having forced 
the Poles to call a meeting of the diet, 
threatened, if the treaty of dismember- 
ment was not unanimously sanctioned, 
that the whole kingdom should imme- 
diately be laid under military execution, 
and be treated as a conquered state. The 
glory of Poland was past ; and though 
some of the nobles, rather than be the 
instruments of bringing their country to 
ruin, chose to spend their days in ex 
ile and poverty, the measure was at 
length agreed to ; and .Stanislaus him- 
self, threatened with deposition and im- 
prisonment, was prevailed upon to sanc- 
tion it. Europe, though astonished at 
what was taking place in Poland, re- 
66 



mained inactive. The courts of London, 
Paris, Stockholm, and Copenhagen, in- 
deed, sent remonstrances against this 
usurpation ; but remonstrances without a 
military force will, as in the case before 
us, be always unavailing. 

" Oh bloodiest picture in the book of time, 
Sarmatia fell, unwept, without a crime !" 

A large portion of the eastern provin- 
ces were seized by Russia ; Austria ap- 
propriated a fertile tract on the south- 
west ; while Prussia acquired a commer- 
cial district in the north-west, including 
the lower part of the "Vistula. Poland 
was thus robbed of 70,000 square miles, 
or about a fourth of her whole territory. 

Stanislaus, thus deprived of a great 
part of his dominions, did not, however, 
give way to unavailing sorrow and de- 
spondency; he exerted himself strenu- 
ously to promote the happiness and pros- 
perity of that portion wliich was left him. 

Poland had been too long the scene 
of anarchy and opposition, to be so easily 
reconciled to obedience and tranquillity. 
A few of the nobles, irritated at the sacri- 
fice of some of their privileges, repaired 
to the court of Petersburg ; and their 
representations corresponding with the 
ambitious views of the empress, she im- 
mediately despatched an army into Po- 
land under the pretext of guaranteeing 
the constitution as established in 1772. 
The Poles were not backward in making 
preparations to oppose her. All animosi- 
ties were forgotten in the desperate strug- 
gle ; the nobles hesitated not to surren- 
der their plate and valuable jewels to 
enrich the treasury' ; every rank and 
class of men in the' state were resolved 
to conquer or die in the defence of their 
liberties and independence. In vain, 
however, prince Poniatowsky, general of 
the army, (nephew of the king,) support- 
ed, by the intrepid Kosciusko, performed 
prodigies of valor. Catharine was almost 
every where triumphant. And a letter 
written by her to Stanislaus, threatening 
to double or triple her forces unless he 
yielded, induced that benignant monarch, 
in order to prevent the farther effusion 
of human blood, to surrender at discre- 
tion. He was removed to Grodno, to 
await the determination of the empress. 
Nor did she allow her intention to re- 



522 



POLAND. 



main long concealed. In the beginning 
of 1793, a manifesto was published by 
the courts of Russia and Prussia, declar- 
ing that, to remove from their respective 
frontiers the dangerous influence of the 
anarchical principles recently proclaimed 
in Poland, they had resolved to unite to 
their dominions several of the provinces 
of that kingdom. 

The constitution of 1791 was ordered 
to be annulled, and every paper relative to 
it to be delivered up. 'I'hese orders the 
council hesitated to obey ; and Iglestrom, 
the Russian ambassador, to deprive them 
of all power of resistance, immediately is- 
sued a mandate to reduce their military 
force to 16,000 men. The army was as 
indexible and patriotic as the council ; 
the gallant Madalinsky put himself at 
the head of the troops, who refused to 
lay down their arms. The spirit of re- 
sistance was inveterate, and was widely 
diffused ; and the Russians, to see their 
orders put into execution, marched into 
Poland with a numerous army. The 
ruthless conduct of these invaders drove 
the Poles to desperation : the peasantry 
were compelled to lodge, to feed, to trans- 
port their enemies from place to place 
without remuneration. Such degrada- 
tion roused the spirit of the nation ; and 
the brave Kosciusko, Avhose name will 
ever adorn the history of his unfortunate 
country, suddenly appeared, (1794,) sur- 
rounded by a very considerable number 
of the armed peasantry, and by his skill 
and intrepidity supported, for a while, the 
falling honor of his country. This great 
man having driven the Russians out of 
Cracow, this city became the centre of 
the patriotic army; and having issued a 
proclamation, expressed in the most en- 
ergetic terms, calling on every rank and 
class of men to shake off their disgrace- 
ful fetters, and to conquer or perish in 
defence of their country, the appeal was 
not made in vain : he was immediately 
elected generalissimo of the national 
troops, and received the support of the 
nobility, who, having proclaimed the con- 
stitution of 1791, departed for their re- 
spective estates to arm and assemble 
their vassals. And the success of Kos- 
ciusko corresponded for a while with the 
justness of his cause, and the bravery 



with which he supported it. A body of 
troops amounting to six thousand men, 
having marched towards Cracow to give 
him battle, was completely defeated ; 
they lost one thousand men, with eleven 
cannon, and their general Wononzow 
was taken prisoner. This was the sig- 
nal for general hostility. The Russians, 
who had seized upon Warsaw, and were 
attempting to become masters of the 
arsenal, were resolutely attacked by the 
inhabitants, and, after three days of the 
most bloody engagements, were driven 
from the city. Similar achievements 
were performed in other towns. Poland 
was all in arms ; and her troops amount- 
ed to 60,000 men, exclusive of the peas- 
antry, who were armed with pikes. Rus- 
sia and Prussia in the mean time marched 
110,000 troops against Poland ; and Ko- 
sciusko made a skilful retreat upon War- 
saw, which he defended for ten weeks 
against the Prussians, who, after losing 
20,000 men in an inglorious and unavail- 
ing siege, found it prudent to withdraw 
into their own territories. 

Kosciusko, thus freed of the Prussians, 
marched to oppose the new Russian 
troops, who, during the siege of Warsaw, 
had conquered Lithuania and Volhynia. 
The eyes of all Europe were placed upon 
him, but fortune had declared against 
him ; and though he and his brave com- 
panions in arms performed feats of valor, 
the Russians (19th October) gained a 
signal victory, Kosciusko himself being 
dreadfully wounded, and taken prisoner.* 



* The subsequent fate of this brave man it may 
not be improper to state. Having recovered a 
little from his wound, he was advancing forward 
a few steps, when a Cossack aimed at him a 
dreadful blow, which would inevitably have proved 
mortal, had not a Russian general (to whose wife 
Kosciusko, when she was his prisoner, had shown 
the most disinterested generosity) stopped his 
arm ; and when the officer was requested, (if he 
really wished to render him a service,) to allow 
the soldier to put an end to his existence, he 
spared his life, but made him a prisoner. Kosci- 
usko having been removed to Petersburg, was con- 
fined in the fortress there, till, on the accession of 
Paul, the late emperor, (1796,) who showed great 
liberality to the persecuted Poles, he was set at 
liberty, and permitted to remam either in the 
Russian dominions, or to emigrate to America. 
He preferred the latter. He afterwards returned 
to France. When the allies entered Paris, in 
1815, he was then residing in that capital : and 



POLAND. 



523 



The fate of Poland was now irrevocably 
sealed, the whole kingdom being in the 
power of the Russians, with the single 
exception of Warsaw, whither they im- 
mediately marched their victorious army. 
The Polish troops in that city, "few but 
undismayed," resolved to make a desper- 
ate resistance; but how could 10,000 
men withstand the impetuosity of five 
times that number ? The suburb Praga 
was taken by assault, and, after eight 
hours of the most obstinate defence,War- 
saw was obliged to surrender at discre- 
tion. But the implacable Russians, com- 
manded by the infamous Suwarrow, were 
not yet satisfied. About ten hours after 
the battle was finished, they set fire to 
the city, and plundered and massacred 
the inhabitants in the most brutal man- 
ner ; no age or sex escaped their vio- 
lence ; they perpetrated deeds at the 
bare idea of which humanity shudders, 
and of which even the history of Poland 
affords few examples. 

Poland being thus overthrown, the two 
usurping powers were about to form a 
partition of it betwixt them, when Austria 
unexpectedly stept forward, and declared 
that she could not permit the entire de- 
struction of Poland, unless she were al- 
lowed to share in the division. The 
consequences of a refusal they were not 
willing to encounter ; and Austria had 
thus her ambitious views realized, with- 
out having incurred the smallest danger 
or expense. Stanislaus, who had all this 
while remained in his capital, was at 
length removed to Grodno a second time, 
where he was compelled to resign his 



some Polish soldiers having recognised him, could 
not sufficiently express their gratitude and vene- 
ration for a man, who, then weighed down with 
years and misfortunes, had done and suffered so 
much to redeem the fading glory of their country. 
He died in France; but through the intervention 
of the emperor Alexander, king of Poland, his 
remains were restored from a foreign grave, and 
reposited at Cracow in a vault, which formed the 
cemetery of the kings of Poland, and which con- 
tains the ashes of the illustrious Sobieski. On the 
summit of Mount St. Bronislawa, near Cracow, a 
tumulus of the Carpathian marble has lately been 
raised to the memory of Kosciusko. The emperor 
Alexander, who seems to wish to make amends 
to Poland for the barbarous rapacity of his prede- 
cessors, has also removed to the same cemetery 
the dust of Stanislaus Poniatowsky. 



crown, and M^as thence carried to Peters- 
burg, where he resided as a state pris- 
oner in solitude and exile till his death, 
which took place in February, 1798. 

The Polish nobles who escaped the 
dungeons of the partitioning powers, 
hastened either to Venice or Paris. At 
this latter place a confederacy was form- 
ed, which maintained a correspondence 
with a similar society at Vienna. These 
societies sent their emissaries to the 
friendly courts of Europe for the purpose 
of entering into negotiations in favor of the 
Poles. But the death of Catharine, the 
empress of Russia, put an end to the 
plans of the confederates. Her succes- 
sor, the emperor Paul, treated the Poles 
with so much clemency that they became 
somewhat reconciled to his government. 
He set at liberty the gallant Kosciusko, 
and offered him a high military post in 
his service. He liberated twelve thou- 
sand Poles who had been sent into exile in 
Siberia by Catharine. During the French 
revolution a great number of the Poles 
entered into the service of the French. 
They expected much from Napoleon, 
who, by his promises to restore their 
country to its freedom, induced many of 
them to shed their blood in his service. 
The Poles, however, deceived by his 
promises, did not despair. The modera- 
tion of Alexander made their servitude 
more endurable ; but no sooner had 
Nicholas ascended the throne of Russia, 
and sanctioned the barbarities of his bru- 
tal brother Constantine, than the old 
spirit revived. The successful example 
of France, followed by Belgium, roused 
them to action and inspired them with 
the liveliest hopes. The following ac- 
count of the last revolution is from a re- 
cent work entitled " History of the Revo- 
lutions in Europe." 

It was on the 29th of November, 1830, 
that the insurrection at Warsaw burst 
forth. Secret societies had existed in 
that city since 1818, for the express pur- 
pose of securing the liberty and nation- 
ality of Poland. 

" As early as 1821, Russia had com- 
menced a system of proscription against 
these secret societies ; and in 1825, a 
conspiracy was kindled into flame at Pe- 
tersburg, which it was thought could be 



524 



POLAND. 



traced to Warsaw. The societies had 
members throughout Poland and Lithu- 
ania, Podolia and Volhynia, and even the 
old provinces of the Ukraine, which it 
might be supposed had long since lost 
all recollections of Polish glory. These 
associations were formed during the reign 
of the emperor Alexander, to whom some 
of the patriots had vainly looked for a bet- 
ter state of things. After the death of 
Alexander, his successor, Nicholas, was 
crowned king of Poland at Warsaw, May, 
1829. 

"The diet assembled in 1830, and in 
spite of all the endeaA-^ors of the emperor, 
many patriots were elected. Nicholas 
opened this assembly in person, but failed 
to overawe the liberals from impeaching 
ministers for violating the charter. This 
liberal diet was closed June 28th. * Such 
freedom of discussion could not be en- 
dured by a despotic monarch, whose un- 
varying aim has been to tread out every 
spark of liberty in the northern parts of 
Europe. The archduke Constantine was 
made viceroy of Poland, and by his mon- 
strous atrocities became universally de- 
tested by the Poles. 

" The ardent hopes and wishes of the 
Polish patriots at length burst forth into 
flame. At 7 in the evening, the hour 
agreed upon, fifteen intrepid youths sal- 
lied forth determined to seize on Con- 
stantine, whose residence was about two 
miles from Warsaw. They rushed into 
the palace of the Belvider, where the 
usual guard consists of sixty men, first 
wounding the director of police, who fled. 
They next killed general Gendre, a Rus- 
sian infamous for his crimes. The strug- 
gle alarmed Constantine, who instantly 
rose from his bed and escaped undressed 
by a secret door, that was closed after 
him by his valet just as they were on 
the point of reaching him, and had sup- 
posed themselves secure of their victim. 
Constantine instantly fled to his guards. 
Thus disappointed, this band retired to 



* The constitution of Poland, issued by Alex- 
ander, emperor of Russia, in 1815, contained 
many important provisions. The diet, composed 
of two houses, was to be assembled once every 
two years ; yet in violation of this provision, none 
was convoked from 1820 to 1825, and only one 
under the emperor Nicholas. 



their companions in arms, who awaited, 
at the bridge of Sobieski, the result of 
this movement. In returning to the city 
they had to pass the barracks where the 
guards, though already mounted, were 
unable to attack them on account of a 
precautionary measure of Constantine in 
surrounding the barracks with a deep and 
wide ditch, passed onlyby narrow bridges. 
The guards fired upon the insurgents ; 
but the latter were so advantageously sit- 
uated, and returned the fire so well that 
they killed three hundred of the guards, 
and retreated with the loss of only one 
of their number. 

" By this time the streets of Warsaw 
were filled, some houses had been set on 
fire, and the cry resounded " To arms, to 
arms, Poland is up, God for our country !" 
The inhabitants rushed to arms. The 
state prisoners were liberated ; the stu- 
dents of the university and the school of 
engineers joined the insurrection ; the ar- 
senal was forced, and in an hour and a 
half from the first cry of hberty, 40,000 
men were in arms. Soon the fourth Po- 
lish regiment joined the populace, and 
presently the rest of the Polish soldiers. 
When Constantine heard of this, he fell 
back with two Polish regiments of guards, 
and was permitted to retire by the mag- 
nanimous Poles unmolested to the fron- 
tier. Chlopicki was appointed general-in- 
chief, and four days afterwards declared 
dictator by the provisional government. 
Although a soldier of undisputed bravery, 
he has been blamed for suffering the 
grand duke to escape when he might 
have captured him, and for losing time in 
trying to negotiate with the emperor Ni- 
cholas. 

" The diet that assembled in twenty- 
days after the breaking out of the revolt, 
confirmed Chlopicki dictator ; but on his 
refusing assent to the manifesto of Janu- 
ary 9th, 1831, in which the wrongs of 
Poland were so feelingly portrayed, he 
was deposed. Instantly a supreme na- 
tional council was formed, and prince 
Adam Czartoryski appointed president, 
when a spirited proclamation was issued, 
informing the polish soldiers that Chlo- 
picki had resigned the glorious task of 
i conducting them to combat. 
I " Russia had now brought into the field 



POLAND. 



525 



against Poland 200,000 men, while Po- 
land had about 50,000 equipped for the 
fioht — a fearful disparity in numbers. 
Through the influence of the aristocracy, 
the command of the army was given to 
prince Radzvil. 

" The Russian invading army rendez- 
voused, on the 20th of January, at various 
points of the western frontier of the em- 
pire. It was composed, according to 
the report of field-marshal Diebitsch, of 
105 battalions of infantry, 135 squadrons 
of cavalry, with 396 pieces of artillery, 
and 1 1 regiments of Cossacks. The 
army crossed the Polish frontiers on 
the 5th of February. The advance of 
the Polish army was at Biala, the right 
near the high road to Warsaw, the left 
at Lomeza on the Narew. On the ad- 
vance of the Russians, the Polish corps 
fell back, the right on Warsaw, and the 
left on Modlin and Pultusk. On the 1 8th 
of February, the Russian head-quarters 
were established at Minsk, ten miles 
from Warsaw, and their advance pushed 
to Melisna, within five miles of that city. 
The Russian left rested on the Vistula 
above Warsaw, and tlie right on the Bug 
near its junction with the Narew, its 
centre protected with woods and artillery. 

"On the 18th, the Polish army of 
50,000 men had its right on Grokow, 
with Praga in the rear, and the left 
thrown back opposite the right wing of 
the enemy. 

" The reconnoissances of the 19th and 
20th, were resisted by the Poles and led 
to a severe battle. According to the Rus- 
sian account, the heat of the battle was 
during the early part of the day confined 
to the left, count Pahlen's advanced guard, 
which was attacked as soon as it had 
cleared the defile near Grokow, and com- 
pelled to retreat two miles. The advanced 
guard, under general Rosen, was attack- 
ed at the same time, advancing from Ok- 
anief. On the arrival of Diebitsch, he 
sent a re-enforcement under general Toll, 
with several battalions and 20 cannon, to 
the relief of count Pahlen. A furious 
charge was now made by the Russians, 
with Diebitsch in person, which changed 
the fortune of the day, and at 4 o'clock, 
the Russian wings united, when the 
Poles were driven from the field of bat- 



tle. For three days after this action the 
Russians made no onward movement, but 
asked an armistice for the burial of the 
dead, which was granted. 

" Early on the 25th, the Russians hav- 
ing received" a re-enforcement of 25,000 
men, felt prepared for action. They 
drew forth their whole army in front of 
the forest, and commenced an attack on 
the Polish left wing, near Jublonna. Gen- 
eral Uminski received this attack with 
great bravery and repulsed the enemy, 
taking six cannon, which he spiked, and 
drove the Russians to the forest. He 
then attacked the Russian centre with 
dreadful slaughter, and drove them from 
their position. Diebitsch had calculated, 
with the great strength of his left wing, 
to crush the Polish right, situated near 
Grokow, under the command of Chlopic- 
ki and Skrzynecki. The Russians made 
six tremendous charges, and were as of- 
ten repidsed with great loss ; a seventh 
charge made against a new regiment, put 
it in disorder, and caused it partially to 
retreat. Two regiments of cuirassiers 
were then sent against the faltering regi- 
ments ; the latter being aided with the 
Polish lancers, rallied, rushed on the re- 
giments of cuirassiers, and cut them to 
pieces, of which only forty escaped, twen- 
ty prisoners only being taken, mostly 
officers, and among them the commander 
of one of these regiments. This affair 
decided the day, when the Russians were 
obliged to withdraw from the field of bat- 
tle into their strong-holds in the forest of 
Milosna. This battle was fought with 
great fury. General Chlopicki, who was 
in the centre, had two horses killed un- 
der him, and was wounded. Forty thou- 
sand Poles here withstood the shock of 
one hundred and fifty thousand of their 
enemy ; and at the close of the battle, 
nearly 15,000 Russians lay weltering ou 
the plain, and several thousand prisoners 
were taken. 

" After the battle, prince Radzvil gave 
up the command of the army ; when 
Skrzynecki, who had displayed extraor- 
dinary bravery and skill, was chosen 
commander-in-chief. But this step led 
to the rankling enmity of Krukowiecki, 
the second in command to Chlopicki, 
who thenceforward meditated revenge, 



526 



POLAND. 



plotted, and afterwards proved a traitor 
to his country. 

" The first step of Skrzynecki was to 
attempt to negotiate with Diebitsch. 
When he found his advances repelled, he 
prepared for the unequal struggle. 

" The ice in the Vistula had now bro- 
ken up, and the swamps were filled from 
the melting snow, and the roads were al- 
most impassable for artillery and cavalry. 
Skrzynecki now determined to act on the 
offensive. On learning that Diebitsch 
had divided his forces, he led the Polish 
army of 25,000 men to Praga, and on the 
31st, favored by the darkness of the 
night, approached the Russian camp, and 
fell upon the advanced guard of general 
Geismar, at Wawar, consisting of 8,000 
men, intrenched in a very strong position, 
which force he nearly destroyed, captu- 
ring 4,000 prisoners, and taking a num- 
ber of cannon. General Uminski had 
previously been despatched towards Os- 
trolenka, to keep in check the corps of 
general Sacken and the guards who were 
advancing there. While the Polish ad- 
vanced guard were engaged in combat at 
Wawar, general Rybinski, with his di- 
vision, attacked the enemy's right, and 
carried it by the point of the bayonet ; 
destroyed one entire regiment, and forced 
another to lay down their arms. The 
combat lasted two hours. Colonel Ro- 
marino's brigade here also distinguished 
itself. Skrzynecki next fell upon the 
corps of general Rosen, posted at Dembe 
W^ielski with 20,000 men, who were un- 
able to withstand the impetuous attack of 
the Poles. The Russians fled by way of 
Minsk, and made several efforts to sus- 
tain their positions as they received re- 
enforcemenls, but were unable to sustain 
them. It was at 5 o'clock, P. M. when 
they arrived at Dembe Wielski, a posi- 
tion strongly fortified, and the resistance 
was obstinate. But the force of the ar- 
tillery from the centre, and the vigor of 
the assault, completely routed the Rus- 
sians, who fled with precipitation. 

" By this masterly movement of the 
Polish commander-in-chief, 20,000 Rus- 
sians were thrown hors-de-combat, and 
many superior officers were captured du- 
ring this day, so glorious to the Polish 
arms, besides taking two standards, fif- 



teen wagons filled with ammunition, some 
thousand muskets, and fifteen pieces of 
cannon. This victory occasioned but 
small loss to the Poles, owing to the ra- 
pidity and surprise with which their 
movements were executed. The regi- 
ment of scythemen (leucheurs) having 
demanded arms, the muskets left on the 
field of battle were assigned them. The 
combat lasted till 10 at night. The ar- 
my had then been actively engaged, fight- 
ing and marching, twenty hours. 

" On the 9lh, the Polish army gained a 
considerable victory, taking several can- 
non, and from 3,000 to 4,000 prisoners ; 
among them were 300 officers of differ- 
ent ranks. The head-quarters on the 
10th were at Seidlec ; and on the same 
day, at that place, marshal Diebitsch suc- 
ceeded in uniting all his forces. From 
this time the Polish cause appears to 
have declined. 

" General Dwernecki with a valiant 
corps entered Volhynia, surrounded by 
Russian corps under generals De Witt, 
Keuts, and Rudiger. Dwernecki passed 
the Bug on the 1 0th, and on the 1 1 th 
routed some Russian forces, took a num- 
ber of prisoners, some transports, and 
baggage. The left wing of the Russian 
army, stationed at Kock, upon Veprez 
and Rudje-w, fell back, and marshal Die- 
bitsch, baffled in his attempts, retired 
with the army across the river Bug, 
alarmed for his safety. Insurrections 
spread in his rear, in the provinces of 
Lithuania and Volhynia. A violent in- 
surrection broke out at Wilna on the 28lh 
of March. 

" General Chrzanovvski, with 8,000 
men, cut his way through the Russians, 
and penetrated as far as the fortress of 
Zamosc. The greatest enthusiasm now 
spread through the Polish province of 
Samogitia. This expedition of Chrzan- 
owski, by forcing his way through the 
enemy's detachments, was one of great 
daring. In three days he defeated the 
Russians three times, and took 800 pris- 
oners. These movements in Volhynia 
occasioned great uneasiness to the Rus- 
sians, and obliged them to change their 
plan — that of attempting Warsaw in front 
by Praga. On the last days of April, 
Diebitsch retired with the Russian army 



POLAND. 



527 



beyond the river Bug. The barbarities 
of the Russians during this warfare 
against the patriots in Lithuania, were of 
the most revoking kind. 

" April 26th, general Dwernecki sur- 
rendered his force, consisting of 4,000 
men and 17 pieces of cannon, to the Aus- 
trians. He had been pursued by a su- 
perior force, and was under the necessity 
of passing into the Austrian dominions. 
Diebitsch, with the principal Russian 
army, retreated in the direction of the 
Bug and Narew, to gain the Prussian 
frontier, to relieve the suffering state of 
the army. At Thorn there was a great 
supply of provisions, ammunition, &c, 
waiting his approach. 

" The Polish government issued a 
manifesto against Prussia for her shame- 
ful violation of the principle of non-inter- 
ference. This conduct of Prussia des- 
troyed all the advantages gained by Po- 
lish valor. The Prussians furnished 
supplies of every kind, and constructed 
bridges over the Vistula for the passage 
of the Russian army. In many instances 
when the Russian troops were forced by 
the Polish soldiers into the Prussian do- 
minions, they were suffered to return 
with their arms, while the Poles in all 
similar cases were retained prisoners. 

" The conduct too of Austria was most 
outrageous. While the brave Dwernecki, 
the ' cannon provider,' was withstanding 
a greatly superior force on the Austrian 
frontier, the Russians passed over neu- 
tral ground to outflank him. He was 
followed in his retreat by the Russians 
who were allowed to retire, while the 
brave, patriotic, and devoted champions 
of Poland were obliged to surrender 
themselves prisoners of war to the Aus- 
trian forces stationed on the frontier. 

" While a Polish corps was at Minsk, 
Skryznecki united all his corps on the 
left, crossed the Bug, and forced his way 
to Ostrolenka, a flank movement of 80 
miles, and defeated the Russian guards 
at Tychosin. He then sent forward 300 
Polish officers to Lithuania, there to or- 
ganize the patriot forces. 

" The sanguinary battle of Ostrolenka 
was fought on the 26th of May, in which 
20,000 Poles were opposed to 60,000 
Russians. This battle was fought with 



an inveteracy unexampled — quarter was 
out of the question. The Poles having 
succeeded in passing to the right bank 
of the Narew, they attempted to destroy 
the bridge. This they were unable to 
efl'ect, as the Russians were protected 
by a numerous artillery placed on the op- 
posite bank. Several regiments of Poles, 
under a most galling fire, attempted to ar- 
rest the progress of the Russians. The 
combat was for a long time one of slaugh- 
ter ; they fought man to man, and thou- 
sands were killed by being thrown into 
the dyke which passes along the marshy 
shore of the Narew. The battle did not 
end till 12 o'clock at night, when the ex- 
hausted Russians retrograded as far as 
the bridge, and the Polish army com- 
menced a retrograde movement unmoles- 
ted, and fell back on Praga. The loss 
of the Poles in this battle has been stated 
at 4,000 men. The Russians suffered 
very severely and had three generals 
killed. The Russian guards are said 
to have displayed great bravery in the 
action. It was the object of Diebitsch 
to cut off the retreat of the Poles. The 
second Polish corps under General Lu- 
bienski displayed great gallantry on the 
25th : it forced its way, at the point of 
the bayonet, in a retreat from Chirch- 
nowiec, through 40,000 Russians. 

" It was subsequently ascertained that 
a correspondence had been kept up by trai- 
tors and Russian agents in Warsaw, by 
whose means Diebitsch was informed 
of the plans of the Polish commander-in- 
chief, and led to the disastrous battle of 
Ostrolenka. On the same day that the 
battle of Ostrolenka was fought, General 
Chlapowski gained a victory over the 
Russians at Mariampol, commanded by 
General Sacken. 

" The Russian commander-in-chief, 
Diebitsch, died suddenly at Klechewo, 
June 19th, at that time the head-quarters 
of the Russian army. He had been su- 
perseded a short time previous to his 
death by Paskewitch, who had greatly 
distinguished himself in the war against 
the Persians. Shortly afterwards, the Arch 
Duke Constantine died very suddenly. 

" June 29th, a conspiracy was this day 
timely discovered in Warsaw, which was 
to set the Russian prisoners, thirteen 



528 



POLAND. 



thousand in number, at liberty. Several 
disaffected officers attempted to bring 
about a counter-revolution to favor the 
Russians. It was to be accompUshed 
as follows : the prisoners having been 
allowed to go at large, they were to be 
supplied with arms ; and on a signal be- 
ing given the powder mill was to be blown 
up, when a general attack was to be 
made on the citizens and national guard. 
General Janowski, one of the traitors, to 
save himself, made the discovery of this 
horrid conspiracy just in time to save 
Warsaw. 

" On the 1 4th of July, General Chrzan- 
ski was attacked by General Rudiger's 
corps, on this side of Minsk, five miles 
from Warsaw ; when the Russians were 
defeated and forced to retreat, having 
3,000 men killed, 900 prisoners taken, 
and 1,000 muskets. On the 12th, the 
main army of Paskewitch was encamped 
between Sisno and Kikal, and on the 
same day a great part of it passed the 
Vistula between Warsaw and the Prus- 
sian frontier, having received from Thorn 
a great number of barges and materials 
for bridges. The Prussians, to facilitate 
the passing of the Russians, had con- 
structed a bridge over the Vistula at 
Drewenca. 

"On the 13th of Aug. General Skryz- 
necki resigned the command of the army 
to General Dembinski, compelled, by the 
force of circumstances, to do so, in order 
that faction might have no further pre- 
text to injure his country. His letter of 
resignation on this occasion, is full of 
generous devotion to the cause of his 
country. The patriotic club, irritated 
with the measures of government and 
dissatisfied at not seeing General Jan- 
owski condemned, determined to take 
violent measures. To these acts they 
were instigated by the base Krukowiecki. 
On the 15th of August, at 8 A. M. the 
club formally demanded that Skryznecki 
should be ordered to Warsaw. They 
then proceeded to the castle, that was 
protected by 200 of the national guard, 
who made scarcely any resistance. On 
the same day, the patriotic club demand- 
ed the death of Janowski ; and on the 
16th, the state prisoners concerned in 
the conspiracy for a counter-revolution, 



were murdered in their rooms by the 
clubists. Thirty-five persons were thus 
put to death without ceremony ; among 
them were Generals Janowski, Bulkow- 
ski, Hurtig, Salacki, and Benlhouski, the 
Russian chamberlain, Fustiane, &c. 

" During the night. General Krukowi- 
ecki was appointed governor of the city. 
He sent for a re-enforcement, and his first 
measures were to put a stop to these 
horrors. August 17th, the government 
was dissolved, and Krukowiecki was 
placed at the head of the new govern- 
ment, with very extended powers. He 
caused the arrest of the president and 
ten of the club, and appointed General 
Prondzynski to the chief command in 
the army. 

" From the time that Krukowiecki came 
into power, he took measures to deliver 
Warsaw to the Russians, and made every 
attempt to induce the diet to demand an 
amnesty, and sent the main part of the 
Polish army to the right side of the Vis- 
tula, when the thunder of the Russian 
artillery was breaking over the devoted 
city. The proposals of Krukowiecki 
were repelled by the diet with indigna- 
tion, who declared to the suspicious de- 
puties, ' rather will we die here in our 
places than stain the honor of our coun- 
try.' The traitor was deposed at mid- 
night and a new governor of the city 
named, which gave new vigor to the 
fainting defenders of Warsaw. 

" On the 6th of September, at daybreak, 
the Russian army of 100,000 men and 
300 pieces of cannon, advanced to storm 
Warsaw, which was defended with great 
heroism. On the 8th, after two days 
hard fighting, it surrendered to Field 
Marshal Paskewitch. The Russians 
had 20,000 slain in storming Warsaw. 
The Poles lost about half that number in 
its defence. 

" The government and the most distin- 
guished citizens retired with the main 
body of the army, under the new com- 
mander-in-chief, Rybinski, upon Modlin 
and Plozk. The army, however, kept 
in three divisions instead of unhing, 
which could thus offer but a feeble resis- 
tance to the Russian forces. As a last 
resource, the Poles crossed the frontiers 
into the Austrian and Prussian dominions. 



PORTUGAL. 



529 



Upwards of 1 ,500 of the most distinguish- 
ed leaders of the Polish revolution were 
arrested and imprisoned at Warsaw ; and 
to complete the measures of oppression 
and vengeance, the Russian troops fired 
upon the prisoners confined in one of the 
wings of the prison, under the pretence 
of a revolt among the prisoners, though 
it was known that three-fourths of these 
were imprisoned for political offences. 

" Of twenty-two Polish generals that 
became, in a mannei", prisoners under 
the amnesty, the greater part were sent 
to distant parts of the Russian empire, 
and but four returned to Poland. The 
soldiers were marched by thousands to 



Siberian exile, linked together by the 
wrists to bars of iron. The nobles were 
treated in the same ignominious manner, 
with their heads shaved, and consigned 
to the dungeons and mines of Siberia ; 
and the children were torn from their 
mothers, and carried off to glut the ven- 
geance of the Autocrat of all the Rus- 
sia's. 

" Numbers of the patriots that escaped 
after the fall of Warsaw, when the army 
passed the frontiers, have gone into vol- 
untary exile, and are now mourning over 
the calamities of their country, the loss 
of their homes, their wives, and their 
children." 



PORTUGAL 



The early history of Portugal, like 
that of most other states, is involved in 
obscurity and fable ; and though the Por- 
tuguese writers lay claim to a regular de- 
scent from Tubal, and to other honors 
which existed only in their own imagi- 
nations, yet it is allowed by all impartial 
inquirers, that we have no authentic me- 
morials of that kingdom, prior to the time 
of Hamilcar, the famous Carthaginian 
general. Nor even from this period, 
which is comparatively recent, have we 
any regular accounts of its history. 
All indeed we know with certainty is, 
that it was conquered by Hamilcar ; that 
it was the scene of various military op- 
erations between the Romans and Car- 
thaginians, for the two subsequent centu- 
ries ; and that in the time of Augustus it 
was finally conquered by the Romans, 
and constituted a Roman province. It 
remained in this state during the first 
four centuries of the Christian era ; but 
in the sixth, on the downfall of the Ro- 
man power, it fell into the hands of the 
barbarians, who overran the south of Eu- 
rope, particularly the Goths and Vandals. 
The Moors from the North of Africa, 
early in the eighth century, having landed 
in Spain, extended their conquests to 
Portugal, which continued in their pos- 
session till the eleventh century. The 
67 



Spaniards, having long struggled to ex- 
pel these infidels from their territories, 
and having succeeded in driving them 
from the greater part of the country, and 
in establishing the kingdom of Castile 
and Leon, penetrated into Portugal, and 
conquered a part of it from its barbarous 
invaders in the reign of Alphonso VI, of 
Castile. This monarch having acquired 
great glory by his expulsion of the 
Moors, Henry, grandson of the first duke 
of Normandy, anxious to share in this 
glory, passed over into Spain, and en- 
tered the service of the Castilian mon- 
arch. After signalizing his valor in va- 
rious engagements the king raised him 
to the highest military honors, and the 
better to attach so brave an officer to his 
service, bestowed on him his natural 
daughter Theresa in marriage, and, as 
her portion, such portions of Portugal as 
were not in the hands of the Moors. 
This he governed under the title of Earl 
or Count, till his death, which happened 
in 1112, in the seventy-seventh year of 
his age. The name of Count Henry 
forms the first great authentic era in the 
annals of Portugal. And he seems to 
have been worthy of the success and 
honors he experienced. On his death- 
bed, he is said, to have recommended to 
his son and successor to protect and prop- 



>30 



PORTUGAL, 



agate the Christian faith ; to treat his 
subjects as his children ; to grant them 
equitable laws, and to cause them to be 
impartially administered. 

Alphonso, who succeeded him, being un- 
der age, the kingdom during his minority 
was governed by the queen-mother, assist- 
ed by two able ministers. During this mi- 
nority, those jealousies and hostile opera- 
tions which have ever since obtained be- 
tween the Spanish and Portuguese monar- 
chies first appeared. Alphonso, however, 
■when he came of age, made peace with the 
king of Castile and Leon ; and although 
the latter afterwards entered the Portu- 
guese territories, and was preparing to 
commit great devastations, a reconcilia- 
tion was again effected on the interces- 
sion of the pope's legate, all places and 
prisoners on either side having been 
delivered up. The queen-mother, how- 
ever, was of a disposition incapable of 
remaining long in peace. After she had 
made a treaty with her foreign enemies, 
a quarrel took place between her and 
her own son, which having terminated in 
a civil war, not only were her troops 
completely defeated, but herself was 
made prisoner ; in which situation she 
continued duringthe remainder of her life. 

Alphonso had not long gained uncon- 
trolled possession of his dominions, when 
they were attempted to be overrun by 
the Moors. He was not, however, slow 
in opposing them. And a general en- 
gagement, 1139, having taken place on 
the plains of Ourique, on the banks of the 
Tagus, the infidel army was overthrown 
with tremendous slaughter : an event 
which not only redounded to the honor 
of Alphonso, l)ut which laid the founda- 
tion of the Portuguese monarchy. Al- 
phonso was proclaimed king by his sol- 
diers on the field of battle ; a title which 
he enjoyed till his death, and which was 
for generations retained by his descen- 
dants. At a subsequent period he caused 
himself, with great ceremony, to be se- 
lected and crowned king before an as- 
sembly of the states, on which occasion 
he solemnly renounced all dependence 
on the crown of Spain, declaring, that if 
any of his successors should consent to 
do homage or pay tribute to that power, 
he was unworthy of possessing the king- 



I dom of Portugal. But though Alphonso 
had attained to this dignity, he did not 
allow himself to enjoy it in inglorious 
tranquillity. While he made several un- 
successful irruptions into the territories 
of the king of Castile, who had now as- 
sumed the title of emperor of Spain, he 
at the same time contimied with unabated 
ardor to extirpate the Moors, who were 
i still in possession of a great portion of 
his dominions. Lisbon being in their 
hands, he reduced it by means of a fleet 
of French, English and Flemish adven- 
turers, who, in their way to the Holy 
Land, anchored at the mouth of the Ta- 
gus, whose assistance he requested and 
obtained in a cause not entirely foreign 
to that in which they were embarked. 
He made many successful expeditions 
against the Moors, and became master of 
four of the six provinces of which Portu- 
gal now consists. He died in 11 85, ce- 
lebrated for courage, patriotism, and for 
his love and patronage of learned men. 

His son Sancho, who succeeded him, 
was worthy of his distinguished prede- 
cessor. Though, before his accession, 
he had been remarkable for a restless 
and warlike disposition, he had no sooner 
obtained possession of the throne than 
he became a lover of peace, and began, 
with great assiduity, to repair or rebuild 
the cities that had suffered by the late 
wars, and to make what compensation 
he could for the injuries and losses his 
subjects had sustained. Although thus 
pacifically inclined, the state of the na- 
tion did not permit him to remain long 
in peace. The Moors still infested the 
southern parts of his dominions, over 
whom he obtained several signal victo- 
ries, and added considerably to the ex- 
tent of his territories. He died at an 
advanced age with the reputation of the 
best sovereign that had ever filled the 
throne of Portugal. 

For some time after his death, no event 
of importance occurs in the Portuguese 
annals. In the thirteenth century, the 
Moors were expelled by Alphonso HI, 
from Algarve and the south of the king- 
dom ; and, in the subsequent century, the 
Portuguese made occasional descents on 
the coast of Africa with various success. 
But the wars asainst the Moors were 



PORTUGAL 



531 



unhappily succeeded by hostilities with 
the kings of Castile, which have engen- 
dered such implacable hatred between 
the two nations. The reign of Deniz, 
{an enlightened and patriotic prince, who 
is justly denominated the father of his 
country,) notwithstanding some occa- 
sional treaties of peace, may be regarded 
as almost one continued series of warfare 
with the Castilians. But at length, in 
the reign of John I, hostilities between 
these two nations were carried on, if 
possible, with greater vigor and animos- 
ity. The king of Castile, having laid 
pretensions to the crown of Portugal, in- 
vaded that kingdom at the head of the 
whole forces of his dominions. Having 
entered the province of Alentejo, and 
besieged the town of Elvas without effect, 
he found it necessary to retire into his 
own territories, determined, however, to 
invade Portugal a second time, and lay 
waste the whole country. But the second 
expedition was not more successful than 
the first. He was completely defeated ; 
and John was firmly established on the 
throne of Portugal. The Castilians con- 
sented to a truce of three years, which was 
afterwards improved into a lasting peace. 
But the fame of John is not confined 
to his victories over the Castilians, or to 
successful expeditions made by himself 
in person into the Moorish territories. 
These, though they show him to have 
been a man of talents and courage, are 
not the events by which he is best known 
to posterity. With his name the history 
of navigation and the progress of discov- 
ery are inseparably connected: a depart- 
ment of enterprise and skill in which 
Portugal has gained almost unrivalled 
distinction. At the period at which we 
are arrived, the art of navigation was still 
very imperfect. "Though Africa," says 
Dr. Robertson, " lay so near to Portugal, 
and the fertility of the countries already 
known on that continent invited men to 
explore it more fully, the Portuguese had 
not ventured to sail beyond Cape Non. 
That promontory, as its name imports, 
was hitherto considered as a boundary 
which could not be passed. But the 
nations of Europe had now acquired as 
much knowledge as emboldened them to 
disregard the prejudices and to correct 



the errors of their ancestors. The long 
reign of ignorance, the constant enemy 
of every curious inquiry, and of every 
new undertaking, Avas approaching to its 
period. The light of science began to 
dawn. The works of the ancient Greeks 
and Romans began to be read with ad- 
miration and profit. The sciences culti- 
vated by the Arabians were introduced 
into Europe by the Moors settled in Spain 
and Portugal, and by the Jews, who were 
very numerous in both these kingdoms. 
Geometry, astronomy, and geography, 
the sciences on which the art of naviga- 
tion is founded, became objects of studious 
attention. The memory of the discoveries 
made by the ancients was revived, and 
the progress of their navigation and com- 
merce began to be traced. Some of the 
causes (particularly the inquisition) which 
have obstructed the cultivation of science 
in Portugal during this century and the 
last, did not exist, or did not operate in 
the same manner in the fifteenth century ; 
and the Portuguese, at that period, seem 
to have kept pace with the nations on this 
side the Alps in literary pursuits." Such 
were the circumstances of the age when 
king John, urged partly by ambitious 
motives, and partly instigated to the 
measure in order to find employment for 
the restless spirit of his subjects, fitted 
out two armaments, the one destined to 
attack the Moors settled on the coast of 
Africa, the other, consisting only of a 
few vessels, appointed to sail along the 
western shore of Africa bounded by the 
Atlantic ocean, and to discover the un- 
known countries situated there. The 
expedition against the Moors ended suc- 
cessfully ; while, what was still more 
important, the vessels sent on the discov- 
ery doubled that formidable cape which 
had terminated the progress of former 
navigators, and proceeded 160 miles be- 
yond it, to Cape Bojador. " As its rocky 
"clifl^s," says the historian just quoted, 
" which stretched a considerable way 
into the Atlantic, appeared more dreadful 
than the promontory they had passed, 
the Portuguese commanders durst not 
attempt to sail round it, but returned to 
Lisbon, more satisfied with having ad- 
vanced so far, than ashamed of having 
ventured no farther." 



532 



PORTUGAL, 



Inconsiderable as this voyage was, it 
increased the passion for discovery which 
began to arise. Nor was Portugal de- 
ficient in men of talents and enterprise, 
capable of giving it a proper impulse and 
direction. Not only was John himself 
anxious to patronise and forward any 
plan which had for its object the progress 
of discovery, but prince Henry, his fourth 
son, was, from his great talents and ardent 
enthusiasm, peculiarly formed for espous- 
ing a cause which might prove not only 
beneficial, but splendid and honorable. 
He had cultivated, according to Dr. Rob- 
ertson, the arts and sciences, which were 
then unknown and despised by persons 
of his rank. He had applied, with pecu- 
liar fondness, to the study of geography, 
and had acquired such knowledge of the 
habitable globe, as discovered the great 
probability of finding new and opulent 
countries by sailing along the coast of 
Africa. Under such distinguished pa- 
tronage, an impulse was given to the 
spirit of discovery unknown before, and 
which was attended with the most brilliant 
results. Not only were the islands Porto 
Sancto, Madeira, Cape de Verd and the 
Azores, discovered and taken possession 
of, but, ere long, the western coast of 
Africa was traced, and Bartholomew Diaz 
had descried that lofty promontory which 
bounds this great continent on the south ; 
which the discoverer himself denomina- 
ted the Stormy Cape, but to which the 
king, his master, as he now entertained 
no doubts of having found the long desir- 
ed route to India, gave a name more in- 
viting, and of better omen, the Cape of 
Good Hope. These great events had 
taken place during the successive reigns 
of John, Edward, Alphonso V, and John 
II ; and, in the reign of Emanuel, the 
next monarch, Vasco de Gama, a man of 
noble birth, possessed of virtue, prudence, 
and courage, was despatched by his 
sovereign, with three vessels, to follow 
the route which Diaz had pursued, and, 
if possible, to double that promontory, 
which was justly regarded as opening a 
way to the East. After struggling for ' 
four months with contrary winds, Gama, \ 
during an interval of calm weather, ac- 
complished the object for which he had 
set out. After doubling that formidable [ 



cape, he directed his course towards the 
north-east, along the African continent. 
He landed at Melinda, on the Zanquebar 
coast, and afterwards crossed the Indian 
ocean, he arrived at Calecut, on the coast 
of Malabar. And having obtained not 
oidy some commodities peculiar to that 
place, but many rich productions of the 
eastern parts of India, he returned to 
Portugal by the same route, and landed 
at Lisbon in September, 1499, two years, 
two months, and five days, from the time 
he had left that port, and after having 
performed a voyage, the longest as well 
as the most difficult that had yet been 
accomplished. In about a year after 
this date, Cabral discovered that exten- 
sive country in South America, now 
known by the name of Brazil, and which 
till lately formed so important a portion 
of the territories of the kings of Portugal. 
This great progress in navigation, and in 
the discovery of unknown regions, of 
which we have given but a brief sketch, 
was accomplished ere the termination 
of the fifteenth century ; and the two last 
important voyages, those of De Gama 
and Cabral, were performed five and 
seven years respectively from the time 
when the New World was discovered 
by the illustrious Columbus. In the 
history of navigation Portugal holds an 
eminent place, both from the number, the 
early date, and the magnificence of her 
discoveries ; and, as previously mention- 
ed, the only circumstance which pre- 
vents her being entirely unrivalled in this 
great department, is her refusing, though 
urgently solicited, to patronise and pro- 
mote that bold voyage of discovery me- 
ditated by Columbus, which was, at a 
subsequent period, undertaken under the 
auspices of Spain, and which, contrary 
to the expectation of the Portuguese, 
forms the greatest achievement in the 
history of the art to which it belongs. 
Nor was Columbus the only distinguished 
person in this department that Portugal 
overlooked. Magellan, a Portuguese, 
and the first that circumnavigated the 
globe, was also denied patronage and 
encouragement in his native country ; 
and having in consequence applied to 
Charles V, of Spain, that monarch did 
himself honor by taking him under his 



PORTUGAL. 



533 



protection, and assisting in promoting his 
bold and interesting design. 

The successful voyages of the Portu- 
guese were soon celebrated throughout 
Europe, and excited the deepest interest. 
With some, they roused a spirit of emu- 
lation ; but the Venetians, with the quick- 
sighted descernment of merchants, early 
foresaw, and feared that it would prove 
the ruin of that lucrative branch of com- 
merce with the East, which had contri- 
buted so largely to enrich and aggrandize 
them. Nor were their fears ill founded. 
The Portuguese did not fail immediately 
to avail themselves of the route they had 
discovered to India. The wisdom and 
prudence of king Emanuel were not more 
conspicuous in the vigorous and judicious 
measures adopted at home for monopoli- 
zing the commerce of that opulent region, 
than in his nomination of officers to take 
the supreme command in Asia; men 
who, for military and political sagacity, 
for integrity and love of country, have 
certainly not been surpassed by persons 
in similar situations. And their measures 
were not only planned in wisdom, but 
"carried into effect with the greatest activ- 
ity. In twenty-four years after the voyage 
of Gama, the Portuguese had rendered 
themselves masters of Malacca, which 
was the centre of the trade of the East. 
They had also formed settlements at Goa 
and Diu, by which they engrossed the 
trade of the Malabar coast. In every 
part of India they were received with 
respect ; in some they had absolute com- 
mand; and they thus rapidly diverted 
from its ancient channels the commerce 
of India, and were also enabled to import 
into Europe the various productions pe- 
culiar to that country in greater abun- 
dance than had hitherto been effected. 
The Venetians now felt that decrease of 
their Indian trade which they had dread- 
ed. This state of things they were re- 
solved to counteract. And, sensible that 
their own naval force was inadequate to 
the task, they incited the Sultan of the 
Mamelukes to fit out a fleet to attack 
those unexpected invaders of a monopoly 
of which he and they had long enjoyed 
imdisturbed possession. But the Portu- 
guese were not unprepared to defend 
themselves. The formidable squadron 



seut out agninst them they encountered 
with matchless courage, entirely defeated 
it, and became more thoroughly masters 
of the Indian Ocean than before. Year 
after year, they extended their connection 
with the East, till they established there 
a commercial empire of great opulence 
and extent. And Emanuel, who laid the 
foimdation of it, had the satisfaction of 
living- to see it almost completed. Every 
part of Europe was supplied by the Por- 
tuguese with the productions of the East; 
and this quarter of the globe had now 
little or no intercourse with India, except 
by the Cape of Good Hope. 

Emanuel, who died in 1522, crowned 
with years and glory, was succeeded by 
his son John III, a prince who extended 
his acquisitions in India, colonized the 
Brazils, and effected some salutary im- 
provements at home. But the praise, to 
which, in other respects, he is entitled, 
is much qualified, if not entirely armuUed, 
by his introduction of the inquisition : an 
event to which, in no mean degree, the 
rapid subsequent decline of the Portu- 
guese monarchy is to be attributed. 
From this date, the Portuguese annals 
are distingiiished by nothing that is great 
or splendid. Sebastian, who succeeded 
John (1557) was, partly from natural dis- 
positions, and in part from a defect in his 
education, remarkable for rashness, ob- 
stinacy, and want of discrimination. 
Wishing to distingTiish himself in a war 
against the infidels, he undertook two 
crusades into Barbary. For this pur- 
pose, he levied large armies, he induced 
the principal nobility to rally round his 
standard, neglected all domestic and in- 
ternal improvements, and thus sacrificed 
the true interests and hopes of his king- 
dom to personal vanity, and the meanest 
ambition. And continuing inflexible in 
his purpose, in opposition to the impor- 
tunities of his allies and more judicious 
subjects, he left Lisbon (1578) with a 
formidable fleet, and having landed in 
Barbary, was met by Muley Moloch, the 
Moorish king, and defeated with incred- 
ible slaughter, himself slain, and his army 
either cut oft" or taken prisoners. By this 
signal defeat, the kingdom was at once 
exhausted of men, money, and reputa- 
tion, and placed in circumstances to be- 



534 



PORTUGAL. 



come an easy prey to the ambition or 
rapacity of any state that might wish to 
make the attempt. Cardinal Henry, who 
succeeded Sebastian, only reigned two 
years ; and the male line of the royal 
family having become extinct, and the 
kingdom being completely devoid of re- 
sources for self-defence, Philip II, the 
celebrated king of Spain, soon succeeded 
in adding it to his paternal dominions, 
though various attempts were made by 
the people to retain their independence, 
and though Elizabeth, queen of England, 
fitted out a fleet to drive Philip from the 
territories he had so unjustly seized. 
The Spanish monarch, however, having, 
in opposition to every obstacle, firmly 
seated himself on the throne of Portugal, 
the Portuguese, roused at length by 
many injuries, and a native love of lib- 
erty, made a successful insurrection in 
1640, expelled the Spaniards from their 
territories, and conferred the crown on 
the duke of Braganza, a descendant, by 
the female line, of the royal family. This 
revolution, which forms so important an 
era in Portuguese history, being the al- 
most unanimous voice of the nation, was 
attended with little or no efl^usion of 
blood. Nor were all the attempts of the 
king of Spain able to regain possession. 
A fierce war between the tvi^o kingdoms 
raged for many years. Portugal gained 
several distinguished victories ; and at 
length, in 1668, hostilities were termi- 
nated in favor of Portuguese indepen- 
dence, through the interposition of Charles 
II, king of England, who had married a 
princess of Portugal. 

Alphonso was successor to the duke 
of Braganza, who reigned under the title 
of John IV. Alphonso being of a weak 
constitution, of great imbecility of mind, 
ill-educated, and addicted to mean com- 
pany and low pleasures, his mother en- 
deavored, by every artifice and intrigue, 
to get liim deprived of the crown, which 
she meant to place on the head of his 
younger brother Don Peter. This she 
was unable to accomplish ; but after her 
death, Alphonso, from various circum- 
stances, was compelled to sign a resig- 
nation of the kingdom, and his brother 
Avas declared regent, and invested Avith 
all the powers of royalty. Alphonso's 



wife having transferred her affections to 
Don Peter, a circumstance which had 
led her to induce her husband to submit 
to the resignation — their marriage hav- 
ing been declared null by the chapter of 
Lisbon, and the regent having gained a 
papal dispensation, and the consent of 
the states, married the lady who had 
been his brother's wife. On the death 
of Alphonso, the regent succeeded by the 
title of Peter II. Peter, having died in 
1706, was succeeded by his son John V. 
In 1750, on the death of John, Don Jo- 
seph ascended the throne, a prince whose 
reign, though not distinguished for any 
thing enterprising or heroic, is probably 
one of the most memorable, but most re- 
volting periods in Portuguese history. It 
is deeply stained with domestic blood, 
and rendered odious by the most shock- 
ing cruelty. In 1758, the king was at- 
tacked by assassins, and narrowly escaped 
with his life. The families of Aveira 
and Tavora, in consequence of an accu- 
sation, afterwards proved to be unfounded, 
exhibited against them, of having con- 
spired against his majesty's life, were 
cruelly destroyed by torture. On various 
pretences execution succeeded execution, 
with awful rapidity. An earthquake 
overwhelmed the city of Lisbon, and 
shook the whole kingdom to its centre. 
A famine threatened to accomplish what 
this visitation had left undone. And in 
addition to these and similar calamities, 
the Portuguese dominions were invaded 
by Spain with a powerful army ; their 
capital threatened ; their prince almost 
determined to save himself by flight; 
evils from which they could not have 
been saved, had not England interposed 
to bring about a peace, Avhich was con- 
cluded in 1763. During this reign the 
management of public affairs was in the 
hands of the celebrated marquis de Pom- 
bal, a minister of unbounded authority, 
which he not unfrequently directed to 
the most cruel and arbitrary proceedings, 
and whose removal from office, in the 
subsequent reign, excited joy throughout 
all ranks of the community. 

Joseph, who died in 1777, having left 
no sons, was succeeded by his daughter 
Mary, whom he had married, by dispen- 
sation from the pope, to Don Peter, her 



PORTUGAL. 



535 



uncle, with a view of preventing the 
crown from falling into a foreign family. 
The queen having fallen into a state of 
religious melancholy, the prince of Brazil 
published an edict (1792) declaring that 
as his mother, from her unhappy situa- 
tion, was incapable of managing the af- 
fairs of government, he would place his 
signature to public papers, till the return 
of her health, but that no other change 
should take place in consequence of her 
indisposition. From this unhappy state 
she was doomed never to recover. She 
attained, however, to very advanced 
years, and at her death was succeeded 
by her son. In the beginning of the war 
with France, Portugal took a feeble part 
conjunctly with England and Spain ; but 
after Spain had made peace with France, 
a war took place between the former 
country and Portugal, which, however, 
was productive of no very important 
events, and which was terminated by 
treaty in 1801. On the rupture of the 
peace of Amiens, and the renewal of the 
French war, Portugal remained for some 
rime neutral ; but having, at length, de- 
termined in favor of France, she advanc- 
ed, from time to time, large sums of 
money to that power, and at last went so 
far as to order her ports to be shut against 
the ships of war and merchant vessels 
of England. She now found herself 
placed in peculiar and extremely danger- 
ous circumstances — virtually at war with 
Great Britain, a power Avith which she 
had for centuries been intimately con- 
nected, whose friendship had often avert- 
ed from her impending ruin, and from 
whose hostility she had every thing to 
dread — and leagued with France, her 
ancient enemy, in whom she could place 
no confidence, and whose armies, having 
invaded Spain, were rapidly advancing 
to Lisbon, to possess or to destroy it. In 
such circumstances the government hesi- 
tated long what steps to adopt. Distrust- 
ful of Bonaparte, expecting no assistance 
from any foreign power, and aware that 
the internal resources of the nation were 
inadequate to its defence, the royal fam- 
ily of Braganza abandoned a kingdom 
which they could not defend, and emi- 
grated to Brazil. In November, 1807, 
they sailed from the Tagus, in a fleet of 



eight sail of the line, carrying with them 
about 18,000 Portuguese subjects, in- 
cluding many persons of distinction. And 
from this period, Rio de Janeiro, the cap- 
ital of Brazil, may be regarded as the 
seat of the Portuguese government. On 
the removal of the royal family the coun- 
cils of state attended them ; and the king 
was represented in Lisbon by a regency, 
and the councils by committees ; and no 
other important alteration took place in 
consequence of the departure of the court 
to the Brazilian colony. 

Nor were the views of the king of 
Portugal, in regard to the views of Bona- 
parte, unfounded. The French imme- 
diately took possession of Lisbon, and 
the administration of the new government 
was conferred on Jmiot, now dignified 
with the title of duke of Abrantes. They 
were not, however, allowed long to retain 
possession of the Portuguese territories. 
England, having resolved to assist Spain 
and Portugal in their resistance to French 
usurpation, despatched an army to the 
latter country, and having defeated the 
enemy at Vimeira, compelled them to 
evacuate Portugal, by the convention of 
Cintra. Portugal, however, was not yet 
freed from foreign aggression. The in- 
vading armies of France having met with 
considerable success in Spain, having 
taken Madrid, and forced Sir John Moore 
to make a precipitate retreat from the 
peninsula, Portugal was again attempted 
to be overrun and subdued. Three 
armies were collected on its frontiers, 
one under marshal Soult, in Gallicia, 
another under general Lapisse, at Sala- 
manca, and a third on the banks of the 
Tagus, under marshal Victor. Had these 
armies been concentrated, and placed 
under the management of one command- 
er, the object the French had in view, 
notwithstanding the bravery of the Portu- 
guese and the English forces, must soon 
have been realized, and Portugal have 
fallen a prey to her ambitious and un- 
principled invaders. These armies, how- 
ever, being thus disunited, — fearing to 
be severally committed, and not knowing 
the views and operations of each other,— 
lost the precious moment for action, in 
suspense, inactivity, or petty movements. 
Souh, indeed, having entered Portugal 



536 



PORTUGAL. 



on the north, took Chaves and Oporto, 
with great slaughter, and gained several 
important advantages. Victor and La- 
pisse, having, at length, united their 
forces, had forced the passage of the 
Tagus, and were making rapid advances 
towards Lisbon. But this success was 
but of short duration. Chaves and Oporto 
were soon recaptured. A decisive vic- 
tory was gained over Soult on the banks 
of the Douro, attended with the loss of 
the greater part of his army : and aban- 
doning all his artillery and wheel-car- 
riages, he was himself obliged to flee be- 
yond the frontiers of the kingdom,whither 
he was soon followed by Victor and La- 
pisse, without having accomplished any 
thing, either to undermine in any degree 
the resources of Portugal, or afford them 
the hope of greater success by a subse- 
quent invasion. 

Another attempt, however, the French 
yet resolved to make. Massena entered 
(1810) Portugal, with an army of 72,000 
men, which could be opposed only by 
about 50,000, one half of Avhich number 
was composed of young Portuguese levies, 
devoid of skill or experience. Almeida 
was besieged and taken ; Coimbra fell 
Avithout opposition ; and the enemy was 
thus advancing, with great rapidity, to 
the capital. But the British and Portu- 
guese armies were not in the mean time 
inactive. The route by which Massena 
meant to force his way to the capital, 
having become apparent, the rival com- 
mander placed his forces in such posi- 
tions as were most likely to frustrate his 
intentions ; all roads that might favor his 
progress were destroyed ; cannon were 
planted on the most inaccessible parts, to 
harass his march ; and the inhabitants 
of a district of nearly 2,000 square miles, 
on the banks of the Tagus, in the neigh- 
borhood of Lisbon, where this defensive 
position was taken up, were directed to 
retire, with what of their substance they 
could convey, and to destroy what could 
not be removed, so that no support might 
be afforded the army of the enemy. And 
these precautionary steps were attended 
with complete success. So soon as the 
French general came within sight of the 
formidable works by which he was to be 
opposed, he made an instant halt, struck 



with dismay and astonislunent ; and hav- 
ing remained without any movement foi 
a month, (during which time he was 
much harassed by the irregidar Portu- 
guese troops,) he retrograded towards 
Santarem. He was followed by the 
British to Cartaxo, where the two armies 
remained in sight of each other, for nearly 
five months, without coming to any de- 
cisive engagement. The English, in 
the mean time, received abundant sup- 
plies of provisions from Lisbon ; while 
the French, after having exhausted the 
country in their rear, were experiencing 
scarcity and famine to such a degree, 
that their ranks were rapidly thinning 
with hunger. From this circumstance, 
and with a loss of 30,000 men, they were 
obliged to retreat ingloriously to Spain, 
in a state of the most squalid and ghastly 
wretchedness. Nor was the condition 
of those Portuguese less miserable, who, 
driven from their homes, had retired into 
the woods or mountains, where they were 
doomed to spend the winter months, with- 
out shelter, in the open air, subsisting 
merely on roots and herbs. Many of 
them died in consequence of their suffer- 
ings ; while those who survived returned 
to their desolate homes, with bodies 
emaciated from hunger, and with intel- 
lects impaired by the fears and miseries 
of their unhappy and perilous situation. 
The French, having received some re-en- 
forcements at Salamanca, returned again 
to Portugal, to prevent Almeida from fall- 
ing into the hands of the British ; but 
having completely failed in the attempt, 
they found it necessary soon to retreat — 
and with this expedition the scene of war 
closed in Portugal ; for though some por- 
tions of the frontier districts were after- 
wards included in the theatre of hostili- 
ties, yet the subsequent events belong 
rather to the history of Spain than of 
Portugal. 

Though Portugal, after the battle of 
Waterloo, and the dissolution of the gov- 
ernment of Bonaparte, enjoyed external 
peace, the state of the country was by no 
means tranquil. Symptoms of dissatis- 
faction, indeed, soon became manifest. 
The absence of the court, the little influ- 
ence enjoyed by the regency, the urgent 
calls for money from the provinces, a 



PORTUGAL. 



537 



large standing army, and its command, 
in a great degree, continued in foreign 
hands, formed the most powerful circum- 
stances that led to the convulsions that 
were soon to ensue. Portugal felt that 
the order of nature was inverted, and that 
the parent state had become a dependant 
on her own colony. Conspiracy was first 
manifested in the army. Ten thousand 
men, having been ordered to embark for 
Brazil, revolted, and showed so much 
determination, that the regency was com- 
pelled to yield to their wishes. This 
was the first step in a revolution, which, 
in 1820, gave to Portugal a new aspect, 
and whi<;h, much to the honor of the 
inhabitants, was efiected without blood- 
shed. 

The Assembly of the Cortes com- 
menced framing a constitution, and a 
code of laws ; and while they thus 
were employed in promoting the best 
interests of the nation, they seemed to 
enjoy the afiections and confidence of 
the people. This, however, was not 
the case ; for, when they had almost 
succeeded in establishing the consti- 
tution and administration of the king- 
dom on the most liberal and enlighten- 
ed principles, all their operations were 
superseded, and their authority destroyed 
by a counter revolution. The revolution 
of 1820, indeed, was too fundamental, 
too far removed from the previous order 
of things, to be permanent. A very lib- 
eral system of government cannot be ex- 
pected to exist in a country where the 
priesthood enjoy such overwhelming rev- 
enues and power as in Portugal, and 
Avhere this order, the military, and the 
officers of state, comprise a fifth of the 
male population. The counter revolu- 
tion, therefore, which took place in 1823, 
and which, like that of 1 820, was achiev- 
ed by the n)ilitary, was effected with a 
facility which evinces that the liberal 
institutions, which the Cortes had estab- 
lished, had little or no hold on the affec- 
tions of the great mass of the people. 
This change, howeA^er, was owing, not 
more to the prejudices and sympathies 
of the nation reverting to the dynasty 
imder which they had been educated, 
than to the personal character of the 
monarch, a moderate and humane prince, 



who had returned from Brazil in 1820, 
to endeavor, by his presence, to coun- 
teract the innovations which were then 
introduced. The revolution of 1 823 was 
also accomplished without bloodshed ; 
in every part of the kingdom, it was 
brought about by the intervention of the 
military, but without the least appearance 
of violence or hesitation ; and yet so 
rapidly was the measure efiected, that, 
though the first steps in it were taken on 
the 29th of May, John made his public 
entry into Lisbon on the 5th of June, as 
the absolute and uncontrollable head of 
the new constitution. 

King John died at Lisbon in 1826, and 
Pedro his son, the emperor of Brazil, 
was the successor to the throne of Por- 
tugal. As soon as Pedro heard of his 
father's death, he declared his determin- 
ation to remain in Brazil, and to abdicate 
the throne of Portugal in favor of his 
daughter. Donna Maria de Gloria, (who 
was born in 1819,) on condition that his 
brother Don Miguel, the king's youngest 
son, should marry her, and that a free 
constitution should be adopted as con- 
tained in a charter which he sent over 
from Brazil. The legal part of the mar- 
riage ceremony was actually performed 
at Vienna, and to Don Miguel wore com- 
mitted full powers to act as regent of 
Portugal on behalf of his niece and bride. 
Miguel who resided at Vienna, returned 
to Lisbon in the spring of 1828, having 
first visited Paris and London, at both 
which places he professed his determina- 
tion to adhere to the constitution. His 
professions, however, were insincere ; 
for in a short time he altered his title of 
regent to that of king. Pedro, exasper- 
ated at the perfidy of his brother, abdi- 
cated the throne of Brazil in favor of his 
son Don Pedro d' Alcantara, then eight 
years old, and embarked on board of an 
English frigate. The affairs of his daugh- 
ter were at this time in a desperate state ; 
the aboi-tive attempts of the patriots of 
Oporto had altogether failed, and the 
reign of Don Miguel was established 
with the apparent consent of the people 
so firmly, that little hope remained of 
shaking it. A gleam had appeared in 
the unexpected capture of the island of 
Terceira, which proved the harbinger of 



538 



ROME. 



success. An expedition from thence 
landed at Oporto, where the arrival of 
Don Pedro, at this critical time, infused 
fresh liopes. The contest at that town 
and its vicinity was tedious ; hut at length, 
after considerahle perseverence and en- 
ergy, Pedro succeeded in reaching Lis- 
bon on the 28th of July, 1833, establish- 



ed himself there as regent to his daughter, 
and on the 2'2nd of September she also 
arrived, and was formally acknowledged 
as constitutional queen of Portugal. Pe- 
dro having established his daughter's 
throne, died suddenly at Lisbon in Sep- 
tember 1834, in the thirty-sixth year 
of his ase. 



ROME 



Although we cannot conjecture with 
certainty as to the era when Italy was 
first peopled, we have every reason to 
believe that it was inhabited by a refined 
and cultivated nation many ages before 
the Roman name was known. These 
were the Etruscans, of whom there exist at 
this day monuments in the fine arts, which 
prove them to have been a splendid, lux- 
urious, and highly polished people. Their 
alphabet resembling the Phoenician, dis- 
poses us to believe them of eastern ori- 
gin. The Roman historians mention 
them as a powerful and opulent nation 
long before the origin of Rome. 

The rest of Italy was divided among 
a number of independent tribes or na- 
tions, comparatively in a rude and uncul- 
tivated state ; Umbriams, Ligurians, Sa- 
bines, Veientes, Latins, ^Equi, Volsci, &c . 
Ijatium, a territory of fifty miles in length 
and sixteen in breadth, contained forty- 
seven independent cities or states. 

The origin of the city and state of Rome 
is involved in great uncertainty. Diony- 
sius supposes two cities of that name to 
have existed, and to have perished before 
the foundation of the city built by Romu- 
lus. The vulgar account of the latter is, 
that it was founded 752 B. C. by a troop 
of shepherds or banditti, who peopled their 
new city by carrying off the wives and 
daughters of their neighbors the Sabines. 

The great outlines of tlie first consti- 
tution of the Roman government, though 
generally attributed to the political abili- 
ties of Romulus, seem to have a natural 
foundation in the usages of barbarous na- 
tions. Other institutions bear the traces 
of political skill and positive enactment. 



Romulus is said to have divided his 
people into three tribes, and each tribe 
into ten curiee. The lands he distributed 
into three portions ; one for the support 
of the government, another for the main- 
tenance of religion, and the third he di- 
vided into equal portions of two acres 
to each Roman citizen. He instituted a 
senate of 100 members, (afterwards in- 
creased to 200,) who deliberated on and 
prepared all public measures for the as- 
sembly of the people, in whom was vest- 
ed the right of determination. The Pa- 
trician families were the descendants of 
those centum patres. 

The king had the nomination of the 
senators, the privilege of assembling the 
people, and a right of appeal in all ques- 
tions of importance. He had the com- 
1 mand of the army, and the office of Pon- 
I tifex Maximus. He had, as a guard, 
twelve lictors, and a troop of horsemen 
I named Celeres or Equit.es, afterwards 
! the distinct order of the Roman knights. 
I These regulations are of positive institu- 
: tion ; others arose naturally from the state 
I of society. 

I The patri potestas is of the latter na- 
', ture, being common to all barbarous 
I tribes. The limitation of all arts to the 
I slaves arose from the constant employ- 
j ment of the citizens in warfare or in 
agriculture. 

The connection of patron and client 
was an admirable institution, which at 
once united the citizens, and maintained 
a useful subordination. 

The Sabines were the most formidable 
enemy of the early Romans ; and a wise 
policy united for a whiiC the two nations 



ROME. 



539 



into one state. After the death of Romu- 
lus, who reigned thirty-seven years, Nu- 
ma, a Sabine, was elected king. His 
disposition was pious and pacific, and he 
endeavored to give his people the same 
character. He pretended to divine in- 
spiration, in order to give the greater au- 
thority to his laws, which in themselves 
were excellent. He multiplied the na- 
tional gods, built temples, and instituted 
different classes of priests, Flamines, 
Salii, Sic, and a variety of religious cere- 
monies. The Flamines officiated each 
in the service of a peculiar deity ; the 
Salii guarded the sacred bucklers ; the 
Vestals cherished the sacred fire ; the 
Augurs and Aruspices divined future 
events from the flight of birds, and the 
entrails of victims. The temple of Ja- 
nus was open in war, and shut during | 
peace. Numa reformed the calendar, ' 
regulating the year at twelve lunar 
months, and distinguished the days for j 
civil occupation from those dedicated to ' 
religious rest. Agriculture was lawful 
on the latter, as a duty of religion. Nu- : 
ma reigned forty-three years. j 

TuUus Hostilius, the third king of 
Rome, of warlike disposition, subdued 
the Albans, Fidenates, and other neigh- 
boring states. The Sabines, now dis- ; 
united from the Romans, were among the 
most powerful of their enemies. TuUus 
reigned thirty-three years. ; 

Ancus Martins, the grandson of Numa, 
was elected king on the death of Tullus. 
He inherited the piety and virtues of his 
grandfather, and joined to these the ta- 
lents of a warrior. He increased the 
population of Rome, by naturalizing some 
of the conquered states ; enlarged and 
fortified the city, and built the port of 
Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber. He 
reigned gloriously twenty-four years. ' 

Tarquinius Priscus, a cuizen of Corinth, 
popular from his wealth and liberality, 
was elected to the vacant throne. He 
enlarged the senate by 100 new members 
from the Plebeian families. This body 
consisted now of 300, at which number 
it remained for some centuries. Tarquin 
was victorious in his wars, and he adorn- 
ed and improved the city with works of 
utility and magnificence. Such were 
the Circus or Hippodrome ; the walls of , 



hewn stone ; the Capitol ; the Cloacae, 
those immense common sewers, which 
lead to the belief that the new Rome had 
been buih on the ruins of an ancient city 
of greater magnitude. Tarquinius was 
, assassinated in the tliirty-eighth year of 
his reign. 

Servius Tullius, who had married the 
daughter of Tarquinius, secured by his 
own address, and the intrigues of his 
mother-in-law, his election to the vacant 
throne. He courted popularity by acts 
of munificence ; discharging the debts 
of the poor, dividing among the citizens 
his patrimonial lands, improving the city 
with useftd edifices, and extending its 
boundaries. The new arrangement which 
he introduced in the division of the Ro- 
man citizens, is a proof of much politi- 
cal ability, and merits attention, as on it 
depended many of the revolutions of the 
Republic. 

From the time that the Romans had 
admitted the Albans and Sabines to the 
rights of citizens, the Urban and Rustic 
tribes were composed of those three na- 
tions. Each tribe being divided into ten 
curicB, and every curia having an equal 
vote in the Comitia, as each individual 
had in his tribe, all questions were deci- 
ded by the majority of suffrages. There 
was no pre-eminence between the curuB, 
and the order in which they gave their 
votes, was determined by lot. This was 
a reasonable constitution, so long as the 
fortunes of the citizens were nearly on a 
par; but, when riches came to be unequal- 
ly divided, it was obvious that much in- 
convenience must have arisen from this 
equal partition of power, as the rich 
could easily, by bribery, command the 
suffrages of the poor. Besides, all the 
taxes had hitherto been levied by the 
head, without any regard to the inequali- 
ty of fortunes. These obvious defects 
furnished to Servius a just pretext for an 
entire change of system. His plan was, 
to remove the poorer citizens from all 
share of the government ; while the 
burden attending its support should fall 
solely on the rich. 

All the citizens were required, under 
a heavy penalty, to declare upon oath 
their names, dwellings, number of their 
children, and amount of their fortune. 



540 



ROME. 



After this numeration or census, Servius 
divided the whole citizens, without dis- 
tinction, into four tribes, named, from the 
quarters where they dwelt, the Palatine, 
Suburran, Collatine, and Esquiline. Be- 
sides this local division, Servius distribu- 
ted the whole people into six classes, 
and each class into several centuries or 
portions of citizens, so called, not as ac- 
tually consisting of a hundred, but as be- 
ing obliged to furnish and maintain 100 
men in time of war In the first class, 
which consisted of the richest citizens, or 
those who were worth at least 100 mino',* 
there were no less than ninety-eight cen- 
turies. In the second class, (those worth 
75 minoi,) there were twenty-two centu- 
ries. In the third, (those worth 50 mi- 
n<B,) were twenty centuries. In the fourth, 
(those worth 25 min<s,) twenty-two centu- 
ries. In the fifth, (those worth \2minm,) 
thirty centuries. The sixth, the most 
numerous of the whole, comprehending 
all the poorer citizens, furnished only 
one century. Thus the whole Roman 
people were divided into 193 centuries, 
or portions of citizens, so called, as fur- 
rushing each a hundred soldiers. The 
sixth class was declared exempt from all 
taxes. The other classes, according to 
the number of centuries of which they 
consisted, were rated for the public bur- 
dens at so much for each century. 

The poor had no reason to complain 
of this arrangement ; but something was 
wanting to compensate the rich for the 
burdens to which they were subjected. 
For this purpose Servius enacted, that 
henceforth the Comitia should give their 
votes by centuries ; the first class, con- 
sisting of ninety-eight centuries, always 
voting first. Thus, although the whole 
people were called to the Comitia, and 
all seemed to have an equal suffrage, 
yet, in reality, the richer classes deter- 
mined every question, the sufl^rage of the 
poor being merely nominal ; for as the 
whole people formed 193 centuries, and 
the first and second classes contained 
120 of these, if they were unanimous, 
which generally happened in questions 
of importance, a majority was secured. 
Thus, in the Comita Centuriata, in which 

♦ About £300 «terling. 



the chief magistrates were elected, peace 
and war decreed, and all other important 
business discussed, the richer classes 
of the citizens had the sole authority, 
the votes of the poor being of no avail. 
And such was the ingenuity of this poli- 
cy, that all were pleased with it: the rich 
paid their taxes with cheerfulness, as 
the price of their power ; and the poor 
; gladly exchanged authority for immuni- 
ties. The census, performed every five 
i j^ears, was closed by a lustrum, or expi- 
atory sacrifice ; and hence that period of 
lime was called a lustrum. 

Servius was assassinated after a reign 
of forty-four years, by his infamous 
daughter TuUia, married to Tarquinius, 
the grandson of Priscus, who thus paved 
the way for his own elevation to the 
throne. The government of Tarquin, 
surnamed the proud, was systematically 
tyrannical. He ingratiated himself with 
the lower orders, to abase by their means 
the power of the higher ; but insolent, 
rapacious, and cruel, he finally disgusted 
all ranks of his subjects. A rape com- 
mitted by his son Sextus, on Lucretia, 
the wife of Collatinus, who, unable to 
survive her dishonor, stabbed herself in 
presence of her husband and kindred, 
roused their vengeance, and procured, by 
their influence with their countrymen, 
the expulsion of the tyrant, and the utter 
abolition of the regal dignity at Rome, 
509 B. C. 

The whole structure of the constitu- 
tion of the Romans under the monarchy . 
has been by most authors erroneously at- 
tributed exclusively to the abilities of 
Romulus, a youth of eighteen, the leader 
of a troop of shepherds or banditti. 
This chimerical idea we owe to Diony- 
sius of Halicarnassus. The truth is, 
the Roman government, like almost eve- 
ry other, was the gradual result of cir- 
cumstances ; the fruit of time, and of 
political emergency. 

The constitution of the Roman senate 
has occasioned considerable research, 
and is not free from obscurity. It is pro- 
bable that the kings had the sole right 
of naming the senators, that the consuls 
succeeded them in this right, and after- 
wards, when these magistrates found too 
much occupation from the frequent wars 



ROME, 



541 



in which the state was engaged, that 
privilege devolved on the censors. The 
senators were at first always chosen from 
the body of the Patricians, but afterwards 
the Plebeians acquired an equal title to 
that dignity. In the early periods of the 
republic, the people could not be as- 
sembled but by the senate's authority ; 
nor were the plebiscita of any weight till 
confirmed by their decree. Hence the 
early constitution of the republic was ra- 
ther aristocratical than democratical. — 
From this extensive power of the senate, 
the firs! diminution was made, by the cre- 
ation of the Tribunes of the people ; 
and other retrenchments successively 
took place, till the people acquired at 
length the predominant power in the 
state. Yet the senate, even after every 
usurpation on their authority, continued 
to have, in many points, a supremacy. 
They regulated all matters regarding reli- 
gion ; they had the custody of all the pub- 
lic treasure ; they superintended the con- 
duct of all magistrates ; they gave au- 
dience to ambassadors, decided on the 
fate of vanquished nations, disposed of 
the governments of the provinces, and 
took cognizance, by appeal, in all crimes 
against the state. In great emergencies 
they appointed a Dictator, with absolute 
authority. 

At the period of the abolition of the 
regal government, the territory of the 
Romans was extremely limited. The 
only use they made of their victories was 
to naturalize the inhabitants of some of 
the conquered states, and so increase 
their population. Thus their strength 
being always superior to their enterpri- 
ses, they laid a solid foundation for the 
future extension of their empire. 

In the accounts given by historians of 
the strength of the armies, both of the 
Romans in those early times, and of the 
neighboring states their enemies, we 
have every reason to believe there is 
much exaggeration. The territories from 
which those armies were furnished, were 
incapable of supplying them. 

In the continual wars in which the 
republic was engaged, the Romans were 
most commonly the aggressors. The 
causes of this seem to have been the 
ambition of the consxils to distinguish 



their short administration by some splen- 
did enterprise, and the wish of the sen- 
ate to give the people occupation, to 
prevent intestine disquiets. 

The regal government subsisted 244 
years, and in that lime only seven kings 
reigned, several of Avhom died a violent 
death. These circumstances throw doubt 
on the authenticity of this period of the 
Roman history. It is allowed that, for 
the five first centuries after the building 
of Rome there were no historians. The 
first is Fabius Pictor, who lived during 
the second Punic war. Livy says that al- 
most all the ancient records were destroy- 
ed when Rome was taken by the Gauls. 

Rome under the consuls. — There- 
gal government being abolished, it was 
agreed to commit the supreme authority 
to two magistrates, who should be annu- 
ally elected by the people from the Patri- 
cian order. To these they gave the name 
of Consules ; " a modest title, (says Ver- 
tot,) which gave to understand that they 
were rather the coimsellors of the repub- 
lic than its sovereigns ; and that the only 
point they ought to have in view was its 
preservation and glory." But, in fact, their 
authority differed in scarcely any thing 
from that of the kings. They had the su- 
preme administration of justice, the dis- 
posal of the public money, the power of 
convoking the senate, and assembling the 
people, raising armies, naming all the 
officers, and the right of making peace 
and war. The only difference was, that 
their authority was limited to a year. 

The first consuls were Brutus and 
Collatinus, the husband of Lucretia. 
Tarquin was at this time in Etruria, where 
he got two of the most powerful cities, 
Veii and Tarquinii, to espouse his cause. 
He had likewise his partisans at Rome ; 
and a plot was formed to open the gates 
to receive him. It was detected ; and 
Brutus had the mortification to find his 
two sons in the number of the conspi- 
rators. He condemned them to be be- 
headed in his presence. 

The consul Valerius, successful in an 
engagement with the exiled Tarquin, was 
the first Roman who enjoyed the splen- 
did reward of a triumph. Arrogant from 
his recent honors, his popularity began to 
decline ; and in the view of recovering 



542 



ROME. 



it, he proposed the law, termed from him 
the Valerian, which "permitted any cit- 
izen who had been condemned to death 
by a magistrate, or even to banishment 
or scourging, to appeal to the people, and 
required their consent previously to the 
execution of the sentence." This law 
gave the first blow to the aristocracy, in 
the constitution of the Roman republic. 

For thirteen years after the expulsion 
of Tarquin, the Romans were involved 
in contmual wars on his account. Of 
these the most remarkable was that with 
the Etrurians under Porsenna ; a war 
fertile in exploits of romantic heroism. 

Soon after this period began those do- 
mestic disorders, which continued long 
to embroil the republic. Great com- 
plaints had arisen among the poorer 
classes of the citizens, both on account 
of the inequality of property from the 
partial distribution of the conquered lands, 
which the higher ranks generally contri- 
ved to engross to themselves, and from 
the harsh policy by which it was in the 
power of creditors to reduce to a state of 
slavery their insolvent debtors. As there 
was no legal restraint on usury, the poor, 
when once reduced to the necessity of 
contracting debts, were left entirely at 
the mercy of their creditors. These 
grievances, felt in common by a large 
proportion of the citizens, excited much 
discontent, which, from complaints long 
disregarded, grew at length into a spirit 
of determined resistance. The wars re- 
quired new levies; and the plebeians po- 
sitively refused to enrol their names, un- 
less the senate should put an end to their 
oppression, by decreeing at once an abo- 
lition of all the debts due by the poor to 
the rich. The emergency was critical, 
as the enemy was at the gates of Rome. 
The consuls found their authority of no 
avail ; for the Valerian law had given 
any citizen condemned by them a right of 
appeal to the people. An extraordinary 
measure was necessary, and a dictator 
was created for the first time ; a magis- 
trate who, for the period of six months, 
was invested with absolute and unlimited 
authority. Lartius, nominated to this 
high office, armed the twenty-four lictors 
with axes, summoned the whole people 
to the Comitia, and calling over the 



names, under the penalty of death to any 
citizen who should dare to murmur, en- 
rolled all such as he judged most fit for 
the service of their country. This ex- 
pedient became henceforward a frequent 
and certain resource in all seasons of 
public danger. 

The death of Tarquin removed one 
check against the tyranny of the higher 
over the lower orders ; for the latter had 
hitherto kept alive a salutary apprehen- 
sion, that, in case of extreme oppression, 
they would be under the necessity of 
calling back their king. When this fear 
was at an end, the domineering spirit of 
the Patricians, exceeding every bound 
both of good policy and humanity, drove 
the people at length to deeds of mutiny 
and rebellion. An alarm from the enemy 
gave full weighttotheir power, and made 
the chief magistrates of the state solemn- 
ly engage their honor to procure a redress 
of their grievances, as soon as the public 
danger was at an end. The promise, ei- 
ther from a failure of will or of power, 
was not fulfilled, and this violation of 
faith drove the people at length to ex- 
tremities. Bound by their military oath 
not to desert their standards, they carried 
them along with them ; and the whole 
army in military array, withdrew from 
Rome, and deliberately encamped on the 
Mons Sacer, at three miles distance from 
the city ; and here they were soon joined 
by the greatest part of the people. This 
resolute procedure had its desired effect. 
The senate deputed ten persons, the most 
respectable of their order, with plenary 
powers ; and these, seeing no medium of 
compromise, granted to the people all 
their demands. The debts were solemnly 
abolished ; and for the security of their 
privileges in future, they were allowed 
the right of choosing magistrates of their 
own order, who should have the power of 
opposing with effect every measure 
which they should judge prejudicial to 
their interests. These were the Tribunes 
of the people, chosen annually ; at first 
five in number, and afterwards increased 
to ten. Without guards or tribunal, and 
having no seat in the senate house, they 
had yet the power, by a single veto, to 
suspend or annul the decrees of the sen- 
ate and the sentences of the consuls 



ROME. 



543 



Their persons were declared sacred, but 
iheir authority was confined to the limits 
of a mile from the city. The tribunes de- 
manded and obtained two magistrates to 
assist them, who were termed iEdiles, 
from the charge committed to them of 
the buildings of the city. 

From this era, (260 years from the 
foundation of Rome,) we date the com- 
mencement of the popular constitution 
of the Roman republic ; a change oper- 
ated by the unwise policy of the patri- 
cians themselves, who, by yielding to 
just complaints, and humanely redressing 
flagrant abuses, might have easily antici- 
pated every ground of dissatisfaction. 
The first wish of the people Avas not 
power, but relief from tyranny and op- 
pression ; and had this been readily 
granted them, if not by abolishing the 
debt, at least by repressing enormous 
usury, and putting an end to the inhuman 
right of corporal punishment and the bon- 
dage of debtors, the people would have 
cheerfully returned to order and submis- 
sion, and the Roman constitution have 
long remained what we have seen it 
was at the commencement of the con- 
sular government, aristocratical. But the 
plebeians now obtaining magistrates of 
their own order with those high pow- 
ers, we shall see it become the object 
of these magistrates to increase their 
authority by continual demands and en- 
croachments. 

The disorders of the commonwealth, 
appeased by the creation of the tribunes, 
were but for a time suspended. It was 
necessary that the popular magistrates 
should make an experiment of their 
powers. In an assembly of the people, 
one of the consuls, interrupted by a tri- 
bune, rashly said that had the tribunes 
called that assembly, he would not have 
internipted them. This was a conces- 
sion on the part of the consuls, that the 
tribunes had the power of assembling 
the Comitia, which from that moment 
they assumed as their acknowledged 
right. It was a consequence of this 
right, that the affairs of the common- 
wealth should be agitated in those meet- 
ings, equally as in the assemblies held 
in virtue of a consular summons, or sen- 
atorial decree, and thus there were, in a 



manner, two distinct legislative powers 
established in the republic. 

The trial of Coriolanus for inconsid- 
erately proposing the abolition of the Tri- 
bunate, an offence interpreted to be trea- 
son against the state, threw an additional 
weight into the scale of the people. The 
proposal of an Agrarian law, for the di- 
vision of the lands acquired by recent 
conquests, resumed at intervals, though 
never carried into execution, inflamed 
the passions of the rival orders. 

Publius Volero, formerly a centurion, 
and a man distinguished for his military 
services, had, in the new levies, been 
ranked as a common soldier. Complain- 
ing of this unmerited degradation, he re- 
fused his services in that capacity : and 
the consuls having condemned him to 
corporal punishment, he appealed from 
their sentence to the people. The con- 
test lasted till the annual term of the elec- 
tions, when Volero himself was chosen 
a tribune of the people. He had an am- 
ple revenge, by procuring the enactment 
of a most important law. The Comitia, 
by centuries and by curiae, could not be 
called but in virtue of a decree of the 
senate, after consulting the auspices ; 
and in those comitia the tribunes had 
hitherto been elected, and the most im- 
portant public affairs discussed. It was 
decreed by the law of Volero, that the 
election of the tribunes should be made, 
and the chief public business hencefor- 
ward discussed, in the comitia held by 
tribes, which were unfettered by any of 
those restraints. From this period, th.e 
supreme authority in the Roman republic 
may be considered as having passed com- 
pletely from the higher order into the 
hands of the people. The Roman con- 
stitution was now plainly a democracy, 
471 B. C. 

The Decemvirate. — The Romans 
had, till thi.s period, no body of civil 
laws. Under the regal government the 
kings alone administered justice ; the 
consuls succeeded them in this high pre- 
rogative ; and thus possessed without 
control the absolute command of the for- 
tunes and civil rights of all the citizens. 
To remedy this great defect, Tercntillus, 
a tribune, proposed the nomination of ten 
commissioners, to frame and digest a 



544 



ROME. 



code of laws for the explanation and se- 
curity of the rights of all orders of the 
state. A measure so equitable ought to 
have met with no opposition. It was, 
however, strenuously though ineffectual- 
ly opposed by the patricians, who, by a 
fruitless contest, only exposed their own 
weakness. The decemviri were chosen ; 
but the election being made in the Comi- 
tia by centuries, the consul Appius Clau- 
dius, with his colleague, were at the head 
of this important commission. The laws 
were framed, those celebrated statutes 
known by the name of the Twelve Tables, 
which are the basis of the great structure 
of the Roman jurisprudence, 451 B. C. 

The decemvirs were invested with all 
the powers of government, for the con- 
sulate had ceased on their creation. 
Each decemvir by turn presided for a 
day, and had the sovereign authority, with 
its insignia, the fasces. The nine others 
officiated solely as judges in the deter- 
mination of law-suits, and the correction 
of abuses. An abuse, however, of the most 
flagrant nature, committed by the chief of 
their own number, was destined speedily 
to bring their office to its termination. 

Appius Claudius, inflamed by lawless 
passion for the young Virginia, the be- 
trothed spouse of Icilius, formerly a tri- 
bune of the people, employed a profli- 
gate dependent to claim the maiden as 
his own property, on the false pretence 
of her being the daughter of one of his 
female slaves. The claim was made to 
the decemvir himself in judgment, who 
pronounced an infamous decree, which 
tore from her family this helpless victim, 
and put her into the hands of his own 
minion. Her father, to save the honor 
of his child, plunged a dagger into her 
breast ; and the people, witnesses of this 
shocking scene, would have massacred 
Appius on the spot, had he not found ! 
means to escape amidst the tumult. — 
Their vengeance, however, was satiated 
by the instant abolition of this hated ma- 
gistracy, and by the death of Appius, I 
who chose by his own hand to prevent I 
the stroke of the executioner. The de- 
cemvirate had subsisted for three years. ! 
The consuls were now restored, together [ 
with the tribunes of the people, 449 B. C. 
The scale of the people was daily I 



I acquiring weight, at the expense of that 
' of the highest order. Two barriers, 
j however, still separated the patricians 
and plebeians ; the one, a law which pre- 
vented their intermarriage, and the other, 
the constitutional limitation of all the 
higher ofiices to the order of the patri- 
cians. It was now only necessary to 
remove these restraints, and the patri- 
cians and plebeians were on a footing of 
perfect equality. The first, after a long 
but fruitless contest, was at length agreed 
to by the senate ; and this concession 
had its usual effect of stimulating the 
people to inflexible perseverance in their 
struggle for the latter. On an emergence 
of war, the customary device was prac- 
tised, of refusing to enter the rolls, un- 
less upon the immediate enactment of a 
law, which should admit their capacity 
of holding all the offices of the republic. 
The senate sought a palliative, by the 
creation of six military tribunes in lieu 
of the consuls, three of whom should be 
patricians, and three plebeians. This 
measure satisfied the people for a time ; 
the consuls, however, were soon restored. 

The disorders of ■ the republic, and 
frequent wars, had interrupted the regu- 
lar survey of the citizens. This was 
remedied by the creation of a new ma- 
gistracy. Two officers, under the title 
of Censors were appointed (437 B. C.) 
Avhose duty was not only to make the 
census every five years, but to inspect 
the morals and regulate the duties of all 
the chizens ; an office of dignity equal 
to its importance, exercised in the latter 
times of the republic, only by consular 
persoi)s, and afterwards annexed to the 
supreme function of the emperors. 

The dissensions between the orders 
continued with little variation either in 
their causes or effects. The people gen- 
erally, as the last resource, refused to 
enrol themselves, till overawed by the 
supreme authority of a dictator. To ob- 
viate the frequent necessity of this mea- 
sure, which enforced at best an unwilling 
and compelled obedience, the senate had 
recourse to a wise expedient ; this was, 
to give a regular pay to the troops. To 
defray this expense, a moderate tax was 
imposed in proportion to the fortunes of 
the citizens. From this period the Ro- 



ROME. 



545 



man system of war assumed a new as- 
pect. The senate always found soldiers 
at command ; the army was under its 
control ; the enterprises of the republic 
were more extensive, and its successes 
more signal and important. Veii, the 
proud rival of Rome, and its equal in ex- 
tent and population, was taken by Camil- 
lus, after a siege of ten years. The art 
of war was improved, as it now became 
a profession, instead of an occasional oc- 
cupation. The Romans were from this 
circumstance an over-match for all their 
neighbors. Their dominion, hitherto con- 
fined to the territory of a few miles, was 
now rapidly extended. It was impossi- 
ble but the detached states of Italy must 
have given way before a people always 
in arms, and who by a perseverance 
alike resolute and judicious, were equal 
to every attempt in which they engaged. 

The taking of Veii was succeeded by 
a war with the Gauls. This people, a 
branch of the great nation of the Celta;, 
had opened themselves a passage through 
the Alps at four different periods, and 
were at this time established in the coun- 
try between those mountains and the Ap- 
penines. Under the command of Bren- 
nus, they laid siege to the Etruscan Clu- 
sium ; and this people, of no warlike 
turn themselves, solicited the aid of the 
Romans. The circumstances recorded 
of this war with the Gauls throw over it 
a cloud of fable and romance. The for- 
midable power of Rome is said to have 
been in a single campaign so utterly ex- 
hausted, that the Gauls entered the city 
without resistance, and burnt it to the 
ground, 385 B. C. Though thus over- 
powered, the Romans, in a single en- 
gagement, retrieve all their losses, and 
in one day's time there is not a Gaul left 
remaining within the Roman territory. 

To the burning of the city by the 
Gauls, the Roman writers attribute the 
loss of all the records and monuments 
of their early history. 

It is singular, that most of the Roman 
revolutions should have owed their origin 
to women. From this cause we have 
seen spring the abolition of the regal 
office and the decemvirate. From this 
cause arose the chaiige of the constitu- 
tion, by which the plebeians became ca- 
69 



pable of holding the highest offices of 
the commonwealth. The younger daugh- 
ter of Fabius Ambustus, married to a 
plebeian, envious of the honors of her 
elder sister, the wife of a patrician, stim- 
ulated her father to rouse the lower order 
to a resolute purpose of asserting their 
equal right with the patricians to all the 
offices and dignities of the state. After 
much turbulence and contest, the final 
issue was the admission of the plebeians, 
first to the consulate, and afterwards to 
the censorship, the praetor ship, and 
priesthood, (B. C. 300 ;) a change bene- 
ficial in the main, as consolidating the 
strength of the republic, and cutting off 
the principal source of intestine disorder. 
The factions of the state had hitherto 
confined the growth of its power, its 
splendor, and prosperity ; for no state 
can at once be prosperous and anarchi- 
cal. We shall now mark the rapid ele- 
vation of the Roman name and empire. 

The war with the Samnites now began, 
and was of long continuance ; but its 
successful termination was speedily fol- 
lowed by the reduction of all the states 
of Italy. In the course of this important 
war, the Tarentines, the allies of the 
Samnites, sought the aid of Pyrrhus, 
king of Epirus, one of the greatest gen- 
erals of his age. Pyrrhus landed in Italy 
with 30,000 men, and a train of elephants, 
280 B. C. He was at first successful, 
but no longer so than till a short expe- 
rience reconciled the Romans to a new 
mode of war. Sensible at length of the 
difficulties of his enterprise, and dreading 
a fatal issue, he embraced an invitation 
from the Sicilians to aid them in a war 
with Carthage. On this pretext, which 
at least was not dishonorable, Pyrrhus 
withdrew his troops from Italy. In this 
interval the Romans reduced the Sam- 
nites, the Tarentines, and the other allied 
states, to extremity. Pyrrhus returned, 
and made a last eflbrt near Beneventum. 
He was totally defeated, lost 26,000 men, 
and, abandoning at once all farther views 
on Italy, returned with precipitation to 
his own dominions, 274 B. C. The hos- 
tile states submitted to the victorious 
power, and Rome, 480 years from the 
foundation of the city, was now mistress 
of all Italy. 



546 



ROME. 



The policy observed by the Romans, 
with respect to the conquered nations, 
was wise and judicious. They removed 
to Rome all the leading men of the prin- 
cipal conquered cities, admitting these 
into the ancient urban and rustic tribes, 
and thus soothing the pride of the van- 
quished, by giving them an apparent 
share in their own domestic government; 
"while, in arranging the constitution of the 
cities, they lilled their magistracies with 
illustrious Romans, whose abilities and 
influence were fitted to maintain those 
new provinces in allegiance to the Roman 
government. 

Sicily had long been considered as the 
granary of Italy. The Carthaginians at 
this time possessed very considerable 
settlements in the island, and were am- 
bitious of acquiring its entire dominion. 
An obvious policy led the Romans to 
dispute with them this important acqui- 
sition, and gave rise to the Punic wars. 

The Punic WARS. — The triumph which 
the Romans had obtained over Pyrrhus 
seemed to give assurance of success in any 
enterprise in which they should engage. 
The Mamertines, a people of Campania, 
obtained aid from the Romans in an unjus- 1 
tillable attempt which they made to seize I 
Messina, a Sicilian town allied to Syra- : 
cuse. The Syracusans, at first assisted ] 
by the Carthaginians, opposed this inva- 
sion ; but the former, more alarmed by 
the ambitious encroachments of the Car- 
thaginians on Sicily, soon repented of 
this rash alliance, and joined the Romans 
in the purpose of expelling the Cartha- 
ginians entirely from the island. In fact, 
the Sicilians seem to have had only the 
desperate choice of final submission either 
to Rome or Carthage. They chose the 
former, as the alternative least dishonor- 
able ; the Romans had ever been their 
friends, the Carthaginians their enemies. 

Agrigentum, possessed by the Cartha- 
ginians, was taken, after a long siege, by 
the joint forces of Rome and Syracuse, ! 
and a Roman fleet, the first they ever I 
had, and equipped in a few weeks, gained : 
a complete victory over that of Carthage, | 
at this time the greatest maritime power j 
in the world, 2G0 B. C. These successes 
were followed by the reduction of Corsica 
and Sardinia. In the second naval en- 



I gagement, the "Romans took from the 
! Carthaginians sixty of their ships of war, 
I and now resolutely prepared for the in- 
I vasion of Africa. The consul Regulus 
commanded the expedition. He ad- 
! vanced to the gates of Carthage ; and 
i such was the general consternation, that 
the enemy proposed a capitulation. In- 
spirited, however, by a timely aid of 
Greek troops under Xantippus, the Car- 
thaginians made a desperate eftbrt, and, 
defeating the Roman army, made Regu- 
lus their prisoner. But, repeatedly de- 
feated in Sicily, they were at length 
seriously desirous of a peace ; and the 
Roman general was sent with their am- 
bassadors to Rome to aid the negotiation 
under a solemn oath to return to Carthage 
as a prisoner, should the treaty fail. It 
was rejected at the urgent desire of Re- 
gulus himself, who thus sacrificed his 
life to what he judged the interest of his 
country. 

Lilybaeum, the strongest of the Sicilian 
towns belonging to Carthage, was taken 
after a siege of nine years. After some 
alternate successes, two naval battles 
won by the Romans terminated the war ; 
and Carthage at last obtained a peace, on 
the humiliating terms of abandoning to 
the Romans all her possessions in Sicily, 
the payment of 3,200 talents of silver, 
the restitution of all prisoners without 
ransom, and a solemn engagement never 
to make war against Syracuse or her 
allies. The island of Sicily was now 
declared a Roman province, though 
Syracuse maintained her independent 
government. 

The peace between Rome and Car- 
thage was of twenty-three years duration. 
The latter power was recruiting her 
strength, and meditating to revenge her 
losses and disgrace. The second Punic 
war began on the part of the Carthagin- 
ians, who besieged Saguntum, a city of 
Spain in alliance with the Romans. The 
young Hannibal took Saguntum, after a 
siege of seven months ; the desperate 
inhabitants setting fire to the town, and 
perishing amidst the flames. Hannibal 
now formed the bold design of carrying 
the war into Italy. He provided against 
every difficulty, gained to his interest a 
part of the Gallic tribes, passed the 



ROME. 



547 



Pyrenees, and finally the Alps, in a toil- 
some march of five months and a hall 
from his leaving Carthagena ; and arrived 
in Italy with 20,000 foot and 6,000 horse. 

In the first engagement the Romans 
were defeated, and they lost two other 
important battles at Trebia and the lake 
Thrasymenus. In the latter of these the 
consul Flaminius was killed, and his army 
cut to pieces. Hannibal advanced to 
Cann?e in Apulia; and the Romans there 
opposing him with their whole force, a 
memorable defeat ensued, in which 
40,000 were left dead upon the field, and 
amongst these the consul iEmihus, and 
almost the whole body of the Roman 
knights. Had Hannibal taken advantage 
of this great victory, by instantly attacking 
Rome, the fate of the republic was inevi- 
table ; but he deliberated, and the occa- 
sion was lost. The Romans concentra- 
ted all their strength ; even the slaves 
armed in the common cause, and victory 
once more attended the standards of the 
republic. Philip, king of Macedon, joined 
his forces to the Carthaginians, but, de- 
feated by Levinus, speedily withdrew his 
assistance. Hannibal retreated before 
the brave Marcellus. Syracuse had now 
taken part with Carthage, and thus paved 
the way for the loss of her own hberty. 
Marcellus besieged the city which was 
long defended by the inventive genius of 
Archimedes, but taken in the third year 
by escalade in the night. This event put 
an end to the kingdom of Syracuse, which 
novir became a part of the Roman province 
of Sicily, B. C. 212. 

While the war in Italy was prosper- 
ously conducted by the great Fabius, 
who, by constantly avoiding a general 
engagement, found the true method of 
weakening his enemy, the younger Scipio 
accomplished the entire reduction of 
Spain. Asdrubal was sent into Italy to 
the aid of his brother Hannibal, but was 
defeated by the consul Claudius, and slain 
in battle. Scipio, triumphant in Spain, 
passed over into Africa, and carried havoc 
and devastation to the gates of Carthage. 
Alarmed for the fate of their empire, the 
Carthaginians hastily recalled Hannibal 
from Italy. The battle of Zama decided 
the fate of the war, by the utter defeat of 
the Carthaginians. They entreated a 



' peace which the Romans gave on these 
conditions : that the Carthaginians shoidd 
abandon Spain, Sicily, and all the islands; 
surrender all their prisoners, give up the 
whole of their fleet except ten gallies, 
pay 10,000 talents, and, in future, under- 
take no war without the consent of the 
Romans, B. C. 202. 

Every thing now concm-red to swell 
the pride of the conquerors, and to extend 
their dominion. A war with Philip of 
Macedon was terminated by his defeat ; 
and his son Demetrius was sent to Rome 
as a hostage for the payment of a heavy 
tribute imposed on the vanquished. A 
war with Antiochus, king of Syria, ended 
in his ceding to the Romans the whole 
of the Lesser Asia. But these splendid 
conquests, while they enlarged the em- 
pire, were fatal to its virtues, and subver- 
sive of the pure and venerable simplicity 
of ancient times. 

The third Punic war began B. C. 
149, and ended in the ruin of Carthage. 
An unsuccessful war with the Numidians 
had reduced the Carthaginians to great 
weakness, and the Romans meanly laid 
hold of that opportunity to invade Africa. 
Conscious of their utter inability to resist 
this formidable power, the Carthaginians 
offered every submission, and consented 
even to acknowledge themselves the sub- 
jects of Rome. The Romans demanded 
300 hostages, for the strict performance 
of every condition that should be enjoin- 
ed by the senate. The hostages were 
given ; and the condition required was, 
that Carthage itself should be razed to its 
foundation. Despair gave courage to this 
miserable people, and they determined to 
■ die in defence of their native city. But 
1 the noble eflbrt was in vain. Carthage 
was taken by storm, its inhabitants mas- 
sacred, and the city burnt to the ground, 
B. C. 146. 

The same year was signalized by the 
' entire reduction of Greece under the do- 
minion of the Romans. This was the 
era of the dawn of luxury and taste at 
•■ Rome, the natural fruit of foreign wealth, 
and an acquaintance with foreign man- 
i ners. In the unequal distribution of this 
1 imported wealth, the vices to which it 
I gave rise, the corruption and venality of 
which it became the 'instrument, we see 



548 



ROME. 



the remoter causes of those fatal disorders 
to which the republic owed its dissolu- 
tion. 

The Gracchi and the corruption 
OF THE COMMONWEALTH. — At this period 
arose Tiberius and Caius Gracchus, two 
noble yoiiths, whose zeal to reform the 
growing corruptions of the state precipi- 
tated them at length into measures de- 
structive of all government and social or- 
der. Tiberius, the elder of the brothers, 
urged the people to assert by force the 
revival of an ancient law, for limiting 
property in land, and thus abridging the 
overgrown estates of the patricians. A 
tumult was the consequence, in which 
Tiberius, with 300 of his friends were 
killed in the forum. This fatal example 
did not deter his brother Caius Gracchus, 
from pursuing a similar career of zeal or 
of ambition. After some successful ex- 
periments of his power, while in the office 
of tribune, he directed his scrutiny into 
the corruptions of the senate, and prevail- 
ed in depriving that body of its con- 
stitutional control over all the inferior 
magistrates of the state. Employing, like 
his brother, the dangerous engine of tu- 
multuary force, he fell a victim to it him- 
self, with 3,000 of his partisans, who 
were slaughtered in the streets of Rome. 
The tumults attending the sedition of the 
Gracchi were the prelude to those civil 
disorders which now followed in quick 
succession to the end of the common- 
wealth. 

The circumstances attending the war 
with Jugurtha gave decisive proof of the 
corruption of the Roman manners. Ju- 
gurtha, grandson of Masinissa, sought to 
usurp the crown of Numidia by destroy- 
ing his cousins, Hicmpsal and Adherbal. 
the sons of the last king. He murdered 
the elder of the brothers ; and the younger 
applying for aid to Rome, Jugurtha bribed 
the senate, who declared him innocent 
of all culpable act or design, and decreed 
to him the sovereignty of half the king- 
dom. This operated only as an incen- 
tive to his criminal ambition. He de- 
clared open war against his cousin, be- 
sieged hum in his capital of Cirta, and 
finally put him to death. To avert a 
threatened war, Jugurtha went in person 
to Rome pleaded his own cause in the 



senate, and once more by bribery secured 
his acquittal from all charge of criminal- 
ity. A perseverance, however, in a simi- 
lar train of conduct, finally drew on him 
the vengeance of the Romans ; and be- 
ing betrayed into their hands by his own 
father-in-law, he was brought in chains 
to Rome, to grace the triumph of the 
consul Marius, confined to a dungeon, 
and starved to death, B. C. 103. 

The ambition of the allied states of 
Italy to attain the rights of citizenship 
produced the Social war, which ended in 
a concession of those rights to such of 
the confederates as should return peacea- 
bly to their allegiance. This war with 
the allies was a prelude to that which 
followed between Rome and her own 
citizens. Sylla and Marius, rivals, and 
thence enemies, were at this time the 
leaders of the republic. Sylla, command- 
ing in a war against Mithridates, was 
superseded, and recalled from Asia. He 
refused to obey the mandate ; and found 
his army well disposed to support him. 
" Let us march to Rome," said they, with 
one voice ; " lead us on to avenge the 
cause of oppressed liberty." Sylla ac- 
cordingly led them on, and they entered 
Rome sword in hand ; Marius and his 
partisans fled with precipitation from the 
city, and Sylla ruled for a while trium- 
phant. But the faction of his rival soon 
recovered strength. Marius returning to 
Italy, and joining his forces to those of 
Cinna, his zealous partisan, laid siege to 
Rome ; and, while Sylla was engaged in 
the Mithridatic war, compelled the city 
to absolute submission. After a horrible 
massacre of all whom they esteemed 
their enemies, Marius and Cinna pro- 
claimed themselves consuls without the 
formality of an election ; but Marius died 
a few days after in a fit of debauch. 

After a victorious campaign in Asia, 
Sylla returned to Italy, and joined by 
Cethegus, Verres, and the young Pom- 
pey, gave battle to the party of his ene- 
mies, and entirely defeated them. His 
entry into Rome was signalized by a 
dreadful massacre, and a proscription, 
which had for its object the extermina- 
tion of every enemy whom he had in Ita- 
ly. Elected dictator for an unlimited pe- 
riod, he was now without a rival in au- 



ROME. 



549 



thority, and absolute master of the gov- 
ernment, which, of course, was substan- 
tially no longer a repubUc. In the exer- 
cise of his dominion, he deserved more 
praise than in the means of acquiring it. 
He restored the senate to its judicial au- 
thority, regulated the election to all the 
important offices of state, and enacted 
many excellent laws against oppression, 
and the abuse of povver. Finally, he 
gave demonstration, if not of a pure con- 
science, at least of a magnanimous in- 
trepidity of character, by voluntarily re- 
signing all command, retiring to the con- 
dition of a private citizen, and offering 
publicly to give an account of his con- 
duct. He died within a short time after 
his resignation ; — a man certainly of 
great strength of mind, and who had 
some of the qualities of an heroic charac- 
ter ; but he lived in evil times, when it 
was impossible at once to be great and to 
be virtuous. 

The death of Sylla renewed the civil 
war. Ijepidus, a man of mean abilities, 
aspired to succeed him in power; and 
Pompey^ with superior talents, cherished 
the same ambition. While the latter was 
employed in the reduction of the revolted 
provinces of Asia, the conspiracy of Cat- 
aline threatened the entire destruction of 
Rome. It was extinguished by the pro- 
vident zeal and active patriotism of the 
consul Cicero ; and Catahne himself, 
with his chief accomplices, were attack- 
ed in the field, and defeated by Antonius. 
The traitor made a desperate defence, 
and died a better death than his crimes 
had merited. 

Julius Caesar now rose into public no- 
tice. Sylla dreaded his abilities and 
ambition, and had numbered him among 
the proscribed. " There is many a Ma- 
rius," said he, " in the person of that 
5roung man." He had learned prudence 
from the danger of his situation, and ta- 
citly courted popularity, without that 
show of enterprise which gives alarm to 
a rival. While Pompey and Crassus 
contended for the command of the Re- 
public, Caesar, who knew, that by attach- 
ing himself to either rival, he infallibly 
made the other his enemy, showed the 
reach of his talents by reconciling them, 
and thus acquiring the friendship of both. 



From favor to their mutual friend, they 
agreed to a partition of povver ; and thus 
was formed the first Triumvirate. Caesar 
was elected consul. He increased his 
popularity by a division of lands among 
the poorer citizens, and strengthened his 
interest with Pompey, by giving him his 
daughter in marriage. He had the com- 
mand of four legions, and the government 
of Transalpine Gaul and lUyria. 

The military glory of the republic, and 
the reputation of Caesar, were nobly sus- 
tained in Gaul. In the first year of his 
government he subdued the Helvetii, 
who leaving their own country, had at- 
tempted to settle themselves in the better 
regions of the Roman province. He to- 
tally defeated the Germans under Ariovis- 
tus, who had attempted a similar inva- 
sion. The Belgae, the Nervii, the Celtic 
Gauls, the Suevi, Menapii, and other 
warlike nations, were all successively 
brought under subjection. In the fourth 
year of his government, he transported 
his army into Britain. Landing at Deal, 
he was opposed by the natives with equal 
courage and military skill. He gained, 
however, several advantages, and binding 
the Britons to submission, withdrew, on 
the approach of winter into Gaul. He 
returned in the following summer with a 
greater force, and prosecuting his victo- 
ries, reduced a considerable portion of 
the island under the Roman dominion, 
B. C. 54. But the pressure of affairs in 
Italy suspended for a time the progress 
of the Roman arms in Britain. 

Caesar dreaded the abilities of Cicero, 
who had opposed him in his views of 
ambition. By the machinations of his 
partisans, while himself absent in Gaul, 
he procured the banishment of Cicero, 
and the confiscation his estates, on the 
pretence of illegal measures pursued in 
the suppression of the conspiracy of Cat- 
aline. During an exile of sixteen months 
in Greece, Cicero gave way to a des- 
pondency of mind utterly unworthy of the 
philosopher. Pompey had abandoned 
him, and this ungrateful desertion bore 
most heavily upon his mind ; but Pompey 
himself in the wane of his reputation, 
soon became desirous to prop his own 
sinking fortunes by the abilities of Cicero, 
and eagerly promoted his recal from ex- 



550 



ROME. 



ile. The death of Crassus, in an expe- 
dition against the Parthians, now dissolv- 
ed the Triumvirate ; and Cnesar and 
Pompey, whose union had no other bond 
than interest, began each to conceive sep- 
arately the view of undivided dominion. 
Progress of thk civii, vi'ars — sk- 

COXD TRIUMVIRATE AND FALL OF THE 

REPUBLIC. — -The ambition of Cresar and 
of Pompey had now evidently the same 
object ; and it seemed to be the only 
question in those degenerate times, to 
which of these aspiring leaders the re- 
public should surrender its liberties. The 
term of Caesar's government Avas near 
expiring ; but to secure himself against 
a deprivation of power, he procured a 
proposal to be made in the senate by one 
of his partisans, which wore the appear- 
ance of great moderation, namely, that 
Ciesar and Pompey should either both 
continue in their governments, or both be 
deprived of them, as they were equally 
capable of endangering the public hberty 
by an abuse of power. The motion 
passed, and Ctcsar immediately offered 
to resign, on condition that his rival 
should do so ; but Pompey rejected the 
accommodation ; the term of his govern- 
ment had yet several years' duration, and 
he suspected the proposal to be a snare 
laid for him by Ca;sar. He resolved to 
maintain his right by force of arms, and 
a civil war was the necessary conse- 
quence. The consuls and a great part of 
the senate were the friends of Pompey. 
Cresar had on his side a victorious army, 
consisting of ten legions, and the body 
of the Roman citizens, whom he had 
won by his liberality. Mark Antony and 
Cassius, at that time tribunes of the 
people, left Rome and repaired to Caesar's 
camp. 

The senate apprehensive of his designs, 
pronounced a decree, branding with the 
crime of parricide any commander who 
shovdd dare to pass the Rubicon (the 
boundary between Italy and the Gauls) 
with a single cohort, without their per- 
mission. Cffisar infringed the prohibi- 
tion, and marched straight to Rome. — 
Pompey, to whom the senate committed 
the defence of the state had no army. 
He quitted Rome, followed by the con- 
suls and a part of the senate, and en- 



' deavored hastily to levy troops over all 
Italy and Greece ; while Csesar triumph- 
antly entered the city amidst the accla- 
mations of the people, seized the public 
treasury, and possessed himself of the 
i supreme authority without opposition. 
Having secured the capital of the empire, 
he set out to take the held against his en- 
emies. The lieutenants of Pompey had 
possession of Spain. Csesar marched 
thither, and subdued the whole country 
in the space of forty days. He returned 
I victorious to Rome, where, in his ab- 
I sence, he had been nominated dictator, 
i In the succeeding election of magistrates 
j he was chosen consul, and thus invested 
by a double title, with the right of acting 
in the name of the republic. Pompey 
i had by this time raised a numerous ar- 
j my, and Ceesar was anxious to bringhim 
: to a decisive engagement. He joined 
j him in Illyria, and the first conflict was 
of doubtful issue ; but leading on his ar- 
my to Macedonia, where they found a 
large re-enforcement, he gave battle to 
Pompey in the field of Pharsalia, and en- 
tirely defeated him. Fifteen thousand 
were slain, and 24,000 surrendered them- 
selves prisoners to the victor, B. C. 49. 

The fate of Pompey was miserable in 
the extreme. With his wife Cornelia, 
i the companion of his misfortunes, he fled 
i to Egypt in a single ship, trusting to the 
I protection of Ptolemy, whose father had 
owed to him his settlement on the throne. 
j But the ministers of this young prince, 
I dreading the power of Cfesar, basely 
' courted his favor by the murder of his ri- 
val. Brought ashore in a small boat by 
the guards of the king, a Roman centuri- 
on, who had fought under his own ban- 
ners, stabbed him, even in the sight of 
j Cornelia, and cutting off his head, threw 
' the body naked on the sands. Caesar 
pursued Pompey to Alexandria, where 
' the head of that unhappy man, presented 
[ as a grateful offering, gave him the first 
intelligence of his fate. He wept, and 
turned with horror from the sight. He 
caused every honor to be paid to his mem- 
ory, and from that time showed the ut- 
most beneficence to the partisans of his 
j unfortunate rival. 

I The sovereignty of Egypt was in dis- 
'pute between Ptolemy and his sister 



ROME. 



551 





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Assassination of Julius Cmsar. 



Cleopatra. The latter, though married ' 
to her brother, and joint heir by their ! 
father's will, was ambitious of undivided 
authority ; and Csesar, captivated by her ! 
charms, decided the contest in favor of 
the beauteous queen. A war ensued, in 
which Ptolemy was killed, and Egypt 
subdued by the Roman arms. In this 
war the famous library of Alexandria was 
burnt to ashes, B. C. 48. A revolt of the 
Asiatic provinces, under Pharnaces the 
son of Mithridates, was signally chas- 
tised, and the report conveyed by Csesar 
to the Roman senate in three words, Veni, 
vidi, vici* The conqueror returned to 
Rome, which needed his presence ; for 
Italy was di^dded, and the partisans of j 
Pompey were yet extremely formidable. 
His two sons, with Cato and Scipio, 
were in arms in Africa. Caesar pursued 
them thither, and, proceeding with cau- 
tion till secure of bis advantage, defeated 
them in a decisive engagement at Thap- 
sus. Scipio perished in his passage to 
Spain. Cato, shutting himself up in 
Utica, meditated a brave resistance ; but 
finally, seeing no hope of success, he 
determined not to survive the liberties of 

* I came, I saw, I conquered. 



his country, and fell deliberately by his 
own hand. Mauritania was now added 
to the number of the Roman provinces, 
and Caesar returned to Rome absolute mas- 
ter of the empire. 

From that moment his attention was 
directed solely to the prosperity and hap- 
piness of the Roman people. He re- 
membered no longer that there had been 
opposite parties ; beneficent alike to the 
friends of Pompey as to his own. He 
labored to reform every species of abuse 
or grievance. He introduced order into 
every department of the state, defining 
the separate rights of all its magistrates, 
and extending his care to the regulation 
of its most distant provinces. The re- 
formation of the calendar, the draining 
the marshes of Italy, the navigation of 
the Tiber, the embellishment of Rome, 
the complete survey and delineation of 
the empire, alternately employed his lib- 
eral and capacious mind. Returning 
from the final overthrow of Pompey's 
parly in Spain, he was hailed the father 
of his country, was created consul for 
ten years, and perpetual dictator. His 
person was declared sacred, his title 
henceforth Imperator, B. C. 45. 

The Roman republic had thus finally. 



552 



ROME. 



by its own acts, resigned its liberties. 
They were not extinguished, as Montes- 
quieu has well remarked, by the ambition 
of a Pompey or of a Caesar. If the 
sentiments of Caesar and Pompey had 
been the same with those of Cato, oth- 
ers would have had the same ambitious 
thoughts ; and since the commonwealth 
was fated to fall, there never would have 
been wanting a hand to drag it to des- 
truction. Yet Cassar had by force sub- 
dued his country ; he therefore was an 
usurper ; and had it been possible to re- 
store the liberties of the republic, and 
with these its happiness, by the suppres- 
sion of that usurpation, the attempt had 
merited the praise at least of good de- 
sign. Perhaps so thought his murderers ; 
and thus, however weak their policy, 
however base and treacherous their act, 
with many they will ever find apologists. 
They madly dreamed an impossible issue, 
as the event demonstrated. 

A conspiracy was formed by sixty of 
the senators, at the head of whom were 
Brutus and Cassius ; the former a man 
beloved of Caesar, who had saved his 
life, and heaped upon him numberless 
benefits. It was rumored that the dicta- 
tor wished to add to his numerous titles 
that of king, and that the Ides of March 
was fixed on for investing him with the 
diadem. On that day, when taking his 
seat in the senate-house, he was suddenly 
assailed by the conspirators ; he defend- 
ed himself for sometime against their 
daggers, till, seeing Brutus amongst the 
number, he faintly exclaimed, " And you, 
too, my son !" and, covering his face with 
his robe, resigned himself to his fate. 
He fell, pierced by twenty-three wounds, 
B. C. 43. 

The Roman people were struck with 
horror at the deed : they loved Caesar, 
master as he was of their lives and lib- 
erties. Mark Antony and Lepidus, am- 
bitious of succeeding to the power of the 
dictator, resolved to pave the way by 
avenging his death. The people to 
whom Caesar, by his testament, had be- 
queathed a great part of his fortune, were 
penetrated with gratitude to his memory. 



against his murderers, who must have 
met with instant destruction, had they 
not escaped with precipitation from the 
city. Antony profited by these disposi- 
tions ; and the avenger of C«sar, of 
course the favorite of the people, was in 
the immediate prospect of attaining a 
similar height of dominion. In this, 
however, he found a formidable compet- 
itor in Octavius, the grand-nephew and 
the adopted heir of Caesar, who at this 
critical moment, arrived in Rome. Avail- 
ing himself of these titles, Octavius 
gained the senate to his interest, and di- 
vided with Antony the favor of the peo- 
ple. The rivals soon perceived that it 
was their wisest plan to unite their inter- 
ests; and they admitted Lepidus into 
their association, whose power, as gov- 
ernor of Gaul, and immense riches, gave 
him a title to a share of authority. Thus 
was formed the second Triumvirate, the 
effects of whose union were beyond 
measure dreadful to the republic. The 
Triumviri divided among themselves the 
provinces, and cemented their imion by 
a deliberate sacrifice made by each of 
his best friends to the vengeance of his 
associates. Antony consigned to death 
his uncle Lucius, Lepidus his brother 
Paulus, and Octavius his guardian Tora- 
nius, and his friend Cicero. In this hor- 
rible proscription, 300 senators and 3000 
knights were put to death. 

Octavius and Antony now marched 
against the conspirators, who had a for- 
midable army in the field in Thrace, 
commanded by Brutus and Cassius. An 
engagement ensued at Philippi, which 
decided the fate of the empire. Antony- 
was victorious, for Octavius had no mili- 
tary talents ; he was destitute even of 
personal bravery ; and his conduct after 
the victory was stained with that cruelty 
which is ever the attendant of coward- 
ice. Brutus and Cassius escaped the 
vengeance of their enemies by a volun- 
tary death. Antony now sought a re- 
compense for his troops by the plunder of 
the east. While in Cilicia, he summon- 
ed Cleopatra to answer for her conduct 
in dethroning an infant brother, and in 



A public harangue from Antony over the i openly favoring the party of Brutus and 
bleeding body, exposed in the forum, in- 1 Cassius. The queen came to Tarsus, 
flamed them with the utmost indignation [ and made a complete conquest of the 



ROME. 



553 



Triumvir. Immersed in luxury, and in- 
toxicated with love, he forgot glory, am- 
bition, fame, and every thing for Cleopa- 
tra ; and Octavius saw this phrenzy with 
delight, as the preparative of his rival's 
ruin. He had nothing to dread from 
Lepidus, whose insignificant character 
first drew on him the contempt of his 
partisans ; and whose folly, in attempt- 
ing an invasion of the province of his 
colleague, was punished by his deposition 
and banishment. 

Antony had in his madness lavished 
the provinces of the empire in gifts to his 
paramour and her children. The Roman 
people were justly indignant at these 
enormities ; and the divorce of his wife 
Octavia, the sister of his colleague, was 
at length the signal of declared hostility 
between them. An immense armament, 
chiefly naval, came to a decisive conflict 
near Actium, on the coast of Epirus. 
Cleopatra, who attended her lover, de- 
serted him with her galleys in the heat 
of the engagement ; and such was the 
infatuation of Antony, that he abandoned 
his fleet and followed her. After a 
contest of some hours, they yielded 
to the squadron of Octavius, B. C. 
31. The victor pursued the fugitives to 
Egypt ; and the base Cleopatra proffered 
terms to Octavius, including the surren- 
der of her kingdom, and the abandonment 
of Antony. After an unsuccessful at- 
tempt at resistance, he anticipated his 
fate by falling on his sword. And Cleo- 
patra soon after, either from remorse, or 
more probably from mortified ambition, 
as she found it was Octavius' design to 
load her in chains to Rome to grace his 
triumph, had courage to follow the ex- 
ample of her lover, and put herself to 
death by the poison of an asp. Octavius 
returned to Rome, sole master of the 
Roman empire, B. C. 27. 

Rome under the emperors. — The 
battle of Actium decided the fate of the 
commonwealth, and Octavius, now named 
Augustus, was master of the Roman em- 
pire. He possessed completely the sa- 
gacity of descerning what character was 
best fitted for gaining the affections of 
the people he governed, and the versatility 
of temper and genius to assume it. His 
virtues, though the result of policy, not ] 
70 



of nature, were certainly favorable to the 
happiness, and even to the liberties of 
his subjects. The fate of Cssar warned 
him of the insecurity of an usurped do- 
minion, and therefore, while he studiously 
imitated the engaging manners and clem- 
ency of his great predecessor, he affected 
a much higher degree of moderation and 
respect for the rights of the people. 

The temple of Janus was shut, which 
had been open for 188 years, since the 
beginning of the second Punic war ; an 
event productive of universal joy. " The 
Romans (says Condillac) now believed 
themselves a free people, since they had 
no longer to fight for their liberty." The 
sovereign kept up this delusion, by main- 
taining the ancient forms of the republi- 
can constitution, in the election of magis- 
trates, &c., though they were nothing 
more than forms. He even pretended to 
consider his own function as merely a 
temporary administration for the public 
benefit. Invested with the consulate 
and censorship, he went through the reg- 
ular forms of periodical election to those 
offices ; and at the end of the seventh 
year of his government actually announ- 
ced to the senate his resignation of all 
authority. The consequence was a gene- 
ral supplication of the senate and people, 
that he would not abandon the republic, 
which he had saved from destruction. 
" Since it must be so," said he, " I accept 
the empire for ten years, unless the public 
tranquillity should before that time permit 
me to enjoy that retirement I passionately 
long for." He repeated the same mockery 
five times in the course of his govern- 
ment, accepting the administration some- 
times for ten, and sometimes only for 
five years. 

It was much to the credit of Augustus, 
that in the government of the empire he 
reposed unlimited confidence in Maecenas, 
a most able minister, who had sincerely 
at heart the interest and happiness of the 
people. It was by his excellent counsels 
that all public affairs were conducted, 
and the most salutary laws enacted for 
the remedy of public grievances, and 
even the correction of the morals of the 
people. It was to his patronage that 
literature and the arts owed their en- 
couragement and advancement. It was 



554 



ROME. 



by his influence and wise instructions 
that Augustus assumed those virtues to 
which his heart was a stranger, and 
which, in their tendency to the happiness 
of his subjects, were equally effectual as 
if the genuine fruits of his nature. 

On the death of MarccUus, the nephew 
and son-in-law of Augustus, (23 B. C.) a 
prince of great hopes, the emperor be- 
stowed his chief favor on Marcus Agrippa, 
giving him his daughter Julia, the widow 
of Marcellus, in marriage. Agrippa had 
considerable military talents, and was 
successful in accomplishing the reduction 
of Spain, and subduing the revolted pro- 
vinces of Asia. Augustus associated 
him with himself in the office of censor, 
and would probably have given him a 
share of the empire ; but the death of 
Agrippa occasioned a new arrangement. 
The daughter of Augustus now took for 
her third husband Tiberius, who became 
the son-in-law of the emperor by a double 
tie, for Augustus had previously married 
his mother Livia. This artful woman, 
removing all of the imperial family who 
stood betwixt her and the object of am- 
bition, thus made room for the succession 
of her son Tiberius, who on his part, bent 
all his attention to gain the favor and 
confidence of Augustus. On the return 
of Tiberius from a successful campaign 
against the Germans, the people were 
made to solicit the emperor to confer on 
him the government of the provinces and 
the command of the armies. Augustus 
now gradually withdrew himself from the 
cares of the empire. He died soon after 
at Nola in Campania, in the 76th year of 
his age, and 44th of his imperial reign, 
and A. D. 14. 

A considerable part of the lustre thrown 
on the reign of Augustus is owing to the 
splendid coloring bestowed on his char- 
acter by the poets and other authors who 
adorned his court, and repaid his favors 
by their adulation. 

One great event distinguished the 
reign of Augustus, the birth of our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ, which, accord- 
ing to the best authorities, happened in 
the 754th year A. U. C. and four years 
before the vulgar date of the Christian 
era. 

Augustu!^ had named Tiberius his heir, 



together with his mother Livia, and sub- 
stituted to them Drusus, the son of Tibe- 
rius, and Germanicus. Tiberius was 
vicious, debauched, and cruel ; yet the 
very dread of his character operated in 
securing an easy succession to the em- 
pire. An embassy from the senate en- 
treated him to accept the government, 
which he modestly affected to decline, but 
suffered himself to be won by their sup- 
plications. Notwithstanding this symp- 
tom of moderation, it soon appeared that 
the power enjoyed by his predecessor 
was too limited for the ambition of Tibe- 
rius. It was not enough that the sub- 
stance of the republic was gone, the very 
appearance of it was now to be demolish- 
ed. The people were no longer assem- 
bled, and the magistrates of the state 
were supplied by the imperial will. 

Germanicus, the nephew of Tiberius, 
became the object of his jealousy, from 
the glory he had acquired by his military 
exploits in Germany, and the high favor 
in which he stood with the Roman peo- 
ple. He was recalled in the midst of his 
successes, and despatched to the oriental 
provinces, M-^here he soon after died, as 
was generally believed, of poison admin- 
istered by the Emperor's command. 

iElius Sejanus, prosfect of the praeto- 
rian guards, the favorite counsellor of 
Tiberius, and the obsequious minister of 
his tyranny and crimes, conceived the 
daring project of a revolution, which 
should place himself on the throne, by 
the extermination of the whole imperial 
family. Drusus, the son of the emperor, 
was cut off by poison. Agrippina the 
widow of Germanicus, with the elder of 
her sons, was banished, and the younger 
confined to prison. Tiberius himself 
was persuaded by Sejanus, under the 
pretence of the discovery of plots for his 
assassination, to retire from Rome to the 
Isle of Caprese, and devolve the govern- 
ment upon his faithful minister. But 
while Sejanus, thus far successful, medi- 
tated the last step to the accomplishment 
of his wishes, by the murder of his sov- 
ereign, his treason was detected ; and 
the emperor despatched his mandate to 
the senate, which was followed by his 
immediate sentence and execution. The 
public indignation was not satisfied with 



ROME. 



555 



his death ; the populace tore his body to 
pieces, and flung it into the Tiber. 

Tiberius now became utterly negligent 
of the cares of government, and the im- 
perial power was displayed only in pub- 
lic executions, confiscations, and scenes 
of cruelty and rapine. At length the ty- 
rant falling sick, was strangled in his bed 
by Macro, the prajfect of the praetorian 
guards, in the 78th year of his age, and 
23d of his reign. 

pin the 18th year of Tiberius, our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Divine 
Author of our religion, suff'ered death 
upon the cross, a sacrifice and propitia- 
tion for the sins of mankind, A. D. 33 

Tiberius had nominated for his heir 
Caligula, the son of Germanicus, his 
grandson by adoption, and joined with 
him Tiberius, the son of Drusus, his 
grandson by blood. The former enjoyed, 
on his father's account, the favor of the 
people ; and the senate, to gratify them, 
set aside the right of his colleague, and 
conferred on him the empire undivided. 
The commencement of his reign was 
signalized by a few acts of clemency and 
even good policy. He restored the priv- 
ileges of the comitia, and abolished ar- 
bitrary prosecutions for crimes of state. 
But, tyrannical and cruel by nature, he 
substituted military execution for legal 
punishment. The provinces were loaded 
with the most oppressive taxes, and daily 
confiscations filled the imperial coflers. 
The follies and absurdities of Caligula 
were equal to his vices, and it is hard to 
say whether he was most the object of 
hatred or of contempt to his subjects. He 
perished by assassination in the 4th year 
of his reign, and 29th of his age, A. D. 42. 

Claudius, the uncle of Caligula, was 
saluted emperor by the praetorian guards, 
who had been the murderers of his ne- 
phew. He was the son of Octavia, the 
sister of Augustus ; a man of weak in- 
tellects, and of no education ; yet his 
short reign was marked by an enterprise 
of importance. He undertook the re- 
duction of Britain ; and after visting the 
island in person, left his generals Plau- 
tius and Vespasian, to prosecute a war 
which was carried on for several years 
with various success. The Silures, or 
inhabitants of South Wales, under their 



king Caractacus,(Caradoc,) made a brave 
resistance, but were finally defeated, and 
Caractacus led captive to Rome, where 
the magnanimity of his demeanor pro- 
cured him respect and admiration. 

The civil administration of Claudius 
was weak and contemptible. He was 
the slave even of his domestics, and the 
dupe of his infamous wives, Messalina 
and Agrippina. The former abandoned 
to the most shameful profligacy, was at 
length put to death, on suspicion of trea- 
sonable designs. The latter, who was 
the daughter of Germanicus, bent her 
.utmost endeavors to secure the succes- 
j 'si on to the empire to her son Domitius 
iEnobardus, and employed every engine 
of vice and inhumanity to remove the 
obstacles to the accomplishment of her 
wishes. Having at length prevailed on 
Claudius to adopt her son, and confer on 
him the title of Caesar, to the exclusion 
of his own son Britannicus, she now 
made room for the immediate ^elevation 
of Domitius, by poisoning her husband. 
Claudius was put to death in the 15th 
year of his reign, and 63d of his age. 

The son of iVgrippina assumed tho 
name of Nero Claudius. He had enjoyed 
the benefit of a good education under the 
philosopher Seneca, but reaped from his 
instructions no other fruit than a pedan- 
tic aflectation of taste and learning, with 
no real pretension to either. While con- 
trolled by his tutor Seneca, and by Bur- 
rhus, captain of the praetorian guards, a 
man of worth and ability, Nero maintained 
for a short time a deceney of public con- 
duct ; but the restraint was intolerable, 
and nature soon broke out. His real 
character was a compound of every thing 
that is base and inhuman. In the mur- 
der of his mother Agrippina, he revenged 
the crime she had committed in raising 
him to the throne ; he rewarded the fidel- 
ity of Burrhus by poisoning him ; and 
as a last kindness to his tutor Seneca, he 
allowed him to choose the mode of his 
death. It was his darling amusement to 
exhibit on the stage and amphitheatre as 
an actor, musician, or gladiator. At 
length, become the object of universal 
hatred and contempt, a rebellion of his 
subjects, headed by Vindex, an illustrious 
Gaul, hurled this monster from the throne. 



556 



ROME, 



He had not courage to attempt resistance ; 
and a slave, at his own request, despatch- 
ed him with a dagger. Nero perished in 
the 30th year of his age, after a reign 
of fourteen years, A. D. 69. 

Galba, the successor of Nero, was of 
an ancient and iihistrious family. He 
was in the 73d year of his age when the 
senate, ratifying the choice of the prae- 
torian bands, proclaimed him emperor. 
But an impolitic rigor of discipline soon 
disgusted the army ; the avarice of his 
disposition, grudging the populace their 
favorite games and spectacles, deprived 
him of their aflections ; and some iniqui- 
tous prosecutions and confiscations exci-^ 
ted general discontent and mutiny. Gal- 
ba adopted and designed for his succes- 
sor the able and virtuous Piso ; a mea- 
sure which excited the jealousy of Otho, 
his former faA^orite, and led him to form 
the daring plan of raising himself to the 
throne by the destruction of both. He 
found the praetorians apt to his purpose ; 
they proclaimed him Emperor, and pre- 
sented him, as a grateful oiiering, the 
heads of Galba and Piso, who were 
slain in quelling the insurrection. Galba 
had reigned seven months. 

Otho had a formidable rival in Vitel- 
lius, who had been proclaimed emperor 
by his army in Germany. It is hard to 
say which of the competitors was, in 
point of abilities, the more despicable, 
or in character the more infamous. A 
decisive battle was fought at Bedriacum, 
near Mantua, where the army of Otho was 
defeated, and their commander in a fit of 
despair, ended his life by his own hand, 
after a reign of three months, A. D. 70. 

The reign of Vitellius was of eight 
months duration. He is said to have 
proposed Nero for his model, and it was 
just that he should resemble him in his 
fate. Vespasian, who had obtained from 
Nero the charge of the war against the 
Jews, which he had conducted with abil- 
ity and success, was proclaimed emperor 
by his troops in the East ; and a great 
part of Italy submitting to his generals, 
Vitellius meanly capitulated to save his 
life, by a resignation of the empire. 
The people, indignant at his dastardly 
spirit, compelled him to an effort of resis- 
tance, but the attempt was fruitless. — 



Prisons, one of the generals of Vespa- 
sian, took possession of Rome, and Vi- 
tellius was massacred, and his body flung 
into the Tiber. 

Vespasian, though of mean descent, 
was worthy of the empire, and reigned 
with high popularity for ten years. He 
possessed great clemency of disposition; 
his manners were affable and engaging, 
and his mode of life was characterized 
by simplicity and frugality. He respect- 
ed the ancient forms of the constituti^, 
restored the senate to its deliberative 
rights, and acted by its authority in the 
administration of all public affairs. The 
only blemish in his character was a tinc- 
ture of avarice, and even that is gi-eatly 
extenuated by the laudable and patriotic 
use which he made of his revenues. — 
Under his reign, and by the arms of his 
son Titus, was terminated the war against 
the Jews. They had been brought un- 
der the yoke of Rome by Pompey, who 
took Jerusalem. Under Augustus they 
were governed for some time by HeroJ 
as viceroy ; but the tyranny of his son 
Archelaus was the cause of his banish- 
ment, and the reduction of Judaea into 
the ordinary condition of a Roman pro- 
vince. Rebelling on every slight occa- 
sion, Nero had sent Vespasian to re- 
duce them to order, and he had just pre- 
pared for the siege of Jerusalem, when 
he was called to Rome to assume the 
government of the empire. Titus wished 
to spare the city, and tried every means 
to prevail on the Jews to surreiuler : but 
in vain ; their ruin was decreed by Hea- 
ven. After an obstinate blockade of six 
months, Jerusalem was taken by storm, 
the temple burnt to ashes, and the city 
buried in ruins. The Roman empire 
was now in profound peace. Vespasian 
associated Titus in the imperial dignity, 
and soon after died, universally lamented, 
at the age of 69, A. D. 79. 

The character of Titus was humane, 
munificent, dignified, and splendid. His 
short reign was a period of great happi- 
ness and prosperity to the empire, and 
his government a constant example of 
virtue, justice, and beneficence. In his 
time happened thai dreadful eruption of 
Vesuvius which overwhelmed the cities 
of Herculaneum and Pompeii ; and the 



ROME. 



557 



piiWic losses from these calamities he re- 
paired by the sacrifice of his fortune and 
revenues. He died in the third year of 
his reign, and fortieth of his age. 

Doniitian, the brother of Titus, and 
suspected of murdering him by poison, 
succeeded to the empire, A. D. 81. He 
was a vicious and inhuman tyrant. A 
rebellion in Germany gave him occasion 
to signalize the barbarity of his disposi- 
tion ; and its consequences were long 
fell in the sanguinary punishments in- 
flicted under the pretence of justice. The 
prodigal and voluptuous spirit of this reign 
was a singadar contrast to its tyranny 
and inhumanity. The people were load- 
ed with insupportable taxes to furnish 
spectacles and games for their amuse- 
ment. The successes of Agricola in 
Britain threw a lustre on the Roman arms, 
no part of which reflected on the Empe- 
ror, for he used this eminent commander 
with the basest ingratitude. After fifteen 
tedious years, this monster fell at last a 
victim of assassination, the empress her- 
self conducting the plot for his murder, 
A. D.96. 

Cocceius Nerva, a Cretan by birth, 
was chosen emperor by the senate, from 
respect to the virtues of his character ; 
but too old for the burden of government, 
and of a temper too placid for the re- 
straint of rooted corruptions and enormi- 
ties, his reign was weak, ineflicient, and 
contemptible. His only act of real merit 
as a sovereign, was the adoption of the vir- 
tuous Trajan as his successor. Nerva died 
after a reign of sixteen months, A. D. 98. 

Ulpius Trajanus possessed every talent 
and every virtue that can adorn a sove- 
reign. Of great military abilities, and an 
indefatigable spirit of enterprise, he rais- 
ed the Roman arms to their ancient splen- 
dor, and greatly enlarged the boundaries 
of the empire. He subdued the Dacians, 
conquered the Parthians, and brought 
under subjection Assyria, Mesopotamia, 
and Arabia Felix. Nor was he less emi- 
nent in promoting the happiness of his 
subjects, and the internal prosperity of the 
empire. His largesses were humane and 
munificent. He was the friend and sup- 
port of the virtuous indigent, and the lib- 
eral patron of every useful art and talent. 
His bounties were supplied by a well 



judged economy in his private fortune, 
and a wise administration of the public 
finances. In his own life he was a man 
of simple manners, modest, afiable, fond 
of the familiar intercourse of his friends, 
and sensible to all the social and benev- 
olent afliections. He died at the age of 
sixty-three, after a glorious reign of nine- 
teen years, A. D. 118. 

^Elius Adrianus, nephew of Trajan, 
and Avorthy to fill his place, was chosen 
emperor by the army in the east, and 
his title was acknowledged by all orders 
of the state. He adopted a policy differ- 
ent from that of his predecessor ; and, 
judging the limits of the empire too exten- 
sive, abandoned all the conquests of Trajan, 
bounding the eastern provinces by the Eu- 
phrates. He visited in person the whole 
provinces of the empire, reforming, in his 
progress, all abuses, relieving his subjects 
of every oppressive burden, rebuilding the 
ruined cities, and establishing everywhere 
a regular and mild administration under 
magistrates of approved probity and hu- 
manity. He gave a discharge to the in- 
digent debtors of the state, and appointed 
liberal institutions for the education of the 
children of the poor. To the talents of 
an able politician he joined an excellent 
taste in the liberal arts ; and his reign, 
which was of twenty-two years duration, 
was an era both of public happiness and 
splendor. In the last year of his life, he 
bequeathed to the empire a double legacy, 
in adopting and declaring for his immedi- 
ate successor Titus Aurelius Antoninus, 
and substituting Annius Verus to succeed 
upon his death. These were the Anto- 
nines, who, for forty years ruled the Ro- 
man empire with consummate wisdom, 
ability and virtue. Adrian died, A. D. 
138, at the age of sixty-two. 

The happiest reigns furnish the fewest 
events for the pen of history. Antoninus 
was the father of his people. He pre- 
ferred peace to the ambition of conquest ; 
yet, in every necessary war the Roman 
arms had their wonted renown. The 
British province was enlarged by the 
conquests of Urbicus, and some formida- 
ble rebellions were subdued in Germany, 
Dacia, and the East. The domestic ad- 
ministration of the sovereign was digni- 
fied, splendid, and humane. With all 



558 



ROME. 



the virtues of Numa, his love of religion, 
peace, and justice, he had the superior 
advantage of diffusing these blessings 
over a great portion of the world. He 
died at the age of seventy-four, after a 
reign of twenty -two years, A. D. 161. 

Annius Verus assumed, at his acces- 
sion, the name of Marcus Aurelius Anto- 
ninus, and he bestowed on his brother 
Lucius Verus, a joint administration of 
the empire. The former was as eminent 
for the worth and virtues of his character, 
as the latter was remarkable for profliga- 
cy, meanness, and vice. Marcus Aure- 
lius was attached both by nature and ed- 
ucation to the Stoical philosophy, which 
he has admirably taught and illustrated 
in his Meditations ; and his own life was 
the best commentary on his precepts. 
The Parthians were repulsed in an at- 
tack upon the empire, and a rebellion of 
the Germans was subdued. In these 
wars the mean and worthless Verus 
brought disgrace upon the Roman name 
in every region where he commanded ; 
but fortunately relieved the empire of its 
fears by an early death. The residue of 
the reign of Marcus Aurelius was a con- 
tinued blessing to his subjects. He re- 
formed the internal policy of the state, 
regulated the government of the provinces, 
and visited himself, for the purposes of 
beneficence, the most distant quarters of 
his dominions. " He appeared," says an 
ancient author, " like some benevolent 
deity, diffusing around him universal peace 
and happiness." He died in Pannonia 
in the 59th year of his age, and 19th of 
his reign, A. D. 180. 

Commodus, his most unworthy son, 
succeeded to the empire on his death. 
He resembled in character his mother 
Faustina, a woman infamous for all man- 
ner of vice, but who yet had passed with 
her husband Marcus for a paragon of vir- 
tue. Commodus had an aversion to eve- 
ry rational and liberal pursuit, and a fond 
attachment to the sports of the circus 
and amphitheatre, the hunting of wild 
beasts, and the combats of boxers and 
gladiators. The measures of this reign 
were as unimportant, as the character of 
the sovereign was contemptible. His 
concubine and some of his chief officers 
prevented their own destruction by assas- 



sinating the tyrant, in the 32nd year of 
his age, and 13th of his reign, A. D. 193. 

The praetorian guards gave the empire 
to Publius Helvius Pertinax, a man of 
mean birth, but who had risen to esteem 
by his virtues and military talents. He 
applied himself with zeal to the correc- 
tion of abuses ; but the austerity of his 
government deprived him of the affections 
of a corrupted people. He had disappoint- 
ed the army of a promised reward ; and, 
after a reign of eighty-six days, was 
murdered in the imperial palace by the 
same hands wliich had placed him on the 
throne. 

The empire was now put up to auction 
by the praetorians and was purchased by 
Didius Juliamis ; while Pescenius Niger 
in Asia, Clodius Albinus in Britain, and 
Septimius Severus in Illyria, were each 
chosen emperor by the troops they com- 
manded. Severus marched to Rome ; 
and the praetorians, on his approach, 
abandoned Didius, who had failed to pay 
the stipulated price for his elevation, and 
the senate formally deposed and put him 
to death. Severus, master of Rome, pre- 
pared to reduce the provinces which had 
acknowledged the sovereignty of Niger 
and Albinus ; and these tAvo rivals being 
successively subdued, the one lost his 
life in battle, and the other fell by his 
own hands. The administration of Sev- 
erus was wise and equitable, but tinc- 
tured with despotic rigor. It was his 
purpose to erect the fabric of absolute 
monarchy, and all his institutions opera- 
ted with able policy to that end. He pos- 
sessed eminent military talents ; and it 
was a glorious boast of his, that having 
received the empire oppressed with for- 
eign and domestic wars, he left it in pro- 
found, universal, and honorable peace. 
He carried with him into Britain his two 
sons, Caracalla and Geta, Avhose un- 
promising dispositions clouded his latter 
days. In this war the Caledonians vm- 
der Fingal are said to have defeated, on 
the banks of the Carron, Caracul, the 
son of the king of the world. Severus 
died at York, in the 66th year of his age, 
after a reign of eighteen years, A. D. 211. 

The mutual hatred of Caracalla and 
Geta was increased by their association 
in the empire ; and the former, with bru- 



ROME. 



559 



tal inhumanity, caused his brother to be 
openly murdered in the arms of his 
mother. His reign, which was of six 
years duration, and one continued series 
of atrocities, Avas at length terminated by 
assassination, A. D. 217. 

Those disorders in the empire which 
began with Commodus continued for 
about a century, till the accession of 
Diocletian. That interval was filled by 
the reigns of Heliogabalus, Alexander 
Severus, Maximian, Gordian, Decius, 
Gallus, Valerianus, Gallienus, Claudius, 
Aurelianus, Tacitus, Probus, and Carus; 
a period of which the annals furnish 
neither amusement nor useful informa- 
tion. The single exception is the reign 
of Alexander Severus, a mild, beneficent 
and enlightened prince, whose character 
shines the more from the contrast of 
those who preceded and followed him. 

Diocletian began his reign A. D. 284, 
and introduced a new system of adminis- 
tration, dividing the empire into four gov- 
ernments, under as many princes. Max- 
imian shared with him the title of Augus- 
tus, and Galerius and Constantius were 
declared Caesars. Each had his separate 
department or province, all nominally 
supreme, but in reality under the direc- 
tion of the superior talents and authority 
of Diocletian ; an unwise policy, which 
depended for its efficacy on individual 
ability alone. Diocletian and Maximian, 
trusting to the continuance of that order 
in the empire which their vigor had 
established, retired from sovereignty, and 
left the government in the hands of the 
Caesars ; but Constantius died soon after 
in Britain, and his son Constantino was 
proclaimed emperor at York, though Gal- 
erius did not acknowledge his title. Max- 
imian, however, having once more re- 
sumed the purple, bestowed on Constan- 
tino his daughter in marriage, and thus 
invested him with a double title to the 
empire. On the death of Maximian and 
Galerius, Constantine had no other com- 
petitor than Maxentius the son of the 
former, and the contest between them 
was decided by the sword. Maxentius 
fell in battle, and Constantine remained 
sole master of the empire. 

The administration of Constantine was, 
in the beginning of liis reign, mild, equi- 



table, and politic. Though zealously at- 
tached to the Christian faith, he made 
no violent innovations on the religion of 
the state. He introduced order and 
economy into the civil government, and 
repressed every species of oppression and 
corruption. But his natural temper was 
severe and cruel, and the latter part of 
his reign was as much deformed by in- 
tolerant zeal and sanguinary rigor, as the 
former had been remarkable for equity 
and benignity. From this unfavorable 
change of character, he lost the affections 
of his subjects ; and, from a feeling pro- 
bably of reciprocal disgust, he removed 
the seat of the Roman empire to Byzan- 
tium, now termed Constantinople. The 
court followed the sovereign ; the opu- 
lent proprietors were attended by their 
slaves and retainers ; Rome was in a 
kw years greatly depopulated, and the 
new capital swelled at once to enormous 
magnitude. It was characterized by 
eastern splendor, luxury, and voluptuous- 
ness ; and the cities of Greece were de- 
spoiled for its embellishment. In an 
expedition against the Persians, Constan- 
tine died at Nicomedia, in the thirtieth 
year of his reign, and sixty-third of his 
age, A. D. 337. In the time of Constan- 
tine the Goths had made several irrup- 
tions on the empire, and, though repulsed 
and beaten, began gradually to encroach 
on the provinces. 

Constantine, with a destructive policy, 
had divided the empire among five princes, 
three of them his sons, and two nephews ; 
but Constantius, the youngest of the sons, 
finally got rid of all his competitors, and 
ruled the empire alone with a weak and 
impotent sceptre. A variety of domestic 
broils, and mutinies of the troops against 
their generals, had left the western fron- 
tier to the mercy of the barbarian nations. 
The Franks, Saxons, Alemanni, and Sar- 
matians, laid waste all the fine countries 
watered by the Rhine, and the Persians 
made dreadful incursions on the provinces 
of the east. Constantius indolently wasted 
his time in theological controversies, but 
was prevailed on to adopt one prudent 
measure, the appointment of his cousin 
Julian to the dignity of Cajsar. 

Julian possessed many heroic quali- 
ties, and his mind was formed by nature 



560 



ROME. 



for tlie sovereignty of a great people ; but 
educated at Athens, in the schools of the 
Platonic philosophy, he had unfortunately 
conceived a rooted antipathy to the doc- 
trines of Christianity. With every talent 
of ageneral, and possessingthe confidence 
and affection of his troops, he once more 
restored the glory of the Roman arms, 
and successfully repressed the invasions 
of the barbarians. His victories excited 
the jealousy of Constantius, vv^ho meanly 
resolved to remove from his command 
the better part of his troops. The con- 
sequence was a declaration of the army, 
that it was their choice that Julian should 
be their emperor. Constantius escaped 
the ignominy that awaited him by dying 
at this critical juncture, and Julian was 
immediately acknowledged sovereign of 
the Roman empire. 

The reformation of civil abuses formed 
the first object of his attention ; which 
he next turned to the reformation, as he 
thought, of religion, by the suppression 
of Christianity. He began by reforming 
the Pagan theology, and sought to raise 
the character of its priests, by incidcat- 
ing purity of life and sanctity of morals ; 
thus bearing involuntary testimony to the 
superior excellence, in those respects, of 
that religion Avliich he labored to abolish. 
Without persecuting, he attacked the 
Christians by the more dangerous policy 
of treating them with contempt, and re- 
moving them, as visionaries, from all em- 
ployments of public trust. He refused 
them the benefit of the laws to decide 
their differences, because their religion 
forbade all dissensions ; and they were 
debarred the studies of literature and phi- 
losophy, which they could not learn but 
from Pagan authors. He was himself 
as a Pagan, the slave of the most bigoted 
superstition, believing in omens and au- 
guries, and fancying himself favored with 
an actual intercourse with the gods and 
goddesses. To avenge the injuries which 
the empire had sustained from the Per- 
sians, Julian marched into the heart of 
Asia, and was for some time in the train 
of conquest, when, in a fatal engagement, 
though crowned with victory, he was 
slain, at the age of thirty-one, after a 
reign of three years, A. D. 363. 

The Roman army was dispirited by the 



death of its commander. They diosd 
for their emperor Jovian, a captain of the 
domestic guards, and purchased a free 
retreat from the dominions of Persia by 
the ignominious surrender of five pro- 
vinces, which had been ceded by a for- 
mer sovereign to Galerius. The short 
reign of Jovian, a period of seven months, 
was mild and equitable. He favored 
Christianity, and restored its votaries to 
all their privileges as subjects. He died 
suddenly at the age of thirty-three. 

Valentinian was chosen emperor by 
the army on the death of Jovian ; a man 
of obscure birth, and severe manners, but 
of considerable military talents. He as- 
sociated with himself in the empire his 
brother Valens, to whom he gave the do- 
minion of the eastern provinces, reserv- 
ing to hhnself the western. The Per- 
sians, under Sapor, were making inroads 
on the former, and the latter was subject 
to continual invasion from the northern 
barbarians. They were successfully re- 
pelled by Valentinian in many battles ; 
and his domestic administration was wise, 
equitable, and politic. The Christian reli- 
gion was favored by the emperor, though 
not promoted by the persecution of its ad- 
versaries ; a contrast to the conduct of his 
brother Valens, who, intemperately sup- 
porting the Arian heresy, set the whole 
provinces in a flame, and drew a swarm 
of invaders upon the empire in the guise 
of friends and allies, who in the end en- 
tirely subverted it. These were the 
Goths, who, migrating from Scandinavia, 
had, in the second century, settled on the 
banks of the Palus Mcsotis, and thence 
gradually extended their territory. In 
the reign of Valens they took possession 
of Dacia, and were known by the dis- 
tinct appellation of Ostrogoths and Visi- 
goths, or eastern and western Goths ; a 
remarkable people, and whose manners, 
customs, government, and laws, are after- 
wards to be particularly noted. 

Valentinian died on an expedition 
against the Alemanni, and was succeed- 
ed in the empire of the west by Gratian, 
his eldest son, a boy of sixteen years of 
age, A. D. 367. Valens, in the east, was 
the scourge of his people. The Huns, a 
new race of barbarians, of Tartar or Si- 
berian origin, now poured down on the 



ROME. 



561 



provinces both of the west and east. The 
Goths, comparatively a civilized people, 
fled before them. The Visigoths, who 
were first attacked, requested protection 
from the empire, and Valens imprudently 
gave them a settlement in Thrace. The 
Ostrogoths made the same request, and, 
on refusal, forced their way into the same 
province. Valens gave them battle at 
Adrianople ; his army was defeated, and 
he himself slain in the engagement. The 
Goths, unresisted, ravaged Achaia and 
Pannonia. 

Gratian, a prince of good dispositions, 
but of little energy of character, assumed 
Theodosius as his colleague, Avho, on the 
early death of Gratian, and minority of 
his son Valentinian II, governed with 
great ability, both the eastern and western 
empire. The character of Theodosius, 
deservedly surnamed the Great, was wor- 
thy of the best ages of the Roman state. 
He successfully repelled the encroach- 
ments of the barbarians, and secured, by 
wholesome laws, the prosperity of his 
people. He died, after a reign of eigh- 
teen years, assigning to his sons, Arca- 
dius and Honorius, the separate sove- 
reignties of east and west, A. D. 395. 

The reign of Theodosius was signal- 
ized by the downfall of the Pagan super- 
stition, and the full establishment of the 
Christian religion in the Roman empire. 
This great revolution of opinions is highly 
worthy of attention, and naturally induces 
a retrospect to the condition of the Christ- 
ian church from its institution down to 
this period. 

It has been frequently remarked, be- 
cause it is an obvious truth, that the con- 
currence of circumstances at the time of 
our Saviour's birth was such as, while a 
divine revelation seemed to be then more 
peculiarly needed, the state of the world 
was remarkably favorable for the exten- 
sive dissemination of the doctrines it 
conveyed. The union of so many nations 
under one power, and the extension of 
civilization, were favorable to the pro- 
gress of a religion which prescribed uni- 
versal charity and benevolence. The 
gross superstitions of paganism, and its 
tendency to corrupt instead of purifying 
the morals, contributed to explode its in- 
fluence with every thinking mind. Even 
72 



the prevalent philosophy of the times, 
Epicurism, more easily understood than 
the refinements of the Platonists, and 
more grateful than the severities of the 
Stoics, tended to degrade human nature 
to the level of the brute creation. The 
Christian religion, thus necessary for the 
reformation of the world, found its chief 
partisans in those who were the friends 
of virtue, and its enemies among the vo- 
taries of vice. 

The persecution which the Christians 
underwent from the Romans has been 
deemed an exception to that spirit of tol- 
eration they showed to the religions of 
other nations ; but they Avere tolerating 
only to those whose theologies were not 
hostile to their own. The religion of the 
Romans was interwoven with their politi- 
cal constitution. The zeal of the Chris- 
tians, aiming at the suppression of all 
idolatry, was not unnaturally regarded as 
dangerous to the state ; and hence they 
were the object of hatred and persecu- 
tion. In the first century, the Christian 
church suffered deeply under Nero and 
Domitian ; yet those persecutions had no 
tendency to check the progress of its 
doctrines. During a space of two cen- 
turies, in ten successive instances, under 
the Roman emperors, the Christians were 
cruelly persecuted ; and the suffering 
and loss of life exceed calcvdation. Some 
authors say that in Egypt alone, 144,000 
Christians died by the violence of their 
persecutors, besides 700,000 who died 
through the fatigues of banishment, or 
the public works to which they were 
condemned. 

f It is a matter of question what was the 
form of the primitive church, and the 
nature of its government ; and on this 
head much diflference of opinion obtains, 
not only between the Catholics and Pro- 
testants, but between the difl^erent classes 
of the latter, as the Lutherans and Cal- 
vinists. It is moreover an opinion, that 
our Saviour and his apostles, confining 
their precepts to the pure doctrines of 
religion, have left all Christian societies 
to regulate their frame and government 
in the manner best suited to the civil 
constitutions of the countries in which 
they are established.M 

In the second cefltury, the books of 



662 



ROME. 




Cruelties practised on the primittve Christians. 



the New Testament were collected into 
a volume by the elder fathers of the 
church, and received as a canon of faith, 
'i'he Old Testament had been translated 
from the Hebrew into Greek, by order 
of Ptolemy Philadelphus, 284 years be- 
fore Christ. The early church sufl'ered 
much from an absurd endeavor of the 
more learned of its votaries, to reconcile 
its doctrines to the tenets of the Pagan 
philosophers ; hence the sects of the 
Gnostics and Ammonians, and the Pla- 
tonising Christians. The Greek churches 
began in the second century to form pro- 
vincial associations, and establish general 
rules of government and discipline. As- 
semblies were held, termed Synodoi and 
Concilia, over which a metropolitan pre- 
sided. A short time after arose the su- 
perior order of Patriarch, presiding over 
a large district of the Christian world ; 
and a subordination taking place even 
among these, the bishop of Rome was 
acknowledged the chief of the Patriarchs. 
Persecution still attended the early church, 
even under those excellent princes, Tra- 
jan, Adrian, and the Antonines ; and, in 
the reign of Severiis, the whole provinces 
of the empire wer^tained with the blood 
of the martyrs. 



The third century was more favorable 
to the progress of Christianity and the 
tranquillity of its disciples. In those 
times it suffered less from the civil arm 
than from the pens of the Pagan philoso- 
phers, Porphyry, Philostratus, &c; but 
these attacks called forth the zeal and 
talents of many able defenders, as Origen, 
Dionysius, and Cyprian. A part of the 
Gauls, Germany, and Britain, received 
in this century the light of the gospel. 

In the fourth century the Christian 
church was alternately persecuted and 
cherished by the Roman emperors. 
Among its oppressors we rank Diocle- 
tian, Galerius, and Julian. Among its 
favorers, Constantine and his sons, Va- 
lentian, Valens, Gratian, and the excel- 
lent Theodosius, in whose reign the Pa- 
gan superstition came to its final period. 

From the age of Numa to the reign of 
Gratian, the Romans preserved the regu- 
lar succession of the several sacerdotal 
colleges, the Pontiffs, Augurs, Vestals, 
Flamines, Salii, &c, whose authority, 
though weakened in the latter ages, was 
still protected by the laws. Even the 
Christian emperors held, like their Pagan 
predecessors, the office of Pontifcx Max- 
imus. Gratian was the first who refused 



ROME. 



563 



that ancient dignity as a profanation. In 
the time of I'heodosius, the cause of 
Christianity and of Paganism was solemn- 
ly debated in the Roman senate between 
Ambrose, archbishop of Milan, the cham- 
pion of the former, and Symmachus, the 
defender of the latter. The cause of 
Christianity was triumphant ; and the 
senate issued its decree for the abolition 
of Paganism, whose downfall in the cap- 
ital was soon followed by its extinction 
in the provinces. Theodosius, with able 
policy, permitted no persecution of the 
, ancient religion, which perished with the 

* more rapidity that its fall was gentle and 

unresisted. 

But the Christian church exhibited a 
superstition in some respects little less 
irrational than Polytheism, in the wor- 
ship of saints and relics ; and many novel 
tenets, unfounded in the precepts of our 
Saviour and his apostles, were manifestly 
borrowed from the Pagan schools. The 
doctrines of the Platonic philosophy seem 
to have led to the notions of an interme- 
diate state of purification, celibacy of the 
priests, ascetic niortiiications, penances, 
and monastic seclusion. 

In the reigns of Arcadius and Hono- 
rius, the sons and successors of Theodo- 
sius, the barbarian nations established 
themselves in the frontier provinces both 
of the east and west. Theodosius had 
committed the government to Rufinus 
and Stilicho during the nonage of his 
sons ; and their fatal dissensions gave 
every advantage to the enemies of the 
empire. The Huns, actually invited by 
Rufinus, overspread Armenia, Cappado- 
cia, and Syi-ia. The Goths, under Alaric, 
ravaged to the borders of Italy, and laid 
waste Achaia to the Peloponnesus. Stili- 
cho, an able general, made a noble stand 
against these invaders ; but his plans 
were frustrated by the machinations of 
his rivals, and the weakness of Arcadius, 
who purchased an ignominious peace, by 
ceding to Alaric the whole of Greece. 

Alaric, now styled king of the Visi- 
goths, prepared to add Italy to his new 
dominions. He passed the Alps, and was 
carrying all before him, when, amused 
by the politic Stilicho with the prospect 
of a new cession of territory, he was taken 
at unawares, and defeated by that gene- 



ral, then commanding the armies of Ho- 
norius. The emperor triumphantly cele- 
brated, on that occasion, the eternal de- 
feat of the Gothic nation ; an eternity 
bounded by the lapse of a few months. 
In this interval, a torrent of the Goths 
breaking down upon Germany, forced 
the nations whom they dispossessed, the 
Suevi, Alani, and Vandals, to precipitate 
themselves upon Italy. They joined 
their arms to those of Alaric, who, thus 
re-enforced, determined to overwhelm 
Rome. The policy of Stilicho made him 
change his purpose, on the promise of 
4,000 pounds weight of gold ; a promise 
repeatedly broken by Honorius, and its 
violation finally revenged by Alaric, by 
the sack andplunderof thecity, A. D.410. 
With generous magnanimity, he was 
sparing of the lives of the vanquished, 
and, with singular liberality of spirit, 
anxious to preserve every ancient edifice 
from destruction. 

Alaric, preparing now for the conquest 
of Sicily and Africa, died at this era of his 
highest glory ; and Honorius, instead of 
profiting I)y this event to recover his lost 
provinces, made a treaty Avith his suc- 
cessor Ataulfus, gave him in marriage 
his sister Placida, and secured his friend- 
ship by ceding to him a portion of Spain, 
while a great part of what remained had 
before been occupied by the Vandals. 
He allowed soon after to the Burgundians 
a just title to their conquests in Gaul. 
Thus the western empire was by degrees 
mouldering from under the dominion of 
its ancient masters. 

In the east, the mean and dissolute 
Arcadius died in the year 408, leaving 
that empire to his infant son Theodosius 
II, whose sister Pulcheria swayed the 
sceptre with much prudence and ability, 
and the weakness of her brother allowed 
her government to be of forty years con- 
tinuance. Honorius died in the year 
423. The laws of Arcadius and Hono- 
rius are, with a few exceptions, remark- 
able for their wisdom and equity ; a 
singular phenomenon, considering the 
personal character of those princes, and 
evincing at least that they employed some 
able ministers. 

The Vandals, under Genseric, subdued 
the Roman province in Africa. The Huns 



564 



RUSSIA. 



in the east, extended their conquests 
from the borders of China to the Bakic 
sea. Under Attila they laid waste Moe- 
sia and Thrace ; and Theodosius II, after 
a mean attempt to murder the Barbarian 
general, ingloriously submitted to pay 
him an annual tribute. It was in this 
crisis of universal decay, that the Britons 
implored the Romans to defend them 
against the Picts and Scots, but received 
for answer, that they had nothing to be- 
stow on them but compassion. 

Attila, with an army oi" 500,000 men, 
threatened the total destruction of the 
empire. He was ably opposed by iEti- 
tius, general of Valentinian III, now em- 
peror of the west, who was himself shut 
up in Rome by the arms of the Barba- 



rian, and at length compelled to purchase 
a peace. On the death of Attila, his 
dominions were dismembered by his sons, 
whose dissensions gave temporary relief 
to the falling empire. 

After Valentinian III, we have in the 
west a succession of princes, or rather 
names ; for the events of their reigns 
merit no detail. In the reign of Romu- 
lus, surnamed Augustulus, the son of 
Orestes, the empire of the west came to 
a final period. Odoacer, prince of the 
Heruli, subdued Italy, and spared the life 
of Augustulus, on the condition of his re- 
signing the throne, A. D. 476. From the 
building of Rome to this era, the extinc- 
tion of the Western Empire, is a period 
of 1224 years. 



RUSSIA. 



The origin of the Russian empire is 
involved in great obscurity. A herd of 
the Slavi, Slavonians, or as they are of- 
tener called, Sclavonians, who had ad- 
vanced from the banks of the Danube, 
and Avere wandering upon those of the 
Dneper, are supposed to have fixed them- 
selves about the 5th century, in the re- 
gion now occupied by the government 
of Kief, and to have built their capital, 
which is still known by the same name. 
It is also conjectured that another tribe 
of the Slavi fixed themselves on the Vol- 
chof, and founded the well-known city of 
Novgorod. Of neither tribe do we pos- 
sess any regular accounts till about the 
middle of the 9th century. According 
to the Russian historians the Slavi were 
completely subjected about the year 860, 
by the Varages, or Varagians, a piratical 
nation who dwelt upon tlie coasts of the 
Baltic, under their leader, Rurik, who es- 
tablished the seat of his government, 
near the Volchof, at a place called Old 
Ladoga, and who, with two other chiefs, 
governed the conquered provinces. From 
this period may be dated the commence- 
ment of the Russian monarchy. 

Nothing of much interest occurs in 
Russian history till the time when Vla- 



dimir, prince of northern Russia, acquir- 
ed the undivided possession of all his 
father's territories, which he widely ex- 
tended, and became one of the most dis- 
tinguished monarchs of the age. He 
carried on a successful war with Poland. 
By his victories, he extended and enrich- 
ed his empire, and established the Chris- 
tian religion, which had hitherto made 
little progress in his dominions. He 
himself was baptized by the name of 
Basilius, and was married to the sister 
(or the niece) of the Grecian emperors 
Basilius and Constantine. If we can 
credit history, after his conversion he 
became quite another man, and led an 
exemplary life of virtue and religion. 
The establishment of Christianity, and 
with it of arts and sciences, commerce, 
and schools, forms the most memorable 
event in the life of Vladimir, (and one of 
the most important in the history of Rus- 
sia,) who, considering the time in which 
he lived, has with some justice been 
called Vladimir the Great. In his old 
age, he marched against a rebellious son, 
on whom he had bestowed the government 
of Novgorod ; but he died of grief upon 
the road, after a long and glorious reign 
of thirty -five years. 



RUSSIA. 



565 



Before his death, Vladimir had divided 
his extensive dominions among his twelve 
sons, whom he had had by four wives, 
reserving to himself and his immediate 
heir the grand principality of Kief. The 
consequences of this ill-judged distribu- 
tion were dreadful. Disunion, conten- 
tion, and almost perpetual warfare exist- 
ed among his descendants. 

The Poles and the Hungarians took 
advantage of the intestine broils that 
attended the dismemberment of the Rus- 
sian monarchy, and made several suc- 
cessful inroads. The Tartars likewise 
made different irruptions into Russia, and 
at length, under the Khan Batii com- 
pletely overran it, and made themselves 
masters of Kief and Novgorod. Although 
the khan did not himself assume the 
nominal dignity, he may be said to have 
been sovereign, as he placed on the 
throne any of the native princes whom 
he pleased. Among a succession of 
these, Alexander Yaroslavitch, prince of 
Novgorod, was by far the most distin- 
guished. He was installed Great Duke 
of Russia by the Tartar khan in 1252, 
and continued to reign till 1264. A vic- 
tory which he had gained over the Livon- 
ians and the Swedes in 1240, on the 
banks of the river Neva, procured him 
the honorable surname of Nevskii. He 
is one of the tutelary saints of the Rus- 
so-Greek church, and his memory is held 
at this day in the greatest veneration. 
After him followed a number of other 
princes, as Yaroslaf III, Vassilii I, 
Dmitrii H, Andrei III, Daniel, Georgii, 
Dmitrii, Alexander II, &c, &;c, whose 
times, like the past, had been disturbed 
by internal commotions, and trifling war- 
fares. 

In 1328, Ivan Danilovitch, surnamed 
Kalita, received the principalities of 
Vladimir and Moscow from the Tartar 
khan, and Moscow was then declared to 
be the capital of all Russia. This city 
had been founded in 1147, but was 
greatly improved, especially the Kremle 
by Ivan, who also established the dignity 
of metropolitan, and founded the cathe- 
drals of the Assumption, of St. Michael, 
and of the Transfiguration in this city. 
He was succeeded in 1353 by Ivan II, 
whose reign, which had been tranquil, 



tenninated with his death, by the plague, 
in 1358. An intrigue of ten years fol- 
lowed, and was accompanied with its 
common evils. About the year 1362, 
Dmitrii obtained the great principality 
from Hildir, khan of the Tartars. After 
a reign of about two years he was depo- 
sed, and it was given to the true heir 
Dmitrii Donskoi. 

Dmitrii Donskoi was the son of Ivan 
II. His reign lasted twenty-six years, 
with fame and glory. He is not reckon- 
ed to have had great talents, but many 
virtues, and to have been beloved of his 
subjects. He became so powerful as to 
have received the homage of almost all 
the Russian princes. Proud of the in- 
crease of his own power, and despising 
the weakness of his rivals, he refused to 
pay tribute to the Tartars. War was the 
consequence between him and Mamai, 
the khan. A dreadful battle was fought 
on the Don, in which Dmitrii, after va- 
rious success, was ultimately successful, 
and hence received the surname Donskoi. 
He had the misfortune, however, to see 
Moscow taken and burned by the Tar- 
tars under Tachtamish, in the year 1382, 
when most of the inhabitants perished by 
fire, water, or the sword, and the rest 
were made prisoners. He died in 1389, 
and was succeeded by his son Vassilii 
(II.) During his reign, the Tartars made 
another incursion into Russia, under the 
famous Timur, or Tamerlane, who, after 
having subdued all the neighboring Tar- 
tar hordes, extended his conquests to the 
Russian territories, took Moscow by as- 
sault, and carried off immense plunder. 
During this sovereign's reign Russia three 
times experienced the horrors of the 
plague, and oftener than once was exposed 
to famine. Vassilii died in 1 425, and was 
succeeded by his son Vassilii HI, sur- 
named the Blind, who twice lost his 
throne, was re-established upon it, and 
died after a reign of thirty-seven years. 

The latter end of the fifteenth century 
forms a splendid epoch in the history of 
Russia. From 1462 to 1505 reigned the 
famous prince Ivan Vassilievitch, who, in 
a second marriage, espoused Sophia, 
daughter of Thomas Paleologus. At her 
instigation he shook off the Tartar yoke, 
attacked their territories, and made himself 



566 



RUSSIA 



master of KazCin, where he was solemnly 
crowned. This last event took place 
about the year 1470, andled to a complete 
emancipation from the dominions of the 
Tartars. He extended his territories 
immensely, and subjected Novgorod 
after a seven years, siege, and there ob- 
tained immense treasures. In his reign, 
the knowledge of gun-powder, and the art 
of casting cannon were introduced into 
Russia by Aristotle of Bologna, who, 
along with other foreigners, was employ- 
ed to recoin the Russian money. Aris- 
totle, Solarius, and others, at a vast ex- 
pense, enclosed the Kremles of Moscow 
and Novgorod with thick walls, for the 
sake of greater security. After a reign 
of forty-three-years, Ivdn was murdered 
or died, in the 60th year of his age. 

In the year 1505, his son Vassilii IV, 
surnamed the Courageous, ascended his 
father's throne. The Tartars not only 
revolted, but with a mighty force entered 
Russia, and carried their arms even to 
the gates of Moscow, and forced the 
sovereign to make presents and give a 
promise of renewed allegiance. Soon 
afterwards, however, VassiUi recovered 
Kazdn, as well as Pskof, a town which 
possessed considerable commerce and 
wealth. Under his reign all the princi- 
palities of Russia were united, and they 
have ever since remained under the do- 
minion of one sovereign. After a reign of 
twenty-eight years Vassilii died, and was 
succeeded by his son Iv^n (IV.) Vassilie- 
vitch, who was afterwards surnamed the 
Terrible, and by foreigners the Tyrant. 
As he was only three years old, the 
queen-mother was appointed regent during 
his minority, an office for which she did 
not possess the requisite talents. She 
died in 1538, and afterwards when Ivan 
had attained his seventeenth year, he as- 
sumed the reins of government, secured 
the domestic tranquillity of his dominions, 
made himself master of the kingdoms of 
Kaz^n and Astrach^n, and liberated for 
ever his country from the thraldom of the 
Tartars. In the year 1750, the inhabitants 
of Novgorod were suspected of having 
formed a conspiracy for surrendering the 
city and the surrounding territory into the 
hands of the king of Poland, and they 
dearly feh the eflects of Ivdn's vengeance ; 



25,000 of those who were implicated in 
the plot, having suffered by the hands of 
the executioner. With justice, there- 
fore, this monarch was named the Terri- 
ble or the Tyrant. He was at great 
pains, however, to adopt measures for the 
improvement and civilization of his peo- 
ple, and his new code of laws called the 
Soodebnik, is well known even at this 
day. He sent an embassy to the empe- 
ror of Germany, on purpose to request 
him to permit a number of German ar- 
tists, mechanics, and literary characters 
to establish themselves in Russia ; but in 
consequence of measures taken by the 
jealous inhabitants of Lubeck, few of 
them reached Moscow. Ivan engaged 
in a war with Sweden, for the posses- 
sion of Finland, in which he reaped lit- 
tle advantage. He invited some English- 
men to Moscow, who, when on a voy- 
age of discovery, had landed on the 
shores of the White Sea, near the situa- 
tion of Archangel, and treated them in 
the kindest manner. In consequence of 
this, and of his great esteem for the Eng- 
lish, a new commerce was established 
between Russia and England. In the 
reign of Ivdn, Siberia was also conquer- 
ed by the brave Yermak with his band of 
plunderers, and afterwards presented to 
the Tsar, a title which, according to some 
accounts, he was the first to assume. But 
he also endured reverses. In his time, 
Russia was invaded by the Tartars, and 
even Moscow was plundered, and com- 
pletely burned, and above 120,000 citi- 
zens, besides women and children and 
foreigners, were also burned or buried in 
the ruins. The Livonians, Poles, and 
Swedes, having united in a league against 
the Russians, gained great advantages 
over them ; but peace afterwards ensued. 
Soon after these events the tsar was de- 
feated in an engagement with the Tar- 
tars, and died in the year 1584, when his 
eldest son Pheodor, a weak prince, be- 
came possessor of the throne. He had 
married the sister of Boris Godunof, a 
man of great ambition, immense riches, 
and considerable talents, and who aimed 
at the imperial dignity, which he ulti- 
mately attained. The young prince Drai- 
trii, only brother of Pheodor, suddenly 
disappeared, and it is generally supposed 



RUSSIA. 



567 



that he was assassinated by order of Bo- 
ris. Pheodor soon afterwards died, in 
1598 ; and it was strongly suspected 
that he had been poisoned by his brother- 
in-law. With him ended the family of 
Rurik, a dynasty which had possessed 
the sovereign power in Russia ever since 
the establishment of the principality by 
that Varagian chief. As there was now 
no hereditary successor to the vacant 
throne, by the artifice and intrigues of his 
partisans, Boris Godunof, succeeded in 
his place of being elected tsar ; an hon- 
or of which he proved himself not un- 
worthy, if we could overlook the means 
by which he ascended the throne. In 
every way he endeavored to advance 
the interests of his nation, and to improve 
the state of his people, as by the extension 
of commerce, and the encouragement of 
arts and sciences and manufactures. He 
made himself respected abroad, and re- 
ceived ambassadors from almost all the 
powers of Europe, and concluded an ad- 
vantageous alliance with Sweden. His 
reign, however, was rendered unhappy 
by one of the most dreadful famines on 
record, and by the successful operations 
of Otrepief, a monk, who represented 
himself as the murdered Dmitrii, the son 
of the late tsar, and the heir of the crown. 
Boris, unable to resist the torrent of 
public opinion in favor of his rival, is 
said to have taken poison, which caused 
his death in the year 1605. Though his 
son Pheodor was placed upon the throne 
by the principal nobility, yet the party 
of the false Dmitrii, as he is generally 
called, was so strong that the new tsar was 
dethroned, within six weeks after his ac- 
cession, and with his mother and sister 
was sent to prison. 

Otrepief had now attained the summit 
of his ambitious hopes, and made his en- 
try into Moscow with the utmost magni- 
ficence, attended by his Russian adhe- 
rents and his Polish friends. He is said 
to have caused the death of the dethron- 
ed Pheodor, as well as that of his sister 
by strangulation. The new tsar, though 
he possessed abilities, lost the hearts of 
the Russians by his extreme imprudence, 
and at length turned them against him. 
The populace, incensed by the clergy, 
declaimed against Dmitrii as a heretic, 



and Shuiskii, a nobleman, who had been 
condemned to death by the tsar, but had 
afterwards been pardoned, put himself at 
the head of the enraged mob, and attack- 
ed the tsar's palace. Dmitrii, as well 
as his closest adherents, were killed. By 
interest, cunning, and intrigue, Vassilii 
Shuiskii secured his election, as the Rus- 
sian historians afl'ect to call it, to the 
vacant throne. His reign was short, 
uninteresting, and greatly disturbed by 
factions, and by the pretensions of other 
two factitious Dmitriis, who successively 
declared themselves to be either the late 
tsar, or the prince whom he had caused 
to be assassinated. While the country was 
in confusion, and quite distracted, Russia 
was invaded by the Poles, who deposed 
Shuiskii, made him prisoner, and sent 
him to Poland, where he died in the year 
1612. His fate excited little regret, be- 
cause of the false part he had acted to- 
wards Otrepief, who had saved his life, 
although himself an usurper. 

The state of Russia at the beginning of 
the seventeenth century, Avas at first most 
melancholy, but afterwards most glorious. 
One usurper followed another. Shuiskii 
was deposed and a prisoner ; Moscow 
without a sovereign, was pillaged, and 
occupied by the Poles ; the great Nov- 
gorod was seized by the Swedes ; and 
the whole kingdom was in a state of an- 
archy and confusion. Notliing seemed 
to be anticipated but the final partition, or 
the entire annihilation of the empire, 
when suddenly and unexpectedly her 
liberators appeared. Kosma Minin, a 
butcher of Nijnii Novgorod, roused by 
the highest patriotism, resolved to deliver 
his country from her enemies, or to sacri- 
fice his all in the attempt. He inspired 
his countrymen with the same sentiments, 
who immediately contributed their prop- 
erty to bear the general charge, or act for 
the general good. The old gave their 
benediction to the young ; wives received 
the oaths of their husbands and children 
to conquer or die for their coimtry ; fe- 
males, old and young, divested themselves 
of their ornaments, their pearls, and pre- 
cious stones ; and the citizens transported 
their most valuable effects to a general 
depot. Prince Pojarskii, who had dis- 
tinguished himself during the reign of 



568 



RUSSIA. 



the Tsar Shuiskii, was chosen as com- 
mander of numerous troops, which were 
rapidly assembled. He conducted them 
to Moscow, vanquished the Poles in va- 
rious engagements, and liberated Russia 
from the thraldom of her enemies. 

Though there had been divisions among 
the nobles as to the choice of a sovereign, 
especially whether they should have a 
Polish or a Swedish prince, the most 
powerful party were desirous of elevating 
to the throne a native Russian, a distant 
relation of the ancient family of the 
Tsars, whose father Philaretes, was me- 
tropolitan of Rostof. This young noble 
at first declined the high destiny, but at 
length ascended the throne, with almost 
general consent, and was the first of the 
present family and dynasty, Romanof, 
whose descendants have raised the em- 
pire to a state of grandeur and importance 
unequalled in any former period. 

Assisted by the sage councils of his 
venerable father, Michail Phoedorovitch, 
he avoided those disasters which had 
overwhelmed his immediate predecessors, 
and acquired the affection and love of 
his subjects. He formed useful treaties 
of alliance with the principal commercial 
states of Europe. His reign of thirty- 
two years was prosperous for his country 
and glorious to himself. Under his sway 
Russia acquired a hitherto unknown im- 
portance in the scale of nations. At his 
death in 1645 or 1646,he was succeeded 
by one of the most distinguished princes 
of the present dynasty, the Tsar, Alexei 
Michailovitch, who was only fifteen years 
of age. Morosof, a nobleman of conse- 
quence, had been appointed his governor 
and regent of the empire ; but by neglect- 
ing his duties, he became very unpopular, 
and, but for the special entreaty of the 
Tsar, he would have fallen a sacrifice to 
the rage of the multitude. Alexei in- 
creased and strengthened the empire, by 
introducing a more regular discipline into 
the army, and by revising, amending, and 
new-modelling the code of laws, the 
Soodehnik, compiled by Ivdn Vassilievitch 
IV, which was now known under the 
name of Ullojenive (or code of laws.) 
He invited foreign officers into his ser- 
vice, and procured ship-builders from 
Amsterdam, who were employed in con- 



structing vessels for the Caspian sea, 
and greatly encouraged commerce. He 
waged war with the Poles, and with the 
Swedes, which terminated in peace. He 
also led his army against the Turks, and 
left the prosecution of the war to his 
successor. His merits have been much 
overlooked, and especially by the adula- 
tors of Peter the Great ; for it cannot be 
doubted, by the impartial records of Rus- 
sian history, that some of the improve- 
ments, attributed to Peter, originated with 
his grandfather, Alexei. When he was 
removed by death from the throne, he left 
behind him three sons and six daughters. 
Two of the sons, Pheodor and Ivan, were 
by a first marriage ; the third, Peter, was 
by a second. 

About the middle of the year 1689, 
Peter, who had now attained his 17th 
year, succeeded in securing to himself 
the undivided sovereignty. His brother 
Iv^n, though still nominally Tsar, had 
voluntarily resigned all participation in 
the administration of affairs, and with- 
drawn to a life of obscurity. The first 
objects to which Peter directed his atten- 
tion, were the establishment of a regular 
and well-disciplined army, and the con- 
struction of a navy. Lefort, a Genevese, 
and Gordon, a Scotchman, were of emi- 
nent service to him for the organization 
of the army ; and he spared neither trouble 
nor expense so as to acquire a navy. As 
has been related in his life, he travelled 
into foreign countries, and worked like a 
common carpenter in the dock-yards, that 
he might become master of ship-building. 
He prosecuted the war against the Turks 
with vigor and success, and made him- 
self master of Azof. He formed a plan, 
with Augiistus king of Poland, and Fred- 
erick king of Denmark, to deprive the 
young and inexperienced Charles XII, 
of his dominions, in which they entirely 
failed. Indeed, at Narva, with a very 
small body of troops, Charles obtained a 
most signal victory over an immense 
Russian army. After this Peter evacua- I 
ted all the provinces that he had invaded. ^ 

Instructed, however, by disasters and 
skirmishes, in which he was at times 
victorious, Peter's troops at length de- 
feated the Swedes, which animated them 
with new courage. Notwithstanding this, 



RUSSIA 



569 



they siijffered a disgraceful defeat near 
the Dneper, when the northern Tsar was 
glad to make overtures for an accommo- 
dation. The advance of Charles XII, 
to within a hundred leagues of Moscow, 
— his deception by the traitor, Mazeppa, 
ataman of the Koz^ks, who promised 
more assistance than he could give — the 
difficulties and hardships his army en- 
countered near the river Disne, in a forest 
above forty leagues in extent, and filled 
with rocks, mountains, and marshes — 
and his signal deleat, after gaining differ- 
ent victories at the battle of Poltava, are 
well-known events. Charles escaped 
with great difficulty, and at length reached 
Otchakof, on the frontiers of Turkey. 
While Peter was reaping the advantages 
of his victory, Charles found an invalu- 
able friend in Achmet II, who then filled 
the throne of the east. In 1711, this 
sovereign assembled an immense army, 
and made preparations to invade Russia. 
The Tsar having had intimation of his 
desigii, and expecting to receive great 
assistance from Kantemir, hospodar of 
Moldavia, and a vassal of the Porte, re- 
solved to anticipate the Turks, and by 
rapid marches advanced as far as Yassy, 
the capital of that province, situated on 
the Preuth. Here he was surrounded, 
and but for the prudent and sage counsels 
of his consort Catharine I, he would most 
probably have been taken prisoner, or 
reduced to the most humiliating terms. 
But by the treaty which was concluded, 
Peter was extricated from a dangerous 
enemy, and returned to his capital. Three 
years after the death of Charles, in 1718, 
a peace was concluded between Russia 
and Sweden. The Swedes ceded to 
Russia, Livonia, Esthonia, and Ingria, or 
part of Karelia, the territory of Wiburgh, 
the isle of Oesel, and all the other islands 
in the Baltic, from Courland to Wiburgh. 
For these concessions they received back 
Finland, which had been conquered by 
Peter, together with 2,000,000 dollars, 
and obtained some privileges. 

After leading one of the most active, 
extraordinary, and useful lives as a sover- 
eign, and repeatedly having known the 
extremes of good and bad fortune, Peter 
died in the year 1725. He well merited 
the cognomen, the Great, as well as the 
73 



title of emperor, which he^rst assumed, 
and which has been ever since continued 
to his successors. In his public charac- 
ter, Peter must be allowed to have been 
a great politician, statesman, and general, 
although he made some important blun- 
ders in all these capacities. He did not 
civilize his people, as is generally stated ; 
but he laid, or extended widely, the basis 
of their civilization. Upon this basis a 
structure has been gradually rearing, 
which, it is to be hoped, will continue to 
prosper through a succession of reigns, 
until the demi-civilized inhabitants of the 
north shall be entitled to rank with the 
other states of Europe. He formed a 
navy in his empire ; re-organised an ar- 
my ; promulgated useful laws ; protected, 
and, to a certain extent, purified the re- 
ligion of his country ; introduced and 
fostered arts and sciences, and literature ; 
and he ardently and successfully promo- 
ted the general improvement of Russia. 
He founded Petersburgh, and made it his 
residence, and the capital. He extended 
the commerce of his empire, and gave 
every encouragement to trade and manu- 
factures. He made canals, repaired 
roads, instituted regular posts, and gave 
regulations for a uniformity of weights 
and measures. 

Peter was succeeded by his consort 
Catharine I, who had previously shown 
herself worthy of the imperial throne. 
During the reign of her spouse, she was 
distingaiished as a woman of a dignified 
and noble character. After she ascended 
the throne, she prosecuted, with vigor 
and prudence, the plans commenced by 
Peter the Great. Her short reign of two 
years was characterized by forbearance 
and mercy. Peter the Great's grandson, 
Peter II, when only twelve years of age, 
succeeded Catharine. His reign of three 
years' duration was more distinguished 
by court intrigue than interesting events. 
He died of the small-pox, when on the 
eve of his marriage in 1730. During the 
latter part of his reign he held his court 
at Moscow, a measure which gave great 
satisfaction to the nobles. 

The male issue of Peter being now 
extinct, the duke of Holstein, son to Pe- 
ter's oldest daughter, by the declaration 
of the late empress, was entitled to tho 



570 



RUSSIA. 



crown ; but. *Jie Russians, for political 
reasons, filled the throne with Ann, 
duchess of Courland, second daughter to 
Ivan, Peter's eldest brother. Her reign 
was extremely prosperous, and though 
she accepted the crown under limitations 
that were thought derogatory to her dig- 
nity, yet she broke through them all, and 
asserted the prerogatives of her ances- 
tors. She was governed by her favorite 
Biron, whom she raised to the duchy of 
Courland. She had considerable influ- 
ence in the affairs of Poland ; she nar- 
rowly escaped a war with France ; she 
ceded the territories on the shores of the 
Caspian, which had been seized by Pe- 
ter the Great, in consideration of some 
privileges granted to the Russian mer- 
chants ; she maintained a war against the 
Turks, and, after one army had been se- 
verely beat in the Krimea, she sent new 
forces, who overcame the Tartars, and 
desolated that peninsula ; she took Otch- 
akof, and subdued Moldavia ; and after 
the loss of above 100,000 men, and vast 
sums of money, she concluded a treaty 
with the Porte, by virtue of which Mol- 
davia and Otchakof were given back, and 
Russia gained nothing, except permission 
to build a fortress upon the Don. 

At the death of Ann in the year 1740, 
Ivan Antonovitch, the son of her niece, 
the princess Mecklenburgh, by her will, 
succeeded to the throne. Biron, duke 
of Courland, was at first regent ; but he 
being unpopular, it was no difficult mat- 
ter for that princess, assisted by her hus- 
band, to accomplish his banishment to 
Siberia, and for herself to assume the 
administratorship. 

But Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the 
Great by Catharine, had a powerful par- 
ty, by whose assistance she assumed the 
throne, while the prince and princess of 
Mecklenburgh were sent into banishment. 
The young prince Ivan was kept in con- 
finement, and afterwards murdered in the 
castle of Schusselberg. Soon after her 
accession, Elizabeth nominated as her 
successor to the throne, Charles Peter 
Ulric, son of the duke of Holstein Got- 
torp, by Anne, daughter of Peter the 
Great. This prince was accordingly in- 
vited into Russia, became a member of 
the Greek church was baptized by the 



name of Peter Pheodorovitch, and pro- 
claimed grand duke of Russia, and heir 
of the empire, in the fortieth year of his 
age. Soon afterwards he was married 
to Sophia Augusta Frederica, daughter 
of Cliristian Augustus, prince of Anhalt- 
Zerbst-Donburg, who became the famous 
princess Catharine II. By the death of 
Charles XII, emperor of Germany, Ma- 
ria Theresa, queen of Hungary, was left 
at the mercy of the enterprising king of 
Prussia, but was assisted by Elizabeth, 
who entered into a confederacy, and sent 
a body of troops into Germany. 

Elizabeth died on the 5th of January, 
1762, the victim of disease, brought on 
by intemperance. The empress Ann 
had given an unworthy example of keep- 
ing favorites, which has been followed by 
all the subsequent princesses who have 
swayed the sceptre of Russia, and in a 
more open manner than is sanctioned by 
the custom of civilized nations. Eliza- 
beth had her portion of them, and her 
conduct deserves reprobation. She is 
said to have possessed an extraordinary 
share of humanity ; and during her reign, 
punishment by death was unknown, in 
consequence of a vow she had made, 
and wliich led to numerous abuses and 
enormities in the civil, military, and naval 
departments. Though she was a woman 
of no talents, her reign was prosperous ; 
and the same means, as in the time of 
her immediate predecessors, were con- 
tinued with the view of improving and 
civilizing her people. In the year 1758, 
the Academy of Arts, now one of the 
most magnificent establishments in the 
universe, was founded at Petersburgh. 
Fond of music, she encouraged its culti- 
vation, and she laid the foundation of a 
Russian theatre. She was also a great 
patroness of architecture. She followed 
the same policy as her predecessors, in 
encouraging foreigners to come and set- 
tle in her empire. But the army was 
much neglected ; and a kind of inquisi- 
tion, under the specious name of a secret 
state chancery, was instituted, which led 
to the most flagrant abuses. 

The grand duke Peter III ascended 
the throne of Russia on the demise of 
Elizabeth in 1762. His whole life shows 
that he was a feeble prince. He attempt- 



f 



RUSSIA. 



571 



ed many premature and foolish innova- 
tions, and by that means disgusted his 
people. By his inconstancy he lost the 
affections of his wife, a lovely and accom- 
plished princess in the prime of life. 
Assisted by the wily princess Dashkof, 
and by some officers, especially the Or- 
lofs, she formed a party, and, to avoid 
imptisonment and perhaps death, she 
succeeded in the dethronement of her 
husband. On this occasion, but for the 
greatest pusillanimity, Peter would have 
regained his crown, and escaped a cruel 
and barbarous death by poison adminis- 
tered to him while a prisoner at Ropsha, 
not far from St. Petersburgh. He only en- 
joyed the imperial dignity three months, 
and thus ingioriously fell in the 34th year 
of his age. 

After Catharine had ascended the throne, 
her conduct was cautious and judicious, 
gentle and magnanimous, even to her de- 
clared enemies. From motives of policy 
she maintained the treaty of peace with 
Frederic, which had been concluded with 
Elizabeth. She appears to have had 
considerable uneasiness at the chance of 
Ivan's being set at liberty. Greater vigi- 
lance was employed in gTiarding him in 
the castle of Schusselberg ; and he was 
afterwards assassinated, in consequence 
of the failure of badly concerted mea- 
sures for his deliverance. Whether his 
death is to be imputed to the empress and 
her counsellors is still matter of dispute. 

When firmly seated upon the throne, 
Catharine proved herself worthy of the 
high destination, and her reign was one 
of the most brilliant in the annals of time. 
Her private character seems to have been 
excellent, except the outrage she did to 
her sex and to morality by openly adopt- 
ing in succession, a number of declared 
favorites. 

Among the most memorable events of 
Catharine's reign are to be enumerated, 
the establishment of a new code of laws 
for her dominions, however badly they 
were administered ; the maintenance of i 
a seven years' war with the Turks ; the [ 
unexpected and extraordinary destruction 
of the Turkish fleet at Tchesme, by the 
Russian fleet under the command of count j 
Alexei Orlof, but chiefly directed by the 
counsels of the British admiral Greig ; 



the division of the empire into vice-roy- 
alities ; the visit of the emperor Joseph 
to Russia ; the establishment of public 
schools throughout her realms ; the erec- 
tion of the justly celebrated monument of 
Peter the Great ; the capture of the Kri- 
mea ; the receiving under her protection 
the dominions of Heraclius H, tsar of 
Kartalinia and Kachetia ; the institution 
of the imperial Russian academy ; the 
repair of roads throughout the empire ; 
the establishment of a loan bank for 
the accommodation of the nobles and 
the burghers ; her visit to the south of 
Russia and to the Krimea ; the capture 
of part of the Kubdn, and of all the ter- 
ritory between the Boog, the Dnester, 
and the Black Sea, from the Turks and 
their adherents, after a series of victo- 
ries ; the obtaining of various advantages 
over the Swedes, both by sea and land, 
and then the conclusion of a peace ; her 
participation in the dismemberment of 
Poland after a successful but cruel war ; 
the conclusion of a treaty of defensive al- 
liance between Russia and Great Britain 
in 1795; the successful invasion of the 
Persian territories and her subsequent 
defeat ; and, finally, her sudden disease, 
which was followed by death. 

Catharine II died on the 9th of Nov. 
1796, and the grand duke Paul, or rath- 
er Pavel Petrovitch, was seated on the 
throne in the fortieth year of his age, to- 
tally ignorant of the duties he had to per- 
form, in consequence of having been 
obliged by his mother's will, to pass much 
time in obscurity and retirement. His 
politics and general conduct were very 
blameable. In consequence of his ex- 
traordinary actions, by many he was 
reckoned a fool and a madman, while 
others have spoken of him as a misgui- 
ded man of uncommon penetration, ge- 
nius, and rectitude, whose grand plans 
were not allowed to develope themselves ; 
and which were calculated to have ren- 
dered him one of the brightest orna- 
ments of his country. The chief politi- 
cal events of his life were his diifering 
with England in 1797; his contrivance 
to become grand master of the order of 
St. John of Jerusalem, in 1798; the 
sending of a Russian army under field- 
marshal Suvdrof to join the Austrian ar- 



572 



RUSSIA. 



my in Italy ; and his declaration of war 
against England. 

Panl's conduct became daily more and 
more singular and tyrannical. The demi- 
barbarous but brave Suvdrof is supposed 
to have fallen a victim to his caprice, and 
the atamfin of the Kozaks, the celebrated 
Platoff, had nearly shared a similar fate. 
Others in power and favor had sufTered 
sndden and great reverses, and no indi- 
vidual could lie down to quiet rest, as he 
knew not what might be his fate before 
the dawn of day. The regulations of 
the emperor with respect to dress and 
salutations, and the exercise of his po- 
lice in seeing his errors executed, would 
fill volumes with ridiculous anecdotes, 
and have been a great source of amuse- 
ment for travellers. Dr. Clarke's works 
are peculiarly rich on these subjects, 
which are highly absurd and amusing. 

Some of the nobles who had suffered 
private injuries, and who persuaded them- 
selves that they would render a most im- 
portant service to their country, conspired 
and effected Paul's death in the most de- 
termined and barbarous manner, while in 
his new palace of St. Michael, and on 
the 11th March, O. S. 1801. 

Early on the following morning, Alex- 
ander was proclaimed emperor of all the 
Russias, and ascended the throne in his 
24th year, beloved by all classes of his 
siTbjecls. Mildness and forbearance were 
the characteristic of the first acts of his 
government. He arrested the power of 
the senate, and recalled those who were 
innocent from banishment. He cultiva- 
ted the friendship and entered into ami- 
cable arrangements with the states of 
Europe, and he adopted every measure j 
which might pi'ocure advantages to his i 
empire. vSome of the most remarkable j 
deeds of his commencing reign, were 
his taking oft' the embargo which had j 
been laid by Paul on British vessels ; 
his entering into a treaty of commerce 
with Sweden ; his guaranteeing the sov- 
ereignity of Malta to the knights of St. 
John of Jerusalem ; his ])roclamation of 
the union of Georgia to the empire ; his 
sending two vessels round the world on 
a voyage of discovery under the com- 
mand of captain Krusenstern ; and the 
emancipation of the Jews from the shack- 



les under which they had long groaned, 
and allowing them various privileges. 

After some disputes with France, war 
was declared, and an alliance formed be- 
tween Russia and Austria, as also between 
Russia and Great Britain. The king of 
Prussia and the king of Sweden soon 
afterwards entered into an alliance with 
Alexander. It was expected that by the 
united forces of these sovereigns. Napo- 
leon would have been hurled from his 
throne or compelled to listen to equitable 
terms of pacification. The allied forces 
were, however, defeated, and a treaty of 
peace between Russia and France was 
concluded at Tilsit in 1807, where Na- 
poleon and Alexander had a meeting. 
After this a rupture between Great Bri- 
tain and Russia took place. An embargo 
was, in consequence, laid upon all Brit- 
ish vessels. Sweden having refused to 
comply with the requests of France and 
Russia, to abandon her alliance with 
Great Britain, Russia marched an army 
into Sweden, which, though checked in 
its progress of hostility, proved but too 
successful. In 1808 the two emperors 
Napoleon and Alexander, held a second 
meeting near Erfurt. In 1 809 the junc- 
ture between Russia and Austria was 
broken, because this power had carried 
on war against France. Peace was con- 
cluded whh Sweden, by which Russia 
acquired Finland as far as the river Tor- 
neo with the Aland islands. In 1810, a 
new form was given to the imperial coun- 
cil, and by a manifesto, a part of Gallacia 
was taken under protection. In 1811 
considerable changes took place with 
the ministers and the colleges, and the 
beautiful cathedral of the mother of God 
of Kazan, which was founded by Paul, 
and built after the plan of a Russian 
bondsman, was consecrated. The army 
of the grand vizier, consisting of 35,000 
men, became prisoners to the Russians, 
who were protecting Imeritia and Bes- 
sarabia, and peace was concluded in 1812. 
Shortly afterwards peace was likewise 
concludedbetween Britain and Russia, and 
then commenced the preparations for the 
grand struggle of the European powers. 

With an army of nearly half a million 
of men, collected from almost every na- 
tion in Europe, Napoleon advanced to the 



RUSSIA. 



573 



conquest of Russia. The first action of 
importance was at Smolensk, which the 
Russians themselves set on fire, as they 
were forced to abandon it. The bloody- 
battle of Borodino was next fought, {see 
France,) which compelled the Russians 
to abandon Moscow. 

On the 14th of September, 1812, while 
the rear-guard of the Russians were in 
the act of evacuating Moscow, Napoleon 
reached the hill called the Mount of Sal- 
vation, because it is there where the na- 
tives kneel and cross themselves at first 
sight of the Holy City. 

Moscow seemed lordly and striking as 
ever, with the steeples of its thirty church- 
es, and its copper domes glittering in the 
sun ; its palaces of Eastern architecture, 
mingled with trees, and surrounded with 
gardens ; and its Kremlin, a huge trian- 
gular mass of towers, something between 
a palace and a castle, which rose like a 
citadel out of the general mass of groves 
and buildings. But not a chimney sent 
up smoke, not a man appeared on the 
battlements, or at the gates. Napoleon 
gazed every moment, expecting to see a 
train of bearded boyards arriving to fling 
themselves at his feet, and place their 
wealth at his disposal. His first excla- 
mation was, " Behold at last that cele- 
brated city !" — His next, " It was full 
time." His army, less regardful of the 
past or the future, fixed their eyes on the 
goal of their wishes, and a shout of" Mos- 
cow ! Moscow !" passed from rank to rank. 

Meantime no one interrupted his medi- 
tations, until a message came from Mu- 
rat. He had pushed in among the Cos- 
sacks, who covered the rear of the Rus- 
sians, ar.d readily admitted to a parley 
the chivalrous champion, whom they at 
once recognized, havhig so often seen 
him blazing in the van of the French cav- 
airy. The message which he sent to Bo- 
naparte intimated, that Miloradovitch 
threatened to burn the town, if his rear was 
not allowed time to march through it. 
This was a tone of defiance. Napoleon, 
however, granted the armistice, for which 
no inhabitants were left to be grateful. 

After waiting two hours, he received 
from some French inhabitants, who had 
hidden themselves during the evacuation, 
the strange intelligence that Moscow was 



deserted by its population. The tidings 
that a population of two hundred and fifty 
thousand persons had left their native 
city was incredible, and Napoleon still 
commanded the boyards, the public func- 
tionaries, to be brought before him ; nor 
could he be convinced of what had actu- 
ally happened, till they led to his pres- 
ence some of that refuse of humanity, the 
only live creatures they could find in the 
city, but they were wretches of the low- 
est rank. When he was at last convinced 
that the desertion of the capital was uni- 
versal, he smiled bitterly, and said, " The 
Russians will soon learn better the value 
of their capital." 

The signal was now given for the 
troops to advance ; and the columns, still 
in a state of wonder at the solitude and 
silence which received them every where, 
penetrated through that assemblage of 
huts, mingled with palaces, where it 
seemed that Penury, which had scarce 
means to obtain the ordinary necessaries 
of life, had for her next door neighbor all 
the wealth and profuse expenditure of 
the East. At once the silence was bro- 
ken by a volley of musketry, which some 
miserable fanatics poured from the bat- 
tlements of the Kremlin on the first 
French troops that approached the pal- 
ace of the Czars. These wretches were 
most of them intoxicated ', j'^et the deter- 
mined obstinacy with which they threw 
away their lives, was another feature of 
that rugged patriotism of which the French 
had seen, and were yet to see, so many 
instances. 

When he entered the gates of Moscow, 
Bonaparte, as if unwilling to encounter 
the sight of the empty streets, stopt im- 
mediately on entering the first suburb. 
His troops were quartered in the deso- 
late city. During the first few hours after 
their arrival, an obscure rumor, which 
could not be traced, but one of those 
which are sometimes found to get abroad 
before the approach of some awful cer- 
tainty, announced that the city would be 
endangered by fire in the course of the 
night. The report seemed to arise from 
those evident circumstances which ren- 
dered the event probable, but no one took 
any notice of it, until at midnight, when 
the soldiers were startled fiom their quar- 



574 



RUSSIA. 




Napoleon mewing the conflagration of Moscow. 



ters by the report that the town was in 
flames. The memorable conflagration 
began amongst the coachmakers' ware- 
houses and workshops in the Bazaar, or 
general market, which was the richest 
district of the city. It was imputed to 
accident, and the progress of the flames 
was subdued by the exertions of the 
French soldiers. Napoleon, who had 
been roused by the tumult, hurried to the 
spot, and when the alarm seemed at an 
end, he retired, not to his former quar- 
ters in the suburbs, but to the Kremlin, 
the hereditary palace of the only sove- 
reign whom he had ever treated as an 
equal, and over whom his successful 
arms had now attained such an apparent- 
ly immense superiority. Yet he did not 
suffer himself to be dazzled by the ad- 
vantage he had obtained, but availed 
himself of the light of the blazing Ba- 
zaar, to write to the emperor proposals 
of peace with his own hand. They were 
despatched by a Russian officer of rank, 
who had been disabled by indisposition 
from following the army. But no an- 
swer was ever returned. 

Next day the flames had disappeared, 
and the French officers luxuriously em- 
ployed themselves in selecting out of 



the deserted palaces of Moscow, that 
which best pleased the fancy of each for 
his residence. At night the flames again 
arose in the north and west quarters of 
the city. As far the greater part of the 
houses were built of wood, the conflagra- 
tion spread with the most dreadful ra- 
pidity. This was at first imputed to the 
blazing brands and sparkles which were 
carried by the wind ; but at length it was 
observed, that, as often as the wind 
changed, and it changed three times in 
that terrible night, new flames broke al- 
ways forth in that direction, where the 
existing gale was calculated to direct 
them on the Kremlin. These horrors 
were increased by the chance of explo- 
sion. There was, though as yet unknown 
to the French, a magazine of powder in 
the Kremlin ; besides that a park of ar- 
tillery, with its ammunition, was drawn 
up under the emperor's window. Morn- 
ing came, and with it a dreadful scene. 
During the whole night, the metropolis 
had glared with an untimely and unnatu- 
ral light. It was now covered with a 
thick and suffocating atmosphere, of al- 
most palpable smoke. The flames de- 
fied the efforts of the French soldiery, 
and it is said that the fountains of the 



RUSSIA. 



575 



city had been rendered inaccessible, the 
water-pipes cut, and the fire-engines de- 
stroyed or carried off. 

Then came the reports of fire-balls 
having been found burning in deserted 
houses ; of men and women, that, like 
demons, had been seen openly spreading 
the flames, and who were said to be fur- 
nished with combustibles for rendering 
their dreadful work more secure. Seve- 
ral wretches against whom such acts had 
been charged, were seized upon, and 
probably, without much inquiry, were 
shot on the spot. While it was almost 
impossible to keep the roof of the Krem- 
lin clear of the burning brands which 
showered down the wind, Napoleon 
watched from the windows the course 
of the fire which devoured his fair con- 
quest, and the exclamation burst from him, 
" These are indeed Scythians !" 

The equinoctial gales rose higher and 
higher upon the third night, and extended 
the flames, with which there was no 
longer any human power of contending. 
At the dead hour of midnight, the Krem- 
lin itself was found to be on fire. A sol- 
dier of the Russian police, charged with 
being the incendiary, was turned over to 
the summary vengeance of the Imperial 
Guard. Bonaparte was then, at length, 
persuaded, by the entreaties of all around 
him, to relinquish his quarters in the 
Kremlin, to which, as the visible mark of 
his conquest, he had seemed to cling with 
the tenacity of a lion holding a fragment 
of his prey. He encountered both difli- 
culty and danger in retiring from the pal- 
ace, and before he could gain the city- 
gate, he had to traverse with his suite 
streets arched with fire, and in which the 
very air they breathed was suffocating. 
At length, he gained the open country, 
and took up his abode in a palace of the 
Czar's called Petrowsky, about a French 
league from the city. As he looked back 
on the fire, which, under the influence of 
the autumnal wind, swelled and surged 
around the Kj-emlin,like an infernal ocean 
around a sable Pandemonium, he could 
not suppress the ominous expression, 
" This bodes us great misfortune." 

The fire continued to triumph unop- 
posed, and consumed in a few days what 
it had cost centuries to raise. " Palaces 



and temples," says a Russian author, 
"monuments of art, and miracles of lux- 
ury, the remains of ages which had pass- 
ed away, and those which had been the 
creation of yesterday ; the tombs of an- 
cestors, and the nursery-cradles of the 
present generation, were indiscriminate- 
ly destroyed. Nothing was left of Mos- 
cow save the remembrance of the city, 
and the deep resolution to avenge its 
fall.* 

The fire raged till the 1 9th with una- 
bated violence, and then began to slacken 
for want of fuel. It is said, four-fifths of 
this great city were laid in ruins. 

This unexpected sacrifice on the part 
of the Russians, caused the ruin of Napo- 
leon. Being without quarters, and short 
of provisions, he off'ered terms of peace. 
The Russians replied, that they could 
listen to no terms, while an enemy re- 
mained in their country. No alternative 
was now left but to retreat towards the 
frontiers. One of the most distressing 
scenes on human record, now followed. 
A Russian winter, unusually severe, now 
set in with all its horrors. The wretch- 
ed soldiers pursued by the Russians, 
overcome by hunger, cold, and fatigue, 
sunk down by thousands, and were left 
by their companions to perish amid the 
Russian snows. About 30,000 horses 
perished in one day by the severity of the 
weather. The passage of the river Be- 
resina, in the Russian province of Minok, 
by the French, presented one of the most 
horrible in modern warfare. 

On the heights of Studzianka, Victor, 
who commanded the French rear-guard, 
amounting perhaps to 8,000 or 10,000 
men, was prepared to cover the retreat 
over the bridges. The right of this corps 
d'armee rested on the river ; a ravine full 
of bushes covered their front, but the left 
wing had no point of support. It re- 
mained, according to the military phrase, 
in the air, and was covered by two regi- 
ments of cavalry. Behind this defensive 
line were many thousands of stragglers, 
mingled with the usual followers of a 
camp, and with all those individuals who, 
accompanying, for various reasons, the 



* Karamzin, a Russian historian of eminence, 
whose works were e.x-pressly excepted from the 
censorship, by the late emperor Alexander. 



576 



RUSSIA 



French from Moscow, had survived the 
horrors of the march. Women, children, 
domestics, the aged and the infants, were 
seen among the wretched mass, and wan- 
dered by the side of this fatal river, like 
the fabled spectres which throng the banks 
of the infernal Styx, and seek in vain for 
passage. The want of order, which it 
was impossible to preserve, the breaking 
of the bridges, and the time spent in the 
repair — the fears of the unhappy wretch- 
es to trust themselves to the dangerous 
and crowded passages, had all operated 
to detain them on the right bank. The 
baggage, which, in spite of the quantity 
already lost, of the difficulty of transpor- 
tation, and of Napoleon's precise orders, 
amounted still to a very great number of 
carts, wains, and the like, and which was 
now augmented by all that belonged to 
the troops of Oudinot and Victor, was 
seen, some filing towards the bridges, 
and the greatar part standing in confusion 
upon the shore. The artillery itself, such 
as remained, was in no better state. 

Such was the condition of matters at 
the bridge, when Wittgenstein, after his 
victory over Partouneaux, marching up the 
right bank of the Beresina, engaged in 
a fierce combat with the rear-guard under 
Victor ; and the balls of the Russians 
began to fall among the mingled and dis- 
ordered mass which we have endeavored 
to describe. It was then that the whole 
body of stragglers and fugitives rushed 
like distracted beings towards the bridges, 
every feeling of prudence or humanity 
swallowed up by the animal instinct of 
self-preservation. The horrible scene 
of disorder was augmented by the despe- 
rate violence of those, who, determined 
to make their own way at all risks, threw 
down and trampled upon whatever came 
in their road. The weak and helpless 
either shrunk back from the fray, and sat 
down to wait their fate at a distance, or 
mixing in it, were thrust over the bridges, 
crushed under carriages, cut down per- 
haps with sabres, or trampled to death 
under the feet of their countrymen. All 
this while the action continued with fury, 
and, as if the Heavens meant to match 
their wrath with that of man, a hurricane 
arose, and added terrors to a scene which 
was already of a character so dreadful. 



About mid-day the French, still brave- 
ly resisting, began to lose ground. The 
Russians, coming gradually up in strength, 
succeeded in forcing the ravine, and com- 
pelling them to assume^a. position nearer 
the bridges. About the same time, the 
larger bridge, that constructed for artille- 
ry and heavy carriages, broke down, and 
multitudes were forced into the water. 
The scream of mortal agony, which arose 
from the despairing multitude, became at 
this crisis for a moment so universal, 
that it rose shrilly audible over the noise 
of the elements and the thunders of war, 
above the wild whistling of the tempest, 
and the sustained and redoubled hurras 
of the Cossacks. The witness from 
whom we have this information, declares 
that the sound was in his ears for many 
weeks. This dreadful scene continued 
till dark, many being forced into the icy 
river, some throwing themselves in, be- 
twixt absolute despair, and the faint hope 
of gaining the opposite bank by swimming, 
some getting across only to die of cold 
and exhaustion. As the obscurity came 
on, Victor, with the remainder of his 
troops, which was much reduced, quitted 
the station he had defended so bravely, 
and led them in their turn across. All 
night, the miscellaneous multitude con- 
tinued to throng across the bridge, under 
the fire of the Russian artillery, to whom 
even in the darkness, the noise which 
accompanied their march made them a 
distinct mark. At day-break, the French 
engineer. General Eble, finally set fire to 
the bridge. All that remained on the 
other side, including many prisoners, 
and a great quantity of guns and baggage, 
became the prisoners and the prey of the 
Russians. The amount of the French 
loss was never exactly known ; but the 
Russian report, concerning the bodies of 
the invaders which were collected and 
burnt as soon as the thaw permitted, 
states that upwards of 36,000 were found 
in the Beresina. 

Napoleon after the passage of the Be- 
resina, left the army and- travelled in dis- 
guise to Paris. 

The soldiers of the Imperial Guard, 
who had hitherto made it their pride to 
preserve some degree of discipline, 
would, after the departure of Napoleon, 



RUSSIA. 



577 



give obedience to no one else. Murat, to 
whom the chief command had been dele- 
gated, seemed scarcely to use it, nor 
when he did was he obeyed. If Ney, 
and some of the Mareschals, still retained 
authority, they were only attended to from 
habit, or because the instinct of disci- 
pline revived when the actual battle drew 
near. They could not, howcA^er, have 
offered any effectual defence, nor could 
they have escaped actual slaughter and 
dispersion, had it not been for Loison's 
troops, who coutinued to form the rear- 
guard, and who, never having been on 
the eastern side of the fatal Beresina, 
had, amid great suffering, still preserved 
sufficient discipline to keep their ranks, 
behave like soldiers, and make them- 
selves be respected, not only by the Cos- 
sacks, but by Tchaplitz, Wittgenstein, 
and the Russians detached from the main 
army, who followed them close, and an- 
noyed them constantly. The division of 
Loison remained like a shield, to pro- 
tect the disorderly retreat of the main 
body. 

Still, some degree of order is so es- 
sential to human society, that, even in 
that disorganized mass, the stragglers, 
which now comprehended almost the 
whole army, divided into little bands, 
who assisted each other, and had some- 
times the aid of a miserable horse, which 
when it fell down under the burden of 
what they had piled on it, was torn to 
pieces and eaten, while lile was yet pal- 
pitating in its veins. These bands had 
chiefs selected from among themselves. 
But this species of union, though advan- 
tageous on the whole, led to particular 
evils. Those associated into such a fra- 
ternity, would communicate to none save 
those of their own party, a mouthful of 
rye-dough, which, seasoned with gun- 
powder for want of salt, and eaten with | 
a bouille of horse-flesh, formed the best 
part of their food. Neither would they | 
permit a stranger to warm himself at 
their fires, and when spoil was found, 
two of these companies often, especially 
if of different countries, fought for the j 
possession of it ; and a handful of meal 
was a sufficient temptation for putting to 
death the wretch who could not defend 
his booty. The prisoners, it is said, 
73 



(and we heartily wish the fact could be 
refuted,) were parked every night, with- 
out receiving any victuals whatsoever, 
and perished, like impounded cattle, from 
want of food, cold, and the delirious fu- 
ry which such treatment inspired. Among 
these unfortunates some became canni- 
bals, and the same horrible reproach has 
been cast on the French themselves. 

To enhance misfortunes so dreadful, 
the cold, which had been for some time 
endurable, increased on the 6th of De- 
cember, to the most bitter degree of frost, 
being twenty-seven or twenty-eight de- 
grees below zero. Many dropped down 
and expired in silence, the blood of others 
was determined to the head by the want of 
circulation ; it gushed at length from 
eyes and mouth, and the wretches sunk 
down on the gory snoAv, and were reliev- 
ed by death. At the night bivouacs, the 
soldiers approached their frozen limbs to 
the fire so closely, that, falling asleep 
in that postvire, their feet were scorched 
to the bone, while their hair was frozen 
to the ground. In this condition they 
were often found by the Cossacks, and 
happy were those upon whom the pursu- 
ers bestowed a thrust with the lance to 
finish their misery. Other horrors there 
were, which are better left in silence. 
Enough has been said to show, that such 
a calamity, in such an extent, never be- 
fore darkened the pages of history. In 
this horrible retreat, twenty thousand re- 
cruits had joined the army since cross- 
ing the Beresina, where, including the 
corps of Oudinot and Victor, they amount- 
ed to 80,000 men. But of this sum of 
80,000 men, one half perished betwixt 
the Beresina and the walls of Wilna. 

For an account of the subsequent events 
respecting the overthrow and banishment 
of Napoleon, see France. A congress 
of allied sovereigns was held at Vienna in 
Oct. 1814, the professed object of which 
was to take measures to secure the re- 
pose of Europe, and settle the bounda- 
ries of the different kingdoms, &c. In 
consequence of this congress, that part of 
Gallacia acquired by Russia from Austria 
in 1 809, was returned to that power, and 
the greatest part of the principality of 
Warsaw was then ceded to Russia. Po- 
land, or that part of it over which the 



578 



SCOTLAND. 



emperor of Russia extends his sway, has 
since been called the Kingdom of Po- 
land. 

At Paris a general treaty of peace was 
concluded by the associated sovereigns, 
between Russia, Austria, England, and 
Prussia, on the one side, and France on 
the other ; in virtue of which the ancient 
boundaries of France, as in 1790, were 
again adopted, and 150,000 of the troops 
of the allies were left in that kingdom for 
five years in possession of seventeen for- 
tresses, until the return of order and tran- 
quillity. In 1815, the Holy Alliance, as it 
is called, was formed between the empe- 
rors of Russia, Austria, and the king of 
Prussia, and some other powers after- 
wards joined it. On the return of Alexander 
to his capital, the new exchange, a large 
and handsome edifice, was opened at Pe- 
tersburgh with great ceremony, by his 
majesty. In 1816, the emperor visited 



part of his dominions and issued an 
ukase, henceforth forbidding punishment 
by tearing out the nostrils. In the winter 
1817-18, the imperial court was held at 
Moscow, and ever since, as before, at Pe- 
tersburgh. 

The emperor Alexander died Decem- 
ber 1st, 1825, and was succeeded by Ni- 
cholas I. In 1828 the Russians declared 
war against the Turks. The Russian com- 
mander, Diebitsch, gained a number of vic- 
tories over the Turks, particularly one 
near Shumla, in which 4,000 Turks were 
killed. Diebitsch leaving Shumla, passed 
the Balkan mountains, and took posses- 
sion of Adrianople. Constantinople now 
lying open to the Russians, the Turkish 
sultan Mahmoud II, was obliged to make 
peace with the Russians on humiliating 
terms. Since this period, they have been 
engaged in warfare with the Poles and 
Persians. 



SCOTLAND, 



There is reason to believe that the 
first inhabitants of Scotland were of 
Celtic origin. About the first or second 
century before Christ, a Gothic race, 
known by the name of Picts, settled in 
Scotland, and probably established them- 
selves by the conquest of the original 
Celts, as the Danes and Ostmen in 
general did, in after times, in Britain 
and Ireland. Hence, the low country of 
Scotland derives its Saxon, or rather Da- 
nish language, the very language which 
it possesses to this day. These were 
the Caledonians, who so long and suc- 
cessfully resisted the invasions of the 
Romans. 

The history of Scotland, before the 
reign of Malcolm Ill.surnamed Canmore, 
is obscure, from the deficiency of histori- 
cal records. This prince, by the defeat 
of Macbeth, the murderer of his father 
Duncan, succeeded to the throne in 1057 ; 
and espousing the cause of Edgar Athe- 
ling, heir of the Saxon kings of England, 
whose sister he married, he thus pro- 
voked a war with William the Conqueror, 



which was equally prejudicial to both 
kingdoms. In an expedition of Malcolm 
into England, it is alleged that, after con- 
cluding a truce, he was compelled by 
William to do homage for his kingdom. 
The truth is, that this homage was done 
for the territories in Cumberland and 
Northumberland won by the Scots, and 
held in vassalage of the English crown, 
though this homage was afterwards ab- 
surdly made the pretext of a claim of 
feudal sovereignty over all Scotland. In 
a reign of twenty-seven years, Malcolm 
supported a spirited contest with England, 
both under William I, and his son Rufus ; 
and to the virtues of his queen Margaret, 
his kingdom, in its domestic policy, owed 
a degree of civilization remarkable in 
those ages of barbarism. 

Alexander I, his son and successor, 
defended, with equal spirit and good poli- 
cy, the independence of his kingdom ; 
and his son David I, celebrated even by 
the democratic Buchanan, as an honor 
to his country and to monarchy, won from 
Stephen, and annexed to his crown, the 



SCOTLAND. 



579 



whole earldom of Northumberland. In 
those reigns we hear of no claim of the 
feudal subjection of Scotland to the crown 
of England; though the accidental for- 
tune of war afterwards furnished a ground 
for it. William I, (the Lyon,) taken pri- 
soner at Alnwick by Henry II, was com- 
pelled, as the price of his release, to do 
homage for his whole kingdom ; an obli- 
gation which his successor Richard vol- 
untarily discharged, as deeming it to have 
been unjustly extorted. ^ 

On the death of Alexander III, without 
male issue, in 1285, Bruce and Baliol, 
descendants of David I, by the female 
line, were competitors for the crown, and 
the pretensions of each were supported 
by a formidable party in the kingdom. 
Edward I, of England, chosen umpire of 
the contest, arrogated to himself, in that 
character, the feudal sovereignty of the 
kingdom, compelling all the barons to 
swear allegiance to him, and taking actual 
possession of the country by his troops. 
He then adjudged the crown to Baliol, 
on the express condition of his swearing 
fealty to him as lord paramount. Baliol, 
however, soon after renouncing his alle- 
giance, the indignant Edward invaded 
Scotland with an immense force, and 
compelled the weak prince to abdicate 
the throne, and resign the kingdom into 
his hands. 

William Wallace, one of the greatest 
heroes whom history records, restored 
the fallen honors of his country. Joined 
by a few patriots, his first successes in 
attacking the English garrisons brought 
numbers to his patriotic standard. Their 
successes were signal and conspicuous ; 
victory followed upon victory ; and while 
Edward was engaged on the continent, 
his troops were utterly defeated in a des- 
perate engagement at Stirling, and forced 
to evacute the kingdom. Wallace, the 
deliverer of his country, now assumed 
the title of Governor of Scotland under 
Baliol, who was Edward's prisoner ; a 
distinction which was followed by the 
envy and disaffection of many of the no- 
bles, and the consequent diminution of 
his army. The Scots were defeated at 
Falkirk, in 1298. 

The English archers, who began about 
this time to surpass those of other nations, 



first chased the Scottish bowmen off the 
field, afterwards threw the pikemen into 
disorder, and thus rendered the assault 
of the English lancers and cavalry more 
easy and successful. The whole Scot- 
tish army was broken, and driven off the 
field with prodigious slaughter. In this 
general rout Wallace kept his troops en- 
tire; and retiring behind the Carron, he 
marched leisurely along the banks of that 
river. Young Robert Bruce, the grandson 
and heir of him who had been competitor 
for the throne, who, in the service of 
England, had already given many proofs 
of his aspiring genius, appeared on the 
opposite banks; and distinguishing the 
Scottish chief, he called to him, and de- 
sired a short conference. He represented 
to Wallace the fruitless and ruinous en- 
terprise in which he was engaged, and 
the unequal contest between a weak state, 
deprived of its head and agitated by in- 
testine discord, and a mighty nation con- 
ducted by the ablest and most martial 
monarch of the age. If the love of his 
country was his motive for perseverance, 
his obstinacy tended only to prolong her 
misery ; if he carried his views to private 
grandeur and ambition, he ought to reflect, 
that so many haughty nobles, proud of 
the pre-eminence of their families, would 
never submit to personal merit. To these 
exhortations Wallace replied, that, if he 
had hitherto acted alone as the champion 
of his country, it was because no leader 
had yet appeared to place himself in that 
honorable station ; that the blame lay 
entirely with the nobility, and chiefly with 
Bruce himself, who, uniting personal 
merit with dignity of family, had deserted 
the post which both nature and fortune 
invited him to assume ; that the Scots, 
possessed of such a leader, might hope 
successfully to oppose all the powers and 
abilities of Edward; and that as for him- 
self, he was desirous that his own Ufe, as 
well as the existence of the nation, might 
terminate when they could not otherwise 
be preserved, than by receiving the chains 
of a haughty victor. The gallantry of 
these sentiments was felt by the generous 
mind of Bruce; and he secretly deter- 
mined to seize the first opportunity of 
embracing the cause of his oppressed 
country. 



580 



SCOTLAND. 




Interview between Wallace and Bruce. 



The battle of Falkirk had not complet- 
ed the subjection of the Scots. They 
chose for their regent John Cummin, who 
surprised the English army, and routed 
them after an obstinate conflict, in 1299; 
and it became necessary for Edward to 
begin anew the conquest of the kingdom. 

The king prepared himself for the en- 
terprise with his usual vigor and abilities. 
He marched victorious from one extremity 
of Scotland to the other, and compelled 
even Cummin himself to submit to his 
authority. • To render his acquisition 
durable, he abrogated all the laws and 
customs of Scotland, endeavored to sub- 
stitute those of England in their places, 
entirely rased or destroyed all the monu- 
ments of antiquity, and hastened wholly 
to abolish the Scottish name. 

Wallace himself was at length betTay- 
ed into Edward's hands, in 1305, by his 
friend Sir John Monteith ; and the king, 
whose natural bravery and magnanimity 
should have induced him to respect 
similar qualities in an enemy, resolved to 
overawe the Scots by an example of se- 
verity. He ordered the hero to be car- 
ried in chains to London ; to be tried as 
a rebel and a traitor, though he had never 
sworn fealty to England ; and to be exe- 



cuted on Tower-hill. Such was the un- 
worthy fate of Wallace, who, through the 
course of several years, with signal 
conduct, intrepidity, and perseverance, 
defended, against a public and oppres- 
sive enemy, the liberties of his native 
country. 

The barbarous policy of Edward failed 
of the object to which it was directed. 
The Scots were enraged at the injustice 
and cruelty exercised on their gallant 
chief ; and it was not long ere a more 
fortunate leader presented himself to con- 
duct them to victory and to vengeance. 
Robert Bruce, whose conference with 
Wallace on the banks of the Carron has 
been already noticed, determined to i"e- 
vive the pretensions of his family, and to 
aspire to the vacant throne. Edward, 
being apprised of his intentions, ordered 
all his motions to be strictly watched. 
An intimate friend of Bruce, not daring, 
amidst so many jealous eyes, to hold any 
com'ersalion with him, sent him by his 
servant a pair of gilt spurs and a purse 
of gold, which he pretended to have bor- 
rowed from him; and left it to his sa- 
gacity to discover the meaning. Bruce 
immediately contrived to escape, and in 
a few days arrived at Dumfries, the chief 



SCOTLAND. 



581 



seat of his family interest, where he 
found a great number of the Scottish no- 
bility assembled, and among the rest John 
Cummin, with whom he had formerly 
lived in strict intimacy. 

The noblemen were astonished at the 
appearance of Bruce among them ; and 
still more when he told them that he was 
come to live or die with them in defence 
of the liberties of his country. These 
generous sentiments, assisted by the 
graces of his youth and manly deport- 
ment, impressed the minds of his audi- 
ence ; and they resolved to use their ut- 
most efforts in delivering their country 
from bondage. Cummin alone, who had 
secretly taken his measures with the king, 
opposed this general determination ; and 
Bruce, already apprised of his treachery, 
followed Cummin on the dissolution of 
the assembly, and attacking him in the 
cloisters of the Grey Friars, ran him 
through the body. 

The murder of Cummin sealed the 
conspiracy of the Scottish nobles. The 
genius of the nation roused itself; and 
Bruce was solemnly crowned at Scone 
by the bishop of St. Andrews. The 
English were again expelled the king- 
dom ; and Edward found, that the Scots, 
twice conqiiered in his reign, must yet 
be afresh subdued. To effect this, he 
assembled a great army, and was prepar- 
ing to enter the frontiers, when he unex- 
pectedly sickened and died near Carlisle, 
in 1307, in the sixty -ninth year of his 
age and the thirty-fifth of his reign. 
With his last breath he enjoined his son 
and successor to prosecute the enterprise, 
and never to desist till he had finally sub- 
dued the kingdom of Scotland. 

Edward 11 was in the twenty-third 
year of his age when he ascended the 
throne. He was of an agreeable figure, 
and of a mild and gentle disposition ; but 
the first act of his reign blasted the hopes 
which the English had entertained of 
him. Equally incapable of, and averse 
to business, he entered Scotland only to 
retreat : he disbanded his army, without 
attacking Bruce. 

Immediately after Edward's retreat 
from Scotland, Robert Bruce left his fast- 
nesses ; and, in a short time, nearly the 
whole kingdom acknowledged his au- 



thority. The castle of Stirling, the only 
fortress in Scotland which remained in 
the hands of the English, was closely 
pressed ; and to relieve this place, Ed- 
Avard summoned his forces from all quar- 
ters, and marched with an army of an 
hundred thousand men. At Bannock- 
burn, about two miles from Stirling, Bruce 
with thirty thousand hardy warriors, in- 
xu-ed to all the varieties of fortune, and 
inflamed with the love of independence, 
awaited the charge of the enemy. A 
hill covered his right flank, and a morass 
his left ; and along the banks of a rivulet 
in his front he dug deep pits ; planted 
them with stakes, and covered the whole 
with turf. The English, confident in 
their superior numbers, rushed to the at- 
tack without precaution. Their cavalry, 
entangled in the pits, were thrown into 
disorder; and the Scottish horse, allow- 
ing them no time to rally, attacked them, 
and drove them off the field with con- 
siderable loss. While the English forces 
were alarmed at this unfortunate event, 
an army appeared on the heights towards 
the left, marching to surround them. 
This was composed of wagoners and 
sumpter-boys, whom Robert had supplied 
with military standards. The stratagem 
took effect; a panic seized. the English, 
who threw down their arms, and fled, 
and were pursued to the gates of Ber- 
wick. Besides considerable booty, the 
Scots took many persons of quality pris- 
oners, and above four hundred gentlemen, 
whose ransom was a new accession of 
strength to the victors. This great and 
decisive battle which took place in 1314, 
secured the independence of Scotland, 
and fixed the throne of Bruce. 

In no country of Europe had the feu- 
dal aristocracy attained to a greater height 
than in Scotland. The power of the 
greater barons, while it rendered them 
independent, and often the rivals of their 
sovereign, was a perpetual source of tur- 
bulence and disorder in the kingdom. It 
was, therefore, a constant policy of the 
Scottish kings to humble the nobles, and 
break their factious combinations. Rob- 
ert I, attempted to retrench the vast ter- 
ritorial possessions of his barons, by re- 
quiring every landholder to produce the 
titles of his estate ; but was resolutely 



582 



SCOTLAND. 



answered that the sword was their char- 
ter of possession. 

On the death of Robert, in 1329, and 
during the minority of his son David, 
Edward Baliol, the son of John, formerly 
king of Scotland, with the aid of Edward 
III, of England, and supported by many 
of the factious barons, invaded the king- 
dom, and was crowned at Scone, while 
the young David was conveyed for secu- 
rity to France. The mean dependence 
of Baliol on the English monarch de- 
prived him of the affections of the peo- 
ple. Robert the Steward of Scotland, 
Randolph and Douglas, supported the 
Brucian interest, and assisted by the 
French, restored David to his throne ; a 
prince destined to sustain many reverses 
of fortune ; for in a subsequent invasion 
of the English territory by the Scots, 
David was taken prisoner in the battle of 
Durham, and conveyed to London. He 
remained for eleven years in captivity, 
and witnessed the similar fate of a broth- 
er monarch, John, King of France, taken 
prisoner by the Black Prince in the battle 
of Poictiers. David was ransomed by 
his subjects, and restored to his kingdom 
in 1357 ; and he ended a turbulent reign 
in 1370-1. The crown passed at his de- 
mise to his nephew Robert, the High 
Steward of Scotland, in virtue of a des- 
tination made by Robert I, with consent 
of the States. 

The reign of Robert II, which was of 
twenty years duration, was spent in a 
series of hostilities between the Scots 
and English, productive of no material 
consequence to either kingdom. The 
weak and indolent disposition of his suc- 
cessor, Robert III, who found himself 
unequal to the contest with his factious 
nobles, prompted him to resign the gov- 
ernment to his brother the Duke of Al- 
bany. This ambitious man formed the 
design of usurping the throne by the 
murder of his nephews, the sons of Robert. 
The elder Rothsay, a prince of high spirit, 
was imprisoned, on pretence of treasona- 
ble designs, and starved to death. The 
younger James escaped a similar fate 
which was intended for him ; but on his 
passage to France, whither he was sent 
for safety by his father, he was taken by 
an English ship of war and brought pris- 



j oner to London. The weak Robert sunk 
imder these misfortunes, and died 1405, 
after a reign of fifteen years. 
I James I, a prince of great natural en- 
! dowments, profited by a captivity of eigh- 
{ teen years at the court of England, in 
I adorning his mind with every accomplish- 
ment. At his return to his kingdom, 
which in his absence had been weakly 
governed by the Regent Albany, and suf- 
fered under all the disorders of anarchy, 
he bent his whole attention to the im- 
provement and civilization of his people, 
by the enactment of many excellent laws, 
enforced with a resolute authority. The 
factions of the nobles, their dangerous 
combinations, and their domineering ty- 
ranny over their dependents, the great 
sources of the people's miseries, were 
firmly restrained, and most severely pun- 
ished. But these wholesome innova- 
tions, while they procured to James the 
affections of the nation at large, excited 
the odium of the nobility, and gave birth 
to a conspiracy, headed by the Earl of 
Athole, the King's uncle, which termina- 
ted in the murder of this excellent prince, 
in the 44th year of his age, A. D. 1437. 
His son James II, inherited a consid- 
erable portion of the talents of his fath- 
er ; and in the like purpose of restraining 
the inordinate power of his nobles, pur- 
sued the same maxims of government, 
which an impetuous temper prompted 
him, in some instances, to carry to the 
most blameable excess. The earl of 
Douglas, trusting to a powerful vassal- 
age, had assumed an authority above the 
laws, and a state and splendor rival to 
those of his sovereign. He was seized, 
and, without accusation or trial, behead- 
ed. His successor imprudently running 
the same career, and boldly justifying in 
a conference, his rebellious practices, 
was put to death by the king's own hand. 
Thus were the factions of the nobles 
quelled by a barbarous rigor of authority. 
To his people James was beneficent and 
humane, and his laws contributed mate- 
rially to their civilization and prosperity. 
He was killed in the 30th year of his 
age, by the bursting of a cannon, in be- 
sieging the castle of Roxburg, A. D. 1460. 
His son James HI, without the talents 
of his predecessors, affected to tread in 



SCOTLAND. 



583 



the same steps. To humble his nobles, 
he bestowed his confidence on mean fa- 
vorites ; an insult which the former aven- 
ged by rebellion. His brothers Albany 
and Mar, aided by Edward IV, of Eng- 
land, attempted a revolution in the king- 
dom, which was frustrated only by the 
death of Edward. In a second rebellion, 
the confederate nobles forced the prince 
of Rothsay, eldest son of James, to ap- 
pear in arms against his father. In an 
engagement near Bannockburn the re- 
bels were successful, and the king was 
slain, in the 35th year of his age, 1488. 

James IV, a great a;nd most accom- 
plished prince, whose talents were equal- 
led by his virtues, while his measures of 
government were dictated by a true spi- 
rit of patriotism, won by a well placed 
confidence the affections of his nobil- 
ity. In his marriage with Margaret, the 
daughter of Henry VII of England, both 
sovereigns wisely sought a bond of amity 
between the kingdoms ; but this purpose 
was frustrated in the succeeding reign of 
Henry VIII. The high spirit of the ri- 
val monarchs was easily inflamed by 
trifling causes of offence ; and France, 
then at war with England, courted the 
aid of her ancient ally. James invaded 
England with a powerful army, which he 
wished to lead to immediate action ; but 
the prudent delays of Surrey, the Eng- 
lish general, wasted and weakened his 
force ; and in the fatal battle of Flodden, 
the Scots were defeated with prodigious 
slaughter. The gallant James perished 
in the fight, and with him almost the 
whole of the Scottish nobles, A. D. 1513. 

Under the long minority of his son 
James V, an infant at the time of his 
father's death, the kingdom was feebly 
ruled by his uncle Albany. The aris- 
tocracy began to resume its ancient spi- 
rit of independence, which was ill brook- 
ed by a prince of a proud and uncontrol- 
lable mind, who felt the keenest jealousy 
of a high prerogative. With a systema- 
tic policy, he employed the church to 
abase the nobility, conferring all the offi- 
ces of state on able ecclesiastics. The 
cardinal Beaton co-operated with great 
zeal in the designs of his master, and 
under him ruled the kingdom. 

Henry VIII, embroiled with the papa- 



cy, sought an alliance with the king of 
Scots, but the ecclesiastical counsellors 
of the latter defeated this beneficial pur- 
pose. A war was thus provoked, and 
James was reluctantly compelled to court 
those nobles whom it had hitherto been 
his darling object to humiliate. They 
now determined on a disgraceful revenge. 
In an attack on the Scottish border the 
English were repelled, and an opportuni- 
ty offered to the Scots of cutting oflf their 
retreat. The king gave his orders to 
that end, but his barons obstinately re- 
fused to advance beyond the frontier. 
One measure more was wanting to drive 
their sovereign to despair. In a subse- 
quent engagement with the English, 
10,000 of the Scots deliberately surren- 
dered themselves prisoners to 500 of the 
enemy. The high spirit of James sunk 
under his contending passions ; and he 
died of a broken heart, in the 33d year 
of his age, a few days after the birth of 
a daughter, yet more unfortunate than her 
father, Mary Queen of Scots, A. D. 1 542. 
{See England.) 

The seeds of the Reformation were 
sown in Scotland by several noblemen 
who had resided on the continent during 
the religious disputes of the German em- 
pire. A spirit of general inquiry and in- 
dependence was awakened, which ren- 
dered men attentive to their privileges as 
subjects, and jealous of the encroach- 
ments of their rulers. 

Patrick Hamilton was the first who 
avowed the reformed doctrines, but he 
was accused of heresy and thrown into 
prison. He was soon after brought to 
trial, condemned to the flames, and led to 
the stake on the same day on which he 
had been condemned. From 1530 to 
] 540, ten persons suffered death for con- 
fessing Hamilton's sentiments ; and num- 
bers fled to England and the continent. 
During the same period, the earls of 
Glencairn and Errol, the lords Ruthven 
and Kilmaurs, Sir David Lindsay, Sir 
James Sandilands, and a multitude of oth- 
er persons of respectability, made open pro- 
fession of the Reformed faith. They nar- 
rowly escaped persecution and death ; but 
James was averse to a persecuting spirit. 

The nobility soon began to cast a 
wistful eye on the church revenues and 



584 



SCOTLAND. 



possessions ; and hoped to enrich them- 
selves by the plunder of the ecclesias- 
tics. And as the reformers inculcated 
subordination to the civil power, and de- 
claimed against the ambhious prelates, 
they were further inclined to the new 
opinions from political considerations. 
Lord Maxwell proposed in parliament, 
that the people should be permitted to 
read the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue. 
The archbishop of Glasgow, in name of 
the clergy, was the only opposer of 
this measure ; but the bill received the 
approbation of parliament ; and the regent 
made it generally known by proclamation. 
From that time, copies of the Bible were 
imported from England in great numbers ; 
and books were multiplied in every quar- 
ter, which displayed the pride, the tyran- 
ny, and the superstition of the Romish 
clergy. 

In John Knox, the reformers acquired 
an active and powerful auxiliary ; and of 
his followers, the most eminent was 
George Wishart, who had formerly been 
driven into exile by Beaton for teaching 
the New Testament at Montrose. The 
revolution in England which followed the 
death of Henry the Eighth, contributed 
to demolish the popish church of Scot- 
land ; and the effects of religious liberty 
in one country inspired the inhabitants 
of the other with an equal desire of re- 
covering it. The ambition of the house 
of Guise, and the bigotry of Mary, hasten- 
ed the subversion of the papal power in 
Scotland. Many of the persecuted prot- 
estants fled to Scotland, where they found 
a milder government ; and they filled the 
whole kingdom with just horror against 
the cruelties of the catholics. 

Other circumstances which contributed 
to overturn the catholic church, were the 
writings of the poets and satirists of the 
age. In these, the ignorance, the negli- 
gence, and the immorality of the clergy, 
were stigmatized ; and they were read 
with avidity, notwithstanding prohibitory 
statutes and prosecutions. The catholics 
lulled to sleep by indolence and security, 
were awakened only by the crash of 
their decayed and falling system. In a 
convention held at Edinburgh, an ineffec- 
tual motion was made for correcting the 
abuses of the church; and four years after, 



fifty-seven canons were enacted for re- 
forming the corruption of the clergy, and 
for introducing learning into the ecclesi- 
astical estate. 

The last provincial council was held at 
Edinburgh in 1558, and continued a year. 
To this assembly were presented by the 
chiefs of the congregation, the prelimin- 
ary articles of Reformation ; and the 
council separated to meet no more. 

Mary being instigated by the princes 
of Lorrain, her relatives, took measures 
for suppressing the protestant opinions in 
Scotland. The reformation was rapidly 
advancing in that kingdom, and the queen 
regent connived at doctrines which she 
had not the power to suppress. Argyll, 
Morton, Glencairn, Lord Lome, Erskine 
of Dun, with other protestant gentlemen, 
subscribed a bond for their mutual pro- 
tection, and called themselves the Con- 
gregation of the Lord. 

Before the league was known, the 
clergy attempted to recover their lost au- 
thority, the primate seized Walter Mills, 
and having tried him at St. Andrews, 
condemned him to the flames. This was 
the last act of barbarity that the catholics 
had the power of executing under the 
sanction of the laws. 

The congregation now openly solicited 
subscriptions to the league, presented a 
petition to the regent, craving a reforma- 
tion of the church, and to the convocation 
then sitting, a petition, which they called 
the preliminary articles of the reforma- 
tion, desiring " that public prayers be 
conceived, and the sacrament adminis- 
tered in the vulgar tongue ; that bishops 
be admitted with the assent of the barons 
of the diocese, and parish priests with 
the assent of the parishioners ; that they 
who are unfit for the pastoral charge, be 
removed from their benefices, and such 
others placed in their room as are able 
and willing to instruct the people by con- 
stant preaching ; that in future, immoral 
and ignorant persons be excluded from 
the administration of the sacraments, and 
the other ecclesiastical functions." 

The convocation evaded or rejected 
their demands, and the queen regent 
publicly expressed her approbation of the 
decrees by which their principles were 
condemned, and summoned the most 



SCOTLAND. 



585 



eminent protestant preachers to appear 
before her council at Stirling. 

The members of the congregation as- 
sembled in great numbers to attend their 
pastors to the place of trial. Dreading so 
formidable a party, the regent deputed 
Erskine to assure them that she would 
put a stop to the present proceedings, if 
they would advance no further. But she 
forfeited her word, and sentence of out- 
lawry was passed against them for not 
appearing. At that crisis John Knox 
arrived, and lost no time in confirming 
the resolution of the wavering, and stim- 
ulating their indignation against popery. 
He declaimed with great vehemence 
against the idolatry of the mass and im- 
age worship. The congregation then 
quietly dismissed ; but a petty affray hav- 
ing occurred, in the course of a few min- 
utes, the images, the altar, and the orna- 
ments of the church, were demolished, 
and trampled under foot. The assailants 
then proceeded to the monasteries of the 
Grey and the Black Friars, which they 
pillaged and laid in ruins.* With that, 
the queen regent assembled an army, and 
advanced towards Perth to chastise the 
insurgents. The latter prepared to de- 
fend themselves, being joined by the earl 
of Glencairn ; and a treaty was conclud- 
ed, in which it was stipulated that an 
indemnity should be granted, and that 
the parliament should be convoked to 
compose religious differences. These 
stipulations were violated by the regent, 
and she left a garrison order to allow the 
exercise of any religion except the Ro- 
man catholic. 

The reformers now renewed the 
league, and collected their followers for 
defensive operations. The queen took 
shelter in Dunbar, which she fortified, 
and the dispute between the regent and 
the congregation now assumed a more 
complex character. Being joined by 
Argyll and the prior of St. Andrews, the 
reformers aimed at the redress of civil as 
well as religious grievances ; and requir- 
ed as a preliminary towards settling the 



* It is said John Knox himself justified this 
unlimited destruction by the noted saying, "Pull 
down the nests and the rooks will fly off !" an ex- 
pression, the politic meaning of which could only 
apply to the cloisters of the monks and friars. 
74 



peace of the kingdom, the immediate 
dismissal of the French forces from 
Scotland. The queen amused them with 
promises, which were finally terminated 
by the arrival of 1,000 men from France, 
and she immediately broke off all nego- 
tiations with her opponents. On this the 
associated lords assembled all the peers, 
barons, and representatives of barons that 
adhered to them, and imanimously gave 
their suffrages for deprivingMaryof Guise 
of the office and authority of regent. 

The queen had retired into Leith, 
which was immediately invested by the 
forces of the congregation, but the French 
refused to surrender, and their besiegers 
were not possessed of the artillery and 
magazines necessary for the purpose of a 
siege. Accustomed also to decide every 
quarrel by immediate action, the assail- 
ants became impatient of severe and con- 
stant duty. The garrison, apprised of 
their discontent, made a sally, which so 
dispirited the remainder, that they aban- 
doned the siege, and retreated to Stirling. 

Having received from France a re-en- 
forcement, the queen regent detached a 
party to lay waste the adjacent country. 
In this pressing extremity, the lords of 
the congregation turned their eyes to- 
wards JEngland, and Maitland and Mel- 
ville were despatched to solicit succors 
from the queen of England. Elizabeth's 
ministers did not hesitate to grant a re- 
quest so consonant to the wishes and 
interests of their mistress, and they in- 
stantly despatched a squadron to cruise 
in the Frith of Forth. After the flight 
of the congregation to Stirling, the queen 
dowager took possession of Edinburgh ; 
but her scheme was rendered abortive by 
the alUance of her enemies with the 
English queen. Early in the spring, 
Elizabeth sent 6,000 foot and 2,000 
horse into Scotland, under Lord Grey of 
Wilton. To meet their allies, the forces 
of the reformers assembled from all parts 
of the kingdom, and the combined army, 
amounting to 13,000 men, besieged Leith. 
The French garrison was speedily redu- 
ced to great difficulties, and the queen 
dowager retired to the castle of Edin- 
burgh, where she died soon after. 

The French court now abandoned their 
schemes of distant conquest. It became 



586 



SCOTLAND. 



necessaiy to withdraw the few veteran 
troops in Scotland, instead of sending 
new re-enforcements to that country. A 
negotiation was therefore opened, through 
the mediation of Ehzabeth. Two sepa- 
rate treaties were concluded at Edin- 
burgh, and it was stipulated that the 
French troops should immediately evac- 
uate Scotland ; that Francis and Mary 
should thenceforth abstain from bearing 
the arms of England ; that an amnesty 
should be published for all past offences ; 
that none but native Scotsmen should be 
eligible to fill any office of state, or hold 
either civil or military authority ; that the 
parliament should nominate twenty-four 
persons, of whom the queen might select 
seven, and the estates five, for conducting 
the government during their sovereign's 
absence ; and that Mary should make 
neither peace nor war without the con- 
sent of parliament. 

Being masters of the kingdom, the 
leaders of the congregation speedily 
completed the work of reformation. A 
parliament was convened, to settle the 
internal tranquillity of the country, and 
the protestant members greatly outnum- 
bered their adversaries. After ratifying 
the late treaties, the parliament approved 
of a confession of faith which ha.d been 
composed by John Knox and other pro- 
testant leaders. Several acts were passed 
against the catholics ; and the presbyte- 
rian form of church government was es- 
tablished nearly as it exists at present. 
After the death of queen Elizabeth of 
England, in 1 603, king James VI of Scot- 
land, succeeded by hereditary right to the 
throne of England, thus uniting the two 
crowns. He died in 1625, and was 
succeeded by Charles I. 

In 1 633, this monarch visited his Scot- 
tish dominions where his reception was 
affectionate and joyful, but by an unfortu- 
nate attempt to force a liturgy into their 
national church, he called their secret 
discontents into open action. The litur- 
gy destined for Scotland was a little dif- 
ferent from the English, but in receding 
from that service, it approached more to 
the forms of popery, — a religion which 
was never named in Scotland without 
horror. During the whole week before 
the new service was to be performed in 



the churches of Edinburgh, the people 
were agitated by discourses and pamph- 
lets. On Sunday the 23d of July, the 
dean of Edinburgh prepared to officiate in 
St Giles's, and the bishop of Argj'le in 
the Grey Friars' church; and to increase 
the solemnity, each was attended by the 
judges, prelates, and a part of the council 
The congregation in St Giles's continued 
quiet till the service began, when an old 
woman, impelled by sudden indignation, 
started up, and exclaiming aloud against 
the supposed mass, threw the stool on 
which she had been sitting at the dean's 
head. The service Avas interrupted by a 
wild uproar, and but for the interposition 
of the magistrates, the bishop might have 
been sacrificed at his own alts,r. When 
most of the people had retired, and the 
turbulent had been excluded, the doors 
were locked, and the service was re- 
sumed ; but was soon overpowered by 
the people from without, who burst open 
the doors, broke the windows, and rent the 
air with exclamations of, "A Pope, an 
Antichrist, stone him, stone hira !" With 
a few exceptions, the prelates were equal- 
ly unsuccessful throughout all Scotland 
in imposing the liturgy. 

The Scottish privy council plainly 
perceiving the resolution of the whole 
nation, represented to Charles the diffi- 
culty of enforcing the new rites. Their 
remonstrance had no effect, but to pro- 
duce a threat from the sovereign of re- 
moving the seat of government from Ed- 
inburgh. In the mean time, a conflux 
of supplicants against the liturgy, from 
all Scotland, arrived at Edinburgh ; and 
an accusation against the prelates was 
subscribed by all ranks, from the peer to 
the peasant. The citizens of Edinburgh, 
exasperated at the threat of the seat of 
government being removed, surrounded 
the town council house, and demanded 
the replacing the ministers who had been 
ejected for refusing the liturgy. In this 
tumult, the principal citizens, and even 
the wives and sisters of the magistrates, 
took a share. 

The council, uninstructed by Charles, 
conceded a most important point to the 
supplicants, in permitting the celebrated 
Tables, a representative body of nobles, 
gentry, clergy, and burgesses, to sit per- 



SCOTLAND, 



587 



manently in Edinburgh, while the multi- 
tude dispersed to their homes. An eva- 
sive answer from court was insufficient to 
satisfy the public mind. A formal revo- 
cation of the liturgy was required, and 
the accusation of the prelates proceeded 
to be urged by the Tables. A royal 
proclamation was issued, denouncing the 
supplicants as traitors ; but the effect was 
only to summon once more the whole 
body of those men around their chiefs, 
and the proclamation was every where 
met by a protest, held equally legal and 
sufficient to counteract its effects. 

But the great era in this religious union 
of the Scotch, was the renewal of the 
national covenant, first framed at the Re- 
formation, when the lords of the congre- 
gation, by their bond, or covenant, under- 
took the protection of the infant church. 
This renewed a memorable bond, by 
which the subscribers solemnly renounc- 
ed Episcopacy as well as Popery, and 
engaged to defend each other, and to sup- 
port the sovereig-n in the preservation of 
religious liberty ; and was prepared by 
Alexander Henderson, the leader of the 
clergy, and Archibald Johnston, after- 
wards of Warriston, an advocate. It 
was revived by the lords Balmerino, Lon- 
don, and Rothes. It was sworn to by 
nobles, gentry, clergy, and burgesses, 
and by thousands of all denominations, 
after solemn exhortation and prayer in 
the Grey Friars' church of Edinburgh. 
Throughout Scotland, it roused and 
agitated the people by a zeal unfelt since 
the Reformation. 

The king began to think of temporiz- 
ing with the Scotch when it was too late. 
He sent the marquis of Hamilton with 
authority to treat with the Covenanters. 
He required the covenant to be renounced 
and recalled. The Covenanters answer- 
ed, that they would sooner renounce their 
baptism. Hamilton returned to London ; 
made another fruitless journey with new 
proposals, and was again sent back by 
the Covenanters. After some negotiation, 
Charles made concessions, which, at an 
earlier period, might have proved satis- 
factory. He recalled the canon's liturgy 
and the high commission, suspended the 
articles of Perth, and seemed only anx- 
ious on any terms to continue the bishops. 



But the Scotch could not now think 
themselves secure, without the absolute 
abolition of Episcopacy. A weak at- 
tempt was made amidst these disputes to 
substitute a counter-covenant, in which 
the renunciation of Popery, and submis- 
sion to the royal authority, were combin- 
ed ; but the new bond was signed by few, 
and with little zeal. An assembly, which 
Charles had agreed to grant to the Scot- 
tish religionists, was held at Glasgow ; 
an assembly, which, from a large acces- 
sion of the nobility and gentry, far ex- 
ceeded in influence what the ecclesiastics 
alone could have possessed. As a pre- 
parative to the abolition of Episcopacy, 
there had been laid before the presbytery 
of Edinburgh, and solemnly read in all 
the churches of the kingdom, an accusa- 
tion against the bishops, of heresy, simo- 
ny, bribery, perjury, cheating, and numer- 
ous other crimes, to the suspicion of 
which the lax lives of the episcopal cler- 
gy had but too much exposed them. The 
bishops sent a protest, declining the au- 
thority of the assembly. The commis- 
sioners, too, protested against the court 
as illegally constituted, and in his majes- 
ty's name dissolved it. But this measure 
was foreseen, and little regarded. The 
court still continued to sit. All the acts 
of assembly since the accession of James 
were, on strong grounds of reason, de- 
clared null and void ; and with these the 
acts of parliament regarding ecclesias- 
tical affairs. Thus Episcopacy, the high 
commission, the articles of Perth, the 
canons, and the liturgy, were abolished, 
and declared unlawful ; and the whole 
fabric which James and Charles had 
been rearing with so much industry, fell 
to the ground. Of 14 bishops whom the 
assembly degraded, eight were excom- 
municated, four were deposed, and two 
were merely suspended from ecclesias- 
tical functions. These were bold pro- 
ceedings. Yet it may still be doubted, 
if, with so much justice on their side, 
they entitled the sovereign to think of 
coming to the last extremities. But 
Charles' preparations for war were by 
this time far advanced ; it appears indeed 
that he anxiously solicited the rupture 
with the assembly, to justify having re- 
course to arms. By economy he had 



588 



SCOTLAND. 



amassed about 200, OOOZ., loans were pro- 
cured from the nobility ; his queen in- 
cited the Papists, and Laud instigated the 
clergy, to contribute to this Episcopal 
war. The nobility ware summoned to 
attend their sovereigiv at York. The 
Scotch had not been idle in meeting the 
hour of danger. The covenant had been 
received by Scotchmen abroad as well 
as at home. Lesly, a commander dis- 
tinguished in the Swedish service, was 
recalled, to lead the Covenanters at home, 
and he -was followed by many experienc- 
ed ofRcers, who had served Gustavus. 
Arms, ammunition, and artillery were 
provided, and the people were trained to 
the use of them. After France and Hol- 
land had entered into a league against 
Spain for the partition of the Netherlands, 
England had been invited to a neutrality. 
But Charles, in replying to the French 
ambassador, threatened to send 15,000 
troops to oppose the parthion ; an im- 
politic threat, in return for which Riche- 
lieu now secretly supplied the Cove- 
nanters with money. 

When the king's forces had assembled 
at York, when Himtly began to arm for 
his cause in the north, and the marquis 
of Douglas in the south, the Covenan- 
ters seized, by surprise, some of the 
most important fortified places. Edin- 
burgh, Dumbarton, and Dalkeith, fell at 
once into their hands. The marquis of 
Hamilton arrived with the king's fleet 
from England; but he found Leith, which 
had been fortified by volunteers of all 
ranks, secure from assault, and could only 
land his few regiments on the uninhabit- 
ed islands of the Forth. The king ad- 
vanced from York to Berwick with 
23,000 horse and foot, and the Scotch, to 
the number of 24,000, encamped in sight 
of his army on Dunse Law. The latter 
had hitherto, though with swords in their 
hands, constantly addressed Charles as 
their sovereign, petitioning redress of 
grievances from him, and never desisting 
from pacific overtures. Formidable as 
they seemed from their numbers, zeal, 
national spirit, and the excellence of their 
officers, the king listened to their propo- 
sals. His own army had few officers of 
experience, and the men were inspired by 
no such zeal as that which animated the 



Scotch. In the pacification of Berwick, 
it was agreed, that the armies on both 
sides should be disbanded, and that eccle- 
siastical matters should be referred to the 
decision of another assembly, and civil 
affairs to another parliament soon to be 
summoned. The fortifications of Leith 
were surrendered, and 30 castles were 
restored to the king's government. 

The assembly of the Scottish church 
accordingly met, and again abolished 
Episcopacy, stigmatizing the liturgy, 
canons, and high commissioners, as be- 
fore. The Scottish parliament also as- 
sembled, a truly patriotic parliament, who 
proposed to re-establish all their legisla- 
tive rights which had been usurped since 
the accession of James, and to rectify 
many public abuses. Charles, who had 
never been sincere in his treaty with the 
Scotch, made these proposals a pretext 
for suddenly ordering the earl of Tra- 
quaire to prorogue their parliament, 
and both sides again prepared for hostil- 
ities. The bigotry of Laud, and the 
violence of Wentworth, overpowered in 
the English council the moderation of 
Hamilton and Morton ; for to those four, 
under the name of the junto, the Scottish 
affairs had been long entrusted. A letter, 
which had been signed by seven of the 
Scottish nobility before the pacification 
of Berwick, and addressed to the French 
king, (but from proper motives never sent,) 
to solicit assistance, was thought a suffi- 
cient justification of war on the royal 
side ; and Loudon, the Scottish commis- 
sioner from the Covenanters, was ordered 
for execution, (though the order was re- 
voked,) for being the author of the letter. 

After eleven years intermission, it was 
necessary to convoke another parliament 
in England. By the mouth of the lord 
keeper Finch, the king discovered his 
wants, and representing his debts, for 
which he had given security on his 
crown lands, amounting to 300,000/., 
pleaded for immediate supplies to support 
his armaments, and promised, though 
indefinitely, to promote the best wishes 
and interests of his English subjects. 
The house of commons, instead of listen- 
ing to his wants, began with arranging 
the grievances of the public, under three 
different heads : those of the broken privi- 



SCOTLAND. 



589 




Scotch Covenanters defeating the English 



leges of parliament, of illegal taxes, and 
of violence done to the cause of religion. 
After an intercession on the part of the 
peers in the king's behalf, which, so far 
from obtaining the supplies, was declar- 
ed by the commons to be an illegal inter- 
position, Charles dissolved the parlia- 
ment ; and to make this procedure still 
more dangerous and unpopular, imprison- 
ed Bellasis and sir John Holham, for the 
share they had taken in the debates. 

Though the parliament was dissolved, 
the convocation of the clergy was still 
allowed, which, besides granting to the 
king a supply from the spirituality, im- 
posed an oath on the clergy and the gra- 
duates of the University, to support the 
established government of the church, by 
archbishops, bishops, deans, chapters, &c. 
The public notions of liberty were too 
far matured not to perceive, that such an 
assembly as the convocation, without con- 
sent of parliament, was unconstitutional ; 
and an oath, which contained an &c, 
was justly exposed to ridicule. In the 
mean time, subscriptions were raised at 
court, or extorted from merchants ; nor 
were former illegal exactions, however 
productive of discontent, omitted. In- 
stead of Arundel, Essex, and Holland, 



whose capacity, or whose zeal, in the 
last expedition was suspected, the earl 
of Northumberland was appointed gener- 
al, the earl of Strafford lieutenant-general, 
and lord Conway general of the horse. 
The army which was now raised, consist- 
ed of 1 9,000 foot and 2,000 horse. 

The Scottish covenanters and parlia- 
ment were much more successfully ac- 
tive. The parliament having secured 
their own constitution, by the creation of 
a third estate ; having passed a statute 
for trennial renovations ; and having 
guarded the legislative power against the 
encroachments of royalty by other wise 
regulations, appointed a committee of 
estates to superintend at the camp and 
in the capital, the operations of the war. 
Conscious of the good wishes of the pop- 
ular party in England, and we may well 
suppose in correspondence with the Eng- 
lish parliamentary leaders, they crossed 
the Tweed with 23,000 foot, 3,000 horse, 
and a train of artillery. Maintaining as 
before the most submissive language, 
they entered England, they said, with no 
hostile intentions, but to obtain access to 
the king's person, and lay their petition at 
his feet. At Newburn upon Tyne they 
were opposed by general Conway, with 



590 



SPAIN. 



batteries erected on the opposite bank, 
and 6,000 horse and foot. Lesly, their 
general, first requested permission to 
pass ; then on a shot being fired by an 
Enghsh sentinel, they opened their ar- 
tillery, and charging their opponents, put 
them to flight. Their army thus ob- 
tained immediate possession of Newcas- 
tle, Tynemouth, Shields, and Durham. 
Charles retired with a mutinous and pa- 
nic-struck army from Northallerton to 
York, where an address reached him 
from the city of London, petitioning for 
a parliament. He contented himself, 
however, for the present, with summon- 
ing a great council of the peers at York. 
A treaty was suggested, as the only 
means to prevent the advance of the 
Scotch. 

The subsequent events in the history 
of Scotland are intimately blended with 
the history of Great Britain. The union 
of the two kingdoms, in 1706, relieving 



Scotland from the burden of a separate 
government, procuring for them a suitable 
representation in the united parliament, 
and a gradual uniformity of municipal 
laws, has been highly advantageous to 
the kingdom. From that event, the agri- 
cidture, manufactures, and commerce of 
the country have been constantly increas- 
ing. The inhabitants who are consider- 
ed the most moral people in Europe, are 
inclined to the habits of domestic life, 
steady and industrious, well calculated 
for manufacturers, and have greatly ex- 
celled in their respective arts. Scotland 
has produced many learned men of the 
first eminence in the various departments 
of science. Her universities have long 
been eminently distinguished. Her il- 
lustrious historians, Robertson and Hume, 
may be justly ranked among the first of 
modern times. In the British armies, 
the soldiers of Scotland, have ever been 
distinguished for their valor. 



SPAIN. 



In ancient history the first inhabitants 
of Spain were generally known by the 
name of Iberians ; and it is also known 
that the Celts or Gauls formed numerous 
settlements west of the Ebro, and became 
so blended by intermarriages with the 
inhabitants, that they obtained the desig- 
nation Celtiherians. The Greeks and 
Phoenicians also planted colonies along 
the maritime districts. The Phoenicians 
having built the city of Gades, now Cadiz, 
attempted to extend their authority over 
the neighboring territory. The Span- 
iards, alarmed at the growing prosperity 
of the new city, collected their forces, 
and would soon have driven out the in- 
truders, had not the Phosnicians invited 
the Carthaginians to their assistance, 
who, furnishing them with powerful suc- 
cors, not only repulsed the Spaniards, 
but obtained the greater part of the pro- 
vince. 

This expedition formed the commence- 
ment of the Carthaginian power in Spain. 
Elated with their success, and delighted 



with the richness of the country, and the 
valuable mines of gold and silver which 
it contained, they contemplated the con- 
quest of the whole peninsula. For a 
time, however, their arms made very little 
progress against its warlike inhabitants, 
who defended themselves with great bra- 
very and resolution, till the whole power 
of Carthage was directed to their subju- 
gation. During nine years of incessant 
hostility, the Carthaginians penetrated 
into the very heart of the country, when 
their general, Hamilcar, was killed in a 
general engagement with the Vettones. 
His successor, Asdrubal, carried his vic- 
torious arms as far as the Ebro ; and, in 
order to secure his conquests, built the 
city of New Carthage, which afterwards 
became one of the most considerable 
cities in the world. 

These successes excited the jealousy 
of the Romans, who could not behold 
without alarm the rapid advance of their 
rivals to the entire dominion of such a 
country as Spain. They, therefore, will- 



SPAIN. 



591 



ingly listened to the request of the Sa- 
guntines, who had implored their protec- 
tion, and interposing in their behalf, pre- 
vailed upon the Carthaginian general to 
enter into a treaty, in which it was stip- 
ulated that the Carthaginians should not 
pass the Ebro, and that the Saguntines 
and other Grecian colonies should enjoy 
their ancient rights and privileges. No 
violation of this treaty occurred during 
the life of Asdrubal ; but extending his 
conquests in other directions, he, either 
by force or persuasion, established the 
dominion of Carthage over the finest pro- 
vinces of Spain. A few years after, how- 
ever, he fell by the hands of an assassin : 
and no sooner had Hannibal succeeded 
to the command of the Carthaginian 
army, than he made preparations for the 
siege of Sagimtum. Though this city 
was situated within the Carthaginian ter- 
ritory, it was expressly excepted by 
treaty from all hostilities ; but Hannibal 
promised himself many advantages from 
its reduction. It was a key by which 
the Roman army could easily enter into 
Spain ; and its possession would serve 
as a barrier against their future encroach- 
ments. This colony also was immense- 
ly rich, and he expected to find in it 
treasure sufficient to defray the expenses 
of a premeditated war against that rival 
power. The Sagiantines, however, brave- 
ly defended themselves for eight months ; 
and every inch of ground was disputed 
with undaunted resolution. Being at last 
reduced to great extremity by the scar- 
city of provisions, and having no prospect 
of assistance from the Romans, the prin- 
cipal senators collected in the market 
place their richest effects, and the con- 
tents of the public treasury, and having 
set fire to the pile, threw themselves into 
the midst of it, and perished in the flames. 
Many of the inhabitants soon after fol- 
lowed their example ; and the rest, mak- 
ing a sally on the besiegers, were all put 
to the sword. 

This siege, one of the most memorable 
in ancient history, produced a lengthened 
and bloody war betwixt the Romans and 
Carthaginians, of which Spain, for several 
years, continued to be the theatre. The 
Romans, taking advantage of Hannibal's 
absence in Italy, sent an army into that 



country. After a long contest between 
these rival nations, and attended with 
various success, the Carthaginians were 
driven out of Spain, and the Roman 
standard planted on the walls of Cadiz, 
which, as it was the first, was also the 
last strong-hold which the Carthaginians 
held in that country. But though the 
Roman power was thus in a manner ex- 
tended over Spain, they found it no easy 
matter to maintain their authority. 

Numantia had maintained its independ- 
ence during the struggle between Rome 
and Carthage ; and its inhabitants had 
resisted every attempt at its subjugation 
with such daring courage, that the bra- 
vest troops of Rome trembled at the very 
idea of a Numantine war. The first 
army that sat down before its walls was 
completely routed and dispersed. In the 
following campaign 4,000 Numantines 
pursued an army of 30,000 Romans, 
seized and plundered the camp which 
they had abandoned, killed 20,000 in the 
pursuit, and shut up the remainder in a 
rough and mountainous country. In this 
situation the Roman commander, seeing 
no way of escape, was compelled to sue 
for peace. This was generously granted 
by the Numantines, who, for the lives of 
10,000 Romans, merely stipulated that 
they should be allowed to maintain their 
independence, and be reckoned among 
the friends of the Roman people. But, 
in return for this noble and disinterested 
conduct, the senate of Rome refused to 
ratify the treaty ; and, lost to all sense 
of honor and of justice, they basely re- 
solved, in opposition to the remonstrances 
of all the officers who had served in 
Spain, to extirpate that brave and gener- 
ous people. Scipio, one of their most 
experienced generals, and the conqueror 
of Carthage, was chosen for this danger- 
ous expedition. Unwilling to expose his 
men, by hazarding an engagement with 
the Numantines, he enclosed the city 
with 60,000 troops, who were protected 
by a wall and ditch, being resolved to 
reduce the inhabitants not by force, but 
by famine. The besieged, after several 
brave attempts to break through the ene- 
my's lines and obtain succors, seeing 
their ruin inevitable, entreated the Roman 
commander that he would either allow 



592 



SPAIN. 



them to die like brave men in a general I 
action, or preserve their liberty by an \ 
honorable capitulation. Scipio, how- 
ever, vk'ould listen to no proposals, and 
insisted upon an unconditional surrender. 
This drove the Numantines to despair, 
who were now reduced to such straits 
that they were destroying and devouring 
each other ; but, preferring death to sla- 
very, they set fire to their city, and either 
killed one another, or perished in the 
flames. The Ml of this city was con- 
sidered of such consequence that Scipio 
was honored with a triumph, and had 
the surname of Numantinus added to that 
of Africanus. It consummated the sub- 
jection of Spain ; for though that noble 
love of liberty, for which this nation was 
so justly famed, frequently led them to 
attempt their emancipation, yet they were 
never afterwards able to make any head 
against the Romans ; but were at last 
compelled to receive the religion, the 
laws, and the customs of their conquer- 
ors. The last who submitted were the 
Cantabrians, who were almost extermi- 
nated by Agrippa ; and from that time 
Spain continued incorporated with the 
Roman empire until the irruption of the 
northern nations. 

The Suevi, Alani, and Vandals, in 
their progress southward, broke into 
Spain about the begiiming of the fifth 
century, and in a few years had reduced 
and partitioned among them that beautiful 
country. The native militia, for a time, 
successfully repelled the inroads of bar- 
barians ; but when these were supplanted 
by the mercenary guards, the gates of 
the PjTenees were betrayed to the ene- 
my, whose progress was marked by 
rapine and carnage. They exercised 
their cruelty indiscriminately upon the 
Romans and Spaniards, and ravaged with 
equal fury the cities and the open 
country. Famine, and its inseparable 
attendant, pestilence, swept away a large 
proportion of the inhabitants ; and the 
barbarians were not satiated till they be- 
gan to feel the destructive effects of 
those calamities which they themselves 
had occasioned. The majority of the 
nation submitted to the yoke of their 
conquerors, while a few maintained their 
independence in the mountains of Gali- 



cia. These barbarians, however, were 
not allowed long to enjoy their conquests. 
The Goths had become the allies of 
Rome by the marriage of their king with 
the daughter of the Emperor Theodosius, 
and were induced to draw their swords 
for the recovery of Spain. During three 
years the contest was obstinately sup- 
ported with desperate valor and various 
success, when the superior achievements 
of the Gothic king at length prevailed, 
and Spain was once more restored to 
the authority of the empire. 

The history of the Gothic dominion in 
this country, from the accession of Euric 
to that of Roderic, afibrds few materials 
of any interest. Their princes were 
frequently engaged in civil or religious 
wars, and long adhered to the wandering 
and warlike manners of their fathers. 

The followers of Mahomet had overrun 
the whole of Mauritania, and reduced it 
to the obedience of their master, except 
the castle of Ceuta, which resisted for a 
time all their eftbrts. This fort, with a 
small district around it, was the only ter- 
ritory south of the straits belonging to 
Spain, and was intrusted to Count Julian, 
who defended it with such skill and in- 
trepidity, that Musa, the Moslem com- 
mander, was compelled to retire with 
disgrace from before its w^alls. This 
nobleman, it is supposed, was married to 
a sister of King Witiza, and, being con- 
sequently involved in the downfall of the 
deposed family, his resentment was ex- 
cited against the usurper of their rights. 
Besides his command in Africa, he pos- 
sessed extensive estates and numerous 
followers in Andalusia, and thus held in 
his hands the keys of the Spanish mon- 
archy. These, in an evil hour, he be- 
trayed to the enemy ; and this Christian 
commander, who had so nobly repulsed 
that very enemy from the gates of Ceuta, 
forgetting the highest claims of religion 
and of country, sacrificed all in revenge 
of a private wrong. When the first inti- 
mation of his purpose was conveyed to 
Musa, the wily Moslem hesitated to trust 
an army of the faithful to the traitors of a 
foreign land ; but, having ascertained 
what might be expected from the in- 
trigues and influence of the count, and 
having been well informed of the dissen- 






SPAIN. 



693 



sions among the Spaniards, he despatched 
an army under Tarik to the easy conquest 
of a populous and wealthy kingdom. On 
the descent of the Saracens, Roderic 
hastily collected a small army to oppose 
their progress, and to check the devasta- 
tions which they committed upon the 
unarmed inhabitants. He, at the same 
time, endeavored to heal the divisions 
which were so fatal to his country, and 
was so far successful that the sons of 
Witiza, with a seeming devotion to the 
common cause, joined his standard with 
their dependants. The bishops also, and 
the flower of the nobility, assembled with 
their followers at the royal summons ; 
and his army amounted to nearly one 
hundred thousand men ; but they were 
without discipline, and their fidelity was 
suspected. The troops of Tarik were 
composed of twelve thousand veteran 
Saracens, and a crowd of Moors who 
were eager to share in the expected 
plunder. The two armies met on the 
plain of Xeres, and after three days of 
hard skirmishing, they joined in a gene- 
ral engagement. The issue was long 
doubtful. Sixteen thousand Moslems had 
fallen under the swords of the Goths ; 
and they would soon have been over- 
whelmed by the numbers of the Chris- 
tians, had they not been saved by the 
defection of the sons and brother of Wi- 
tiza, who held the most important post 
in the army of Roderic. The ranks of 
the Christians, being thus broken and 
thrown into disorder, opened a way for 
the action of the Moorish cavalry, which 
made prodigious havoc ; and during the 
three succeeding days of flight and pur- 
suit, the remains of the Gothic army 
were scattered or destroyed. This deci- 
sive and fatal battle sealed the ruin of 
the Gothic monarchy in Spain ; and in 
the course of a few years the Adctorious 
Moslems had subjected the finest prov- 
inces of the peninsula to the obedience 
of the calif. The vanquished were al- 
lowed to retain their laws, religion, and 
language, upon the payment of an annual 
tribute ; but many, who preferred a life 
of poverty, with the unrestrained exercise 
of their religion, to the precarious pos- 
session of their properties, retired under 
Pelagius, a prince of the blood, into the j 
75 



mountains of Asturias, where, forgetting 
every other care, they sought only to 
provide for their safety and freedom. 
Here the vital spark of national inde- 
pendence was cherished and kept alive ; 
and it was thence that the successors of 
these warriors emerged in after times, 
and by degrees recovered their country 
from the Moorish yoke. 

The first Moorish invaders under Tarik, 
consisting of various tribes, asserted, by 
assuming the name of Spaniards, their 
original claim of conquest ; and though 
they were afterwards joined by numer- 
ous bands of Arabs of difl'erent countries, 
who were allowed to share in the fruits 
of this important enterprise, they appro- 
priated to themselves the most fertile 
districts of the country. " The royal le- 
gion of Damascus was planted at Cor- 
dova ; that of Emesa at Seville ; that of 
Kinnisrin or Calchis at Jaen ; and that 
of Palestine at Algezire and Medina 
Sidonia. The natives of Yemen and 
Persia were scattered around Toledo 
and the inland country ; those of Egypt 
were established at Murcia and Lisbon ; 
and the fertile seats of Granada were be- 
stowed on the ten thousand horsemen of 
Syria and Irak, the children of the pur- 
est and most noble of the Arabian tribes." 
A spirit of emulation and jealousy existed 
among these different tribes, which gave 
rise to frequent disputes, and which be- 
ing nourished by a factious and heredi- 
tary pride, scattered those seeds of divis- 
ion, which afterwards ripened into a full 
harvest of intestine broils, and which led 
to their final expulsion from the peninsula. 
The Moorish conquests in Spain con- 
tinued to be governed by a lieutenant of 
the Calif of Damascus, until the depo- 
sition and destruction of the Ommiades 
in Arabia, when Abdalrahman, a royal 
youth, who alone had escaped the mas- 
sacre of his house, fled into Spain, where 
he was hailed with joy by the party at- 
tached to his family. After a short and 
successful struggle with the lieutenant 
and forces of the rival family of the Ab- 
bassides, he established the throne of 
Cordova, and became the first Calif of 
the west. The dynasty of the Ommia- 
des continued to reign in this country 
with great splendor for nearly two cen- 



594 



SPAIN. 



turies and a half, when the Spanish Ca- 
lifate expired. Their dominions were 
split into several petty states by the re- 
bellion of the Moorish governors, who 
usurped the sovereignty of the provinces 
over which they presided, and assumed 
the royal style in Cordova, Seville, Va- 
lentia, and Granada. This dismember- 
ment occasioned constant wars, which 
were sometimes prosecuted with all the 
rancor of hereditary feuds ; and during 
which the monarchs, as well as" the 
boundaries of the different kingdoms, 
were continually changing. Their lim- 
its were also greatly circumscribed by 
the conquests of the Christians, who 
were gradually extending their territories, 
and threatened the complete recovery of 
their native possessions. 

The Goths, who had retired with Pe- 
lagius to the mountains of Asturias, had 
chosen that prince as their monarch ; and 
his territories were at first confined to 
the small province of Liebana, with the 
hamlet of Cangas for its capital. This 
district was so fortified by nature, that, 
with a few defenders, it was capable of 
resisting almost any number of invaders. 
Here Pelagius laid the foundation of the 
kingdom of Leon, and of the Spanish 
monarchy ; and defied the whole power 
of the Moors, who twice attempted with 
numerous armies to dislodge his little 
band of patriots, but were as often over- 
thrown with dreadful slaughter. By 
these victories he became master of all 
the Asturias, and soon after extended his 
dominion over the best part of Biscay. 
His little territory afforded an asylum to 
the oppressed Christians, who, retiring 
privately from the Moorish provinces, 
repaired in great numbers to his stand- 
ard, and, by thus recruiting his forces, 
enabled him and his immediate succes- 
sors to descend with more confidence 
into the lower and more fertile parts of 
the country, and to push their conquests, 
on the one hand, as far as Castile, and, 
on the other, to the confines of Portugal. 
The kingdom of Leon increased rapidly 
in extent and resources during the reig-ns 
of Alphonso III, who subdued Galicia, 
and spread his dominion as far as Coim- 
bra, and of Ramirus II, who penetrated 
to Madrid, which he took by storm, and 



even threatened Toledo, at that time one 
of the strongest cities in the hands of 
the Moors. Encouraged by the successes 
of the Christians in Leon, other provinces 
began to establish themselves as inde- 
pendent states, and by similar means 
rose to power and distinction. The in- 
dependence of Navarre commenced about 
the middle of the ninth century, that of 
Castile thirty years later ; and Aragon 
was erected into a kingdom in the be- 
ginning of the eleventh century. The 
wars and events which led to the forma- 
tion of these kingdoms were signalized 
by many heroic achievements ; and no 
history records a succession of kings so 
remarkable as those who shone in those 
different states. Several of the name of 
Alphonso were distinguished and able 
princes, one of whom invented the Al- 
phonsine tables, and superintended the 
digesting of a code of laws, which like- 
wise bears his name. By the establish- 
ment of these states the Moors were 
driven from the finest provinces of the 
Peninsula, and confined within the king- 
dom of Granada. In a series of years, 
however, by the usual events of inter- 
marriages, or succession, or conquest, all 
these were united under Ferdinand and 
Isabella, the former the hereditary mon- 
arch of Aragon, and the latter the heiress 
of Castile and Leon. 

The first care of Ferdinand and Isa- 
bella, after having wisely settled the in- 
terior affairs of their dominions, was the 
recovery of Granada. An opportunity 
was soon found for breaking the peace 
with the Moors ; and after a protracted 
and bloody war, this wealthy kingdom, 
which had occupied a large proportion 
of the south of the Peninsula, having 
under its jurisdiction thirty-two cities, 
and ninety-seven walled towns, was re- 
duced withm the small compass of the 
city of Granada. Being now invested 
by the Spaniards, and all communication 
with the surrounding country cut ofi, the 
inhabitants were reduced to the utmost 
extremity. The Moors, however, made 
a gallant defence ; and received an hon- 
orable capitulation, in which it was stip- 
ulated that the inhabitants should retain 
the undisturbed possession of their prop- 
erty, the use of their laws, and the free 



SPAIN. 



595 



exercise of their religion. Thus the 
last strong-hold of the Arabs in Spain 
submitted to the christian arms, after an 
almost uninterrupted war of eight centu- 
ries, and during which, according to the 
Spanish historians, three thousand seven 
hundred battles were fought. Shortly 
after the battle of Xeres in 712, the 
Moors had overrun the whole peninsula, 
except a small district in the mountains 
of the Asturias ; but the tide of victory 
was not long in setting in from an oppo- 
site direction ; and they were gradually 
driven by the arms of the christians from 
all their possessions in Spain : from the 
Asturais in 716 ; from Salvarba in 750 ; 
from Catalonia in 820 ; from Leon in 
923 ; from Castile in 1073 ; from Aragon 
1118; from Cordova and Jaen in 1236 ; 
from Seville in 1248 ; from Valentia in 
1264 ; from Murcia in 1265 ; and from 
Granada in 1492. 

That part of Spain which was sub- 
ject to the Moors, enjoyed a degree of 
prosperity and civilization, unexampled 
during any other period of its history. 
This people were particularly skilled in 
agriculture, and carried every branch of 
public and private economy to a high de- 
gree of perfection. They paid the most 
minute attention to the analysis, classifi- 
cation, and manure of the different soils, 
to rustic buildings, plantations, and agri- 
cultural implements, and to the care of 
animals. They divided their lands into 
small fields, which were kept constantly 
under tillage, and by their reservoirs and 
canals, they conveyed water to the highest 
and driest spots. They were the first who 
introduced into this country the cultiva- 
tion of rice, sugar, cotton, and silk ; and 
the general appearance of their estates 
formed a striking contrast to the domains 
of the crown, and the immense wastes 
of the Gothic lords. They were also 
expert in all the mechanical arts ; and in 
almost every city were established looms, 
forges, mills, glass-houses, &c. The 
invention of paper is due to this people ; 
and many kinds of manufactures, particu- 
larly silk and cotton stuffs, morocco leath- 
er, &c, were brought by them to so great 
perfection, that, in the twelfth century, 
the tissues of Granada and Andalusia 
were highly prized at Constantinople and 



throughout the eastern empire. Their 
skill in architecture was equally conspic- 
uous ; and the Alhambra of Granada, 
still in existence, is an evidence of the 
fine taste, studied elegance, and ability 
of their artists. To this improved state 
of industry the Moors added the love of 
science and learning. These they intro- 
duced into Europe at a time when it was 
immersed in darkness ; and they possess- 
ed many luxuries unknown to the neigh- 
boring nations. " The successors of Ab- 
dalrahman had formed a library of 600,000 
volumes, 44 of which were employed in 
the mere catalogue. Their capital of 
Cordova, with the adjacent towns of Ma- 
laga, Almeria, and Murcia, had given 
birth to more than 300 writers ; and 
above 70 public libraries were opened in 
the cities of the Andalusian kingdom." 
The Arab historians describe the reign 
of the Ommiades as the most splendid 
and prosperous era of Moorish Spain. 
" The third of the Abdalrahmans derived 
from this kingdom the annual tribute of 
12,045,000 dinars or piece of gold, about 
6,000,000 sterling. His royal seat at Cor- 
dova contained 640 mosques, 900 baths, 
200,000 houses ; he gave laws to 80 ci- 
ties of the first, to 300 of the second and 
third order ; and the fertile banks of the 
Guadalquivir were adorned with 12,000 
villages and hamlets. The inmates of 
his seraglio, comprehending his wives, 
concubines, and black eunuchs, amounted 
to 6,300 persons ; and he was attended 
to the field by a guard of 12,000 horse, 
whose belts and cimeters were studded 
with gold." To this extraordinary con- 
currence of industry, wealth, talents, and 
learning, this people united that roman- 
tic gallantry which so eminently pre- 
vailed in the ages of chivalry ; and their 
noble conduct in many instances, inspired 
with confidence in their honor, even the 
enemies of their kingdom and of their faith. 
The important conquest of Granada 
was, in the same year, followed by the 
more important discovery of America by 
Columbus. After the death of Ferdinand 
and Isabella, Cardinal Ximenes was ap- 
pointed regent of Castile during the mi- 
nority of Don Carlos, the son of Philip, 
king of the Netherlands, and grandson 
of Isabella. 



596 



SPAIN. 




Francis visited by the Emperor Charles in the Castle of Madrid. 



The affairs of Spain, until the arrival 
of Charles, were conducted by the aged 
cardinal with such wisdom, integrity, and 
firmness, that the kingdom felt not the 
loss of the powerful mind (yf Ferdinand. 
Many of the nobles who, supposing that 
the reins of government would be relax- 
ed under the delegated power of a re- 
gent, had taken up arms to prosecute 
their private quarrels and pretensions, 
were compelled to repress their hostili- 
ties, and to submit to the terms of the 
cardinal. The decision and vigor of his 
administration, and the high authority 
which he assumed, excited the fears of 
the nobility for the safety of their peculiar 
privileges ; and when they sent a deputa- 
tion to question his power, and demand 
by what right he held the regency of the 
kingdom, he showed them the will of P'er- 
dinand, ratified by Charles. This, how- 
ever, not seeming to produce the acquies- 
cence which he wished, he led them to 
a balcony, and pointing to a body of 
troops and a train of artillery stationed 
before the palace, said, " These are the 
powers by which I mean to govern Spain 
until the arrival of his majesty." The 
exertions of this able minister, dur- 
*ing his short regency, did much for the 



security of the kingdom, and the exten- 
sion of the royal prerogative. 

After the death of Ximenes, Charles 
found great difficulty in establishing his 
authority in Spain. His Flemish favor- 
ites, by their exactions and avarice, had 
become odious throughout the kingdom ; 
and several cities of the first rank in 
Castile entered into a confederacy for 
the maintenance of their rights and priv- 
ileges. This confederacy assumed the 
name of the Holy Junta, and bound 
themselves by a solemn oath to live and 
die in the service of the king, and in 
defence of the privileges of their order. 

After a furious contest of nearly eight 
months, the army of the Junta was com- 
pletely routed, and three of their chiefs 
were taken prisoners and executed. — 
Francis I, of France, disatisfied that 
Charles, his rival, should obtain the im- 
perial crown, sought revenge in a war 
which commenced in 1521. It was con- 
tinued till 1525, when Francis w^as ut- 
terly defeated before Pavia in Italy, and 
taken prisoner and conducted to Madrid. 
For many weeks Charles did not deign 
to visit his captive. Such neglect stung 
Francis to the soul, and threw him into 
a fever which threatened his life, Charles 



SPAIN. 



597 



fearful of losing the advantage of having 
the person of the captive monarch in his 
possession, visited him, and was profuse 
of the kindest promises. Upon his re- 
covery, however, he would not grant him 
his liberty, until he had signed his re- 
nunciation to Naples, Milan, Flanders, 
Artois, and leave his two sons as hostages. 
After this period, Charles turned his arms 
against the piratical states of Barbary. 
After his return he found himself em- 
broiled in new wars, and the remainder 
of his reign was spent in his contest with 
France and the protestants of Germany 
Worn out at length by his arduous du- 
ties and the ravages of the gout, and 
conscious of his inability much longer to 
direct with vigor the multiplicity of af- 
fairs which called for his attention 
throughout his extensive dominions, he 
resolved to resign his hereditary states 
to his son Philip, who had now attained 
his 28th year, and having been early ac- 
customed to business, had discovered 
both inclination and capacity sufficient to 
sustain the weighty burden which was 
about to devolve upon him. For this 
purpose he recalled Philip from England, 
and having assembled the states of the 
low countries and of Brussels, Charles 
seated on a chair of state, and surround- 
ed by a splendid retinue of the princes 
of the empire and grandees of Spain, 
with great solemnity surrendered to his 
son all his territories, jurisdiction, and 
authority in the low countries. A few 
weeks afterwards, he resigned with great 
solemnity, and in an assembly no less 
splendid, the crown of Spain, "reserving, , 
of all his vast possessions, nothing for 
himself but an annual pension of one 
hundred thousand crowns to defray the 
charges of his family, and to afford him 
a small sum for acts of beneficence and 
charity." In the following year he re- 
turned to Spain, and retired to the mon- 
astery of St. Justus, near Placentia. — 
Here in a mean retreat, he forgot the 
ambitious thoughts and projects which 
had so long engrossed his mind, and which 
for half a century, had filled with terror 
all the kingdoms of Europe, and devoting 
the evening of life to innocent amuse- 
ments and religious exercises, died on 
the 21st of September, 1558, 



Philip II, though his father, with all 
his power and influence, was unable to 
obtain for him the imperial crown, suc- 
ceeded to a sceptre more powerful per- 
haps than that of any monarch of the 
age. Besides his dominions in Europe, 
including Spain, Naples, the duchy of 
Milan, and the Netherlands, he possessed 
in the new world territories of such vast 
extent, abounding in inexhaustible veins 
of wealth, and opening such boimdless 
prospects of every kind, as must have 
roused into action a mind much less am- 
bitious and enterprising than that of 
Philip. He inherited with his crown a 
war with France and the pope, but this 
was but of short duration ; and the trea-' 
ty of Chateau Cambresis left him with- 
out an enemy. In memory of the battle 
of St. Quintin, fought in this war, "on 
the day consecrated to St. Laurence, he 
built the splendid and magnificent palace 
of the Escurial, in honor of that saint 
and martyr, and so formed the plan of the 
work as to resemble a gridiron, which, 
according to the legendary tale, had been 
the instrument of St. Laurence's martyr- 
dom." This prince, however, was not 
of a disposition to remain long inactive ; 
and though he was not desirous of mili- 
tary glory, yet in other respects, he was 
not inferior to his father either in ambition 
or abilities ; and during a long reign, he 
gave more disturbance to his enemies by 
his political intrigues, than the emperor 
had ever done by his arms. 

The severity of Charles' government 
in the Netherlands, with respect to re- 
ligious matters, had estranged from him 
the aflections of his subjects in that 
country; and the violent and bigoted 
principles of Philip's administration, un- 
der the Duke of Alva, exasperated them 
into open rebellion. This afforded em- 
ployment to the arms of Spain for near- 
ly half a century, and at last lost to that 
crown one half of its most valuable pos- 
sessions in the lower countries. (See 
Netherlands.) 

The same spirit of intolerance which 
raised such a flame in the Netherlands, 
stirred up the Moors in Spain to a similar 
resistance. This industrious people, 
since their subjection, had lived as quiet 
subjects. But it had been insinuated to 



598 



SPAIN. 



the court of Rome, that though nominally 
Christians, they still adhered to the Ma- 
hometan faith, which induced the pope to 
press upon Philip the necessity of bring- 
ing them by force within the pale of the 
Catholic church. The king ever ready 
to listen to the instigations of monkish 
zeal, sent express orders into the king- 
dom of Granada, to oblige the Moors to 
change at once their habits, manners, 
and language ; and the clergy were en- 
joined to require the registration of all 
Moorish children between five and fifteen 
years of age, that they might be taught 
the Castilian tongue, and be instructed in 
the Catholic faith. Notwithstanding the 
humble representations of loyalty and at- 
tachment from this unfortunate race, and 
the louder remonstrances of the govenor 
and principal officers of the province, 
against so impolitic and impracticable a 
measure, Philip remained inflexible. 
The Moors were driven to despair, and 
having taken up arms, renounced their 
allegiance to the king of Spain, and pro- 
claimed one of their chiefs king of Gran- 
ada and Cordova. The struggle was 
prosecuted on the part of the Moors with 
all the fury of religious frenzy, commit- 
ting every where the most outrageous ex- 
cesses, and inflicting inexcusable cruel- 
ties upon the innocent inhabitants, par- 
ticularly ecclesiastics ; while the Span- 
ish commanders acted with great mode- 
ration, treating their prisoners with lenity, 
and receiving many to mercy. This war 
lasted between tvi'o and three years, cost 
the lives of 20,000 Castilian soldiers, of 
about 100,000 Moors, and depopulated 
and destroyed some of the finest countries 
in Spain. 

With a weak and despicable policy, 
PhiUp III, expelled from his kingdom all 
the Moors, who were the most industri- 
ous of its inhabitants, in 1 6 1 ; and this de- 
population joined to that already produced 
by her American colonies, rendered Spain 
a lifeless and enervated mass. The na- 
tional weakness and its disorders in- 
creased under Philip IV and Charles II. 
The succession to the kingdom on the 
death of this latter monarch, was the ob- 
ject of much political intrigue. Philip, 
grandson of the king of France, and 
Charles, brother of the emperor of Ger- 



many, were competitors. France and 
Spain supported the claims of Philip, and 
Germany, England, and Holland, those 
of Charles ; Philip V, however, obtained 
possession of the throne. The most re- 
markable event during his struggle for 
the supremacy, was the siege of Barcelo- 
na in Catalonia. 

Ardently attached to their native cus- 
toms and laws, and holding in detesta- 
tion those of Castile, the inhabitants of 
Barcelona resisted every offer of accom- 
modation, short of the actual acknow- 
ledgement of their ancient privileges. 
Though abandoned by all, they prepared 
for a vigorous defence, determined to re- 
linquish their liberty only with their lives. 
Villaroel, who had received the rank of 
general in the Austrian service, was en- 
trusted with the military command. He 
had only 16,000 troops besides armed 
citizens, to oppose the whole army of 
Philip, supported by 20,000 French, 
under the renowned duke of Berwick. 
But every expedient that skill or valor 
could suggest, was employed to ensure 
success in the approaching conflict. All 
who were imfit for service, the timid, the 
sickly, and the aged, were removed to 
the island of Majorca, which also held 
out against the authority of Philip, the 
fortifications were repaired and strength- 
ened, the streets barricaded, and every 
house converted into a citadel, by pierc- 
ing the walls for the use of musketry ; and, 
in order to excite the popular enthusiasm, 
and to strengthen their patriotism with 
the sanctions of religion, they deposited 
on the high altar of the cathedral the 
written promise of the queen of England 
to maintain their constitution, making a 
solemn appeal to heaven against the de- 
sertion of those, of whose selfish ambi- 
tion and crooked policy they were aboui 
to become the victims. 

The Spanish trenches were opened on 
the 12th of July ; on the 30th a lodgment 
was made in the covert way ; and by 
the 12th of August, breaches were effect- 
ed in two of the bastions. After a 
struggle of three days, the assailants ob- 
tained a footing upon the rampart ; and, 
while arrangements were making for a 
general assault, the duke of Berwick, 
anxious to prevent a farther effusion of 



SPAIN. 



599 



blood in this unnatural contest, and to 
save the city from the horrors of a storm, 
repeated the offers of a general amnesty. 
His compassionate efforts were treated 
with contumely, and served only to add 
fuel to their enthusiasm. The signal for 
the assault was given on the morning of 
the 11th of September, " Fifty battalions 
of grenadiers," says Coxa, "commenced 
the dreadful work, and were supported 
by forty others. The French attacked 
the eastern bastion, the Spaniards that of 
St. Clara and the new gate. The resis- 
tance was obstinate even to ferocity. 
Cannon loaded with grape made the most 
dreadful carnage in the breaches. With- 
out being able to advance a single step, 
the assailants perished by hundreds. 
Fresh troops incessantly arriving, at 
length overpowered the weaker number 
of the besieged. The French and Span- 
ish columns mounted the breaches at the 
same instant, and the French pushed for- 
ward into the town. But here the con- 
flict really commenced. Every street 
was intersected with barricades ; every 
inch of ground viras purchased with the 
sacrifice of lives. Unprovided with means 
to force the barricades, or fill up the 
ditches, the assailants were swept away 
by an incessant fire from every house. 
At length all obstructions were overcome 
by torrents of blood. In the heat of the 
combat, the victors spared not ; the Cat- 
alans, lavish of life, demanded no quarter. 
When they were driven into the great 
square, the assailants deemed the conflict 
at an end, and dispersed for pillage. But 
the insurgents, profiting by the moment, 
returned to the charge ; the assailants 
were driven back to the breach, and 
would have been again precipitated into 
the ditch, had they not been rallied by 
the bravery and exertions of their officers. 
Again the combat raged with aggravated 
fury, for the Spanish column, which had 
penetrated by the other breach, was driven 
back as the. French retreated. Numbers 
and bravery at length vanquished all re- 
sistance. The Spaniards turned their 
own cannon against them, and additional 
artillery was brought up to the breach. 
Yet, though thrown into disorder, they 
did not cease to combat. The assailants, 
galled with a continual and terrible fire, 



by a desperate efTort forced the bastion of 
St. Peter, where the besieged made their 
principal stand, and turned its artillery 
against them. In this crisis, the chiefs 
led them to a new charge, but were re- 
pulsed, and Villaroel desperately wound- 
ed. Though discouraged by the misfor- 
tune of the commander, the besieged still 
maintained the struggle for twelve hours, 
in every quarter of the town ; and there 
was scarcely an inhabitant of any age, 
sex, or condition, who did not share in 
the defence. The history of this century 
does not furnish an example of a siege 
so long and bloody. The women at 
length retired into the convents ; the pop- 
ulace, vanquished and straitened on every 
side, and unable to defend themselves, 
did not demand quarter ; and the French 
massacred all without distinction. At 
this moment, some individuals raised a 
white standard ; and Berwick seized the 
opportunity to suspend the carnage, or- 
dering his troops to maintain their posts, 
till he had heard the proposals of surren- 
der. But a sudden cry of " kill and burn," 
bursting from the ranks, revived the fury 
of the troops ; the streets were again del- 
uged with blood, and the authority of 
Berwick himself scarcely sufficed to ar- 
rest the disorder. Night arrived, and 
with it new horrors ; for in the short in- 
terval of suspense, the inhabitants re- 
sumed their arms, and again poured a 
destructive fire from the houses. Depu- 
ties at length advanced to the breach to 
parley with marshal Berwick, but re- 
quired a general pardon, and the restora- 
tion of their privileges. The marshal 
contemptuously rejected the demand, and 
threatened to give no quarter, if they did 
not surrender before morning. His an- 
swer inflamed the spirit of the insurgents ; 
and the combat raged with redoubled fury, 
a storm of fire pouring upon the assailants 
from the houses, which, by order of the 
marshal, had been respited from destruc- 
tion. This night was one of the most 
horrible that imagination can form. The 
marshal ordered the dead and wounded 
to be removed, kept the troops under 
arms, and prepared to reduce the town to 
ashes. Day broke, and notwithstanding 
the obstinacy of the insurgents, he grant- 
ed a delay of six hours. This concession 



600 



SPAIN. 



producing no effect, the houses were set 
on fire. Apprised of their danger by the 
burst of the flames, the insurgents once 
more hoisted a flag of truce. The fire 
was extinguished, the deputies of the 
magistracy yielded the town without con- 
dition, and the offers of Berwick pro- 
cured the immediate surrender of Mont- 
juich and Cardona. 

The lives and property of the inhabi- 
tants were spared ; but twenty of the 
chiefs, among whom were Villaroel, Ar- 
mengol, the marquis of Peral, and Nebot, 
were consigned to perpetual imprison- 
ment in the castle of Alicante ; and the 
bishop of Albaracin, with two hundred 
ecclesiastics, banished to Italy. Of the 
rest, the inferior officers were dismissed 
on taking the oath of allegiance. The 
standards of the town were publicly 
burnt, the privileges of the province an- 
nulled, and a new government establish- 
ed, according to the constitution of Cas- 
tile. 

Thus ended a conflict which recalls to 
the recollection the fate of the ancient 
Numantia and Saguntum, and in recent 
times finds a parallel in the immortal de- 
fence of Saragossa. The royalists pur- 
chased their victory with the loss of no 
less than 6,000 men in the siege, and 
4,000 in the assault ; and the besieged 
were equally sufferers. 

At the accession of Philip V, of the 
house of Bourbon, to the throne, Spain 
had become much reduced in its wealth 
and population, and still more in the 
genius and activity of the people. The 
reign of Philip was long, but the despo- 
tism of his government with the super- 
stition and oppression of the Catholic 
church at that period, no other being 
tolerated, joined to natural indolence, 
gradually destroyed the strength and 
reputation of the people. Philip died 
in 1746, and was succeeded by his son 
Ferdinand VI, who would gladly have 
restored the privileges and prosperity of 
people ; but the general corruption of the 
court, the clergy, and the nobility, formed 
an obstacle to reformation, that no ordi- 
nary abilities in a sovereign could ex- 
pect to surmount. 

Ferdinand dying without issue, was 
succeeded by his brother Charles III, 



then king of Naples, in 1759. Possess- 
ing the natural sloth of his countrymen, 
with the effeminacy of an Italian, his 
motherbeing a princess of Parma, he was 
wholly under the influence of favorites. 
During his reign in 1762, the strong for- 
tress of Havanna was taken by the Brit- 
ish forces, who were assisted by a body 
of New England troops. The most re- 
markable warlike event in his reign was 
the celebrated siege of Gibraltar. Tliis 
celebrated fortress had been in possession 
of Great Britain since the year 1704, 
and its possession by that power, was 
ever a mortifying circumstance to the 
Spanish nation. 

In the war which broke out between 
England and Spain, in 1779, the last at- 
tempt was made for the recovery of Gib- 
raltar. The Spanish ambassador having 
announced the intention of his court, in 
London, on the 16th of June, 1779, on 
the 21st of the same month all commu- 
nication between Gibraltar and the sur- 
roimding country was closed, by the com- 
mand of the government at Madrid. It 
was the middle of the following month, 
however, before the Spaniards began to 
blockade the fort. Fortunately, in the 
early part of this year. General Elliot, 
who had been recently appointed gover- 
nor, had arrived in the fort, and brought 
to the crisis that was approaching the aid 
of his great military science and talents. 
Another fortunate circumstance was, that 
a supply of provisions had arrived in the 
preceding April. Had it not been for 
this, the garrison might have suffered 
from the sudden stoppage of their accus- 
tomed intercourse both with Spain and 
with Africa. The first firing which took 
place was on the 12th of September, 
when a cannonade was opened from the 
fort which destroyed the works that the 
besiegers had spent many of the preced- 
ing weeks in erecting. The blockade, 
notwithstanding, became every day closer, 
and the occasional boats, which had, for 
some time, stolen in from the African 
coast and other places, at length found it 
impossible to continue their attempts. By 
the end of October provisions had be- 
come extremely dear ; about the same 
time, too, the small-pox broke out among 
the Jewish inhabitants of the town, and 



SPAIN. 



601 



every precaution was used to prevent the 
spread of the disease. In November, 
the governor, in order to try on hovi^ little 
food life and strength could be sustained, 
restricted himself for eight days to four 
ounces of rice per diem. Thistles, dan- 
delions, wild leeks, &c, began to be eaten 
by the people of the town, and meat sold 
from half-a-crown to four shillings the 
pound. 

The first firing from the besiegers took 
place on ihe 12th of January, 1780. By 
the end of March the first supply of pro- 
visions arrived, brought in by the gallant 
Admiral Rodney, who had not only cut 
his way to the assistance of his distressed 
countrymen, through all the opposition 
of the enemy, but had captured six of 
their men-of-war, including a sixty-four 
gun ship, with the admiral on board, to- 
gether with seventeen merchantmen. 
His late Majesty, then known as Prince 
William-Henry, Avas serving on board 
one of Sir George Rodney's ships as a 
midshipman, and often visited the garri- 
son while the fleet remained in the bay. 
Captain Drinkwater relates that, on see- 
ing a prince of the blood thus serving as 
a warrant-officer, the captive Spanish 
admiral exclaimed, that Great Britain 
well deserved the empire of the seas, 
when even her king's sons were found 
thus holding the humblest situations on 
board her ships. 

For many months after this, things con- 
tinued nearly in the same state. The 
garrison and towns people were again 
and again reduced to the greatest priva- 
tions by scarcity of provisions, before 
supplies arrived. In the spring of 1781, 
the besiegers at last opened the batteries, 
and continued firing upon the town till 
they had completely destroyed it. On 
the 27th of April, however, a most gal- 
lant exploit was performed by a party 
from the garrison, who, making a sortie 
from their fortifications, succeeded in 
setting fire to, and reducing to ashes, all 
the erections of the enemy, although dis- 
tant not less than three-quarters of a mile. 
This, however, brought only a temporary 
relief. The firing soon after recom- 
menced, and, for more than a year, con- 
tinued incessantly. In the course of the 
year 1782, it was, on the suggestion of 
76 



general Boyd, returned from the rock 
with red-hot balls, a device which was 
found to produce the most powerful effect. 
The enemy, however, now prepared for 
a grand effort. On the 12th of Septem- 
ber the combined fleets of France and 
Spain arrived in the bay ; next morning 
they were drawn up around the south 
and west sides of the promontory, a most 
formidable armament, consisting of forty- 
seven sail of the line, seven of which 
were three-deckers, together with ten 
battering-ships, the strongest that had 
ever been built, and many frigates and 
smaller vessels. On land there lay an 
army of 40,000, with batteries on which 
were mounted 200 pieces of heavy ord- 
nance. On the other side, the garrison 
now consisted of about 7,000 eflfective 
men. The ships were permitted to take 
their stations without molestation ; but, 
about a quarter before ten o'clock, as soon 
as the first of them dropped anchor, the 
citadel began to pour upon them its hith- 
erto reserved artillery. Now commenced 
a scene of terrible sublimity. Four hun- 
dred pieces of the heaviest ordnance 
thundered without intermission, and filled 
the air with smoke and flame. For sev- 
eral hours the attack and defence were 
so well supported as scarcely to admit 
any appearance of superiority in the can- 
nonade on either side. The wonderful 
construction of the ships seemed to bid 
defiance to the powers of the heaviest 
ordnance. In the afternoon, however, 
the face of things began to change con- 
siderably. The smoke, which had been 
observed to issue from the upper part of 
the flag ship, appeared to prevail, not- 
withstanding the constant application of 
water ; and the admiral's second was 
perceived to be in the same condition. 
Confusion was now apparent on board 
several of the vessels ; and, by the even- 
ing, their cannonade was considerably 
abated. About seven or eight o'clock it 
almost entirely ceased, excepting from 
one or two ships to the northward, which, 
from their distance, had suff'ered very 
little mjury. 

In the end, the attack concluded in the 
complete annihilation of the assailing 
squadron. All the larger ships were 
beaten to pieces or burnt. As night ap- 



602 



SPAIN, 




Defeat of the Spaniards before Gibraltar. 



preached groans and signals of distress 
from those on board the shattered navy 
supplied the place of the now slackened 
fire. Many of the wretched men were 
struggling for life in the waters ; and the 
victors themselves at last put out to their 
assistance, and picked numbers of them 
up. The loss of the enemy was supposed 
to amount to about 2,000, including pris- 
oners. Of the English there were only 
16 killed, and 68 wounded. The rock 
was a much better defence than even 
those strong-built men-of-war. The as- 
sailants had had three hundred pieces of 
ordnance in play ; the garrison only em- 
ployed eighty cannon, seven mortars, and 
nine howitzers. Captain Drinkwater 
states that upwards of 8,300 rounds, more 
than half of which were hot shot, and 
716 barrels of powder, were expended 
by the English artillery. 

Even this complete discomfiture, how- 
ever, did not subdue the obstinacy of the 
besiegers. They continued to encom- 
pass the place, and even to keep up a 
feeble fire upon it some months longer. 
At length the long blockade was termi- 
nated by the announcement of the sign- 
ing of the preliminaries of a general 
peace on the 2d of February, 1783. 



Charles III, upon his death-bed, charg- 
ed his successor to retain Florida Blanc a 
in his service, as an upright and faithful 
counsellor, to whose able and unv^earied 
exertions the kingdom was indebted for 
many valuable improvements. Charles 
IV, however, held only the nominal 
sovereignty of Spain, the whole power 
and influence of the government resided 
virtually in the queen. This princess 
was a daughter of the duke of Parma, 
and soon after her marriage with the 
prince of Asturias, discovered a strong 
propensity to gallantry, which the severe 
and jealous temper of her father-in-law 
was scarcely able to check. But the 
death of the old king left her without an 
obstacle in the pursuit of her licentious 
pleasures, as her weak and good-natured 
husband seemed neither to feel nor to 
see her disgraceful conduct. Her favor- 
ite at this time was Don Manuel Godoy, 
a young ofiicer in the horse-guards, and 
descended of an ancient but decayed 
family in Estremadura. This person 
{ had obtained his present elevation by 
supplanting his brother in the afi'ections 
of the queen ; and he continued, in spite 
of his own imprudence and infidelities, 
which were well known to his royal mis- 



SPAIN. 



603 



tress, to maintain his ascendency over 
her to the last. He had also ingratiated 
himself into the confidence of the mon- 
arch, and was rapidly advanced to the 
first ranks of the army, and the highest 
honors of the state. Having been raised 
to a grandeeship of the first class, he re- 
ceived a princely estate belonging to the 
crown, with the title of Duke de la Al- 
cudia, and the faithful Florida Blanca 
■was removed to make way for his ap- 
pointment to the head of the government. 

At this period the revolution in France 
had involved Spain also within the vor- 
tex of its influence ; but her ill-conducted 
and disastrous efforts were of little avail 
to the general confederacy. The revo- 
lutionary forces overran the greater part 
of Navarre, and would soon have dicta- 
ted their own terms at Madrid, had not 
the favorite minister concluded and rati- 
fied the peace of Basle, by which the 
French conquests were restored in ex- 
change for the Spanish part of St. Do- 
mingo. The nation had been so alarmed 
at the successes of the republican army, 
that this peace was hailed with universal 
joy, and no reward was considered too 
extravagant for the person by whose 
management it had been accomplished. 
A new dignity was created for him alone, 
under the title of " Prince of the Peace," 
which placed him next in rank to the 
princes of the blood royal ; and this was 
soon after followed by his marriage into 
the royal family, by receiving the hand 
of the eldest daughter of the king's late 
brother Don Louis. 

The open and unguarded gallantries 
of the favorite, however, excited the 
jealousy of his royal mistress, and she 
frequently formed the desigTi of accom- 
plishing his disgrace, and driving him 
from the court ; but her unextinguished, 
and ever reviving passion, yielded to the 
first offers of reconciliation ; and all her 
attempts at revenge ended only in the 
ruin of those who were employed as the 
instruments of it. It was this which de- 
prived Spain of the talents of the accom- 
plished and patriotic Jovellanos, and 
consigned him to the fortress of Bellver 
in Majorca. The return of confidence 
was always followed by an accession of 
honor and influence. The antiquated 



dignity of high admiral, accompanied 
with great emoluments, and the title of 
highness, was revived and conferred 
upon Godoy, and a brigade of cavalry, 
composed of picked men from the whole 
army, was given him for a body guard. 
His power at length became so unlimited, 
that every department of the government 
was filled by his dependents ; and it is 
said, that " the queen finding it impracti- 
cable to check his gallantries, had so 
perfectly conquered her jealousy as not 
only to live with him on the most amica- 
ble terms, but to emulate his love of 
variety in the most open and impudent 
manner." 

It could not be expected that a country 
under such control could long maintain 
its respectability and independence. The 
incessant demands of the queen for the 
support of her pleasures, formed the most 
pressing and considerable item in the 
Spanish budget ; and it is asserted that 
" Caballero, the minister for the home 
department, fearing the progress of all 
learning, which might disturb the peace 
of the court, sent a circular order to the 
universities, forbidding the study of moral 
philosophy. ' His majesty,' it was said 
in the order, ' was not ii' want of philo- 
sophers, but of good and obedient sub- 
jects.' " Spain consequently became the 
humble tool, first of the republic and then 
of the emperor of France. Soon after 
the peace of Basle, she entered into an 
alliance with the republic, to which she 
furnished a fleet and large contributions 
in money ; but in her contest with Bri- 
tain, her fleet of twenty-seven sail of the 
line was defeated off" Cape St. Vincent 
by a very inferior force, under Sir John 
Jarvis, when four line of battle ships re- 
mained with the victors. 

Upon the renewal of hostilities after 
the peace of Amiens, Spain, as a vassal 
state, again attached herself to the for- 
tunes of her more formidable neighbor, — 
but the battle of Trafalgar stripped her 
of her marine, and she continued to be 
the passive instrument of Bonaparte, till 
her population were roused to resistance 
by a system of perfidy and aggression, 
on the part of the French ruler, unexam- 
pled in the history of the world. 

Not satisfied with having at his dispo- 



604 



SPAIN 



sal the resources of the Spanish monar- 
chy, Bonaparte meditated the total sub- 
jugation of the kingdom, and the confer- 
ring of its sovereignty as a conquered 
province upon one of his own family. 
Having gained over Godoy to his inter- 
ests, and sown dissensions among the 
royal family, he decoyed them, imder the 
mask of friendship, to Bayonne, and there 
by threats compelled them to sign a re- 
nunciation of their rights to the crown of 
Spain and the Indies, and placed his 
brother Joseph upon the throne of that 
kingdom. 

This barefaced perfidy and outrage, 
awakened the long latent energies of the 
Spanish people, they rose in arms against 
their oppressors, and made a noble strug- 
gle in resisting the progress of the French 
armies. One of the most memorable 
achievements in this conflict, or any 
other in modern times was the defence 
of Saragossa, or Zaragossa, the capital 
of Arragon. This ancient city Avas but 
slightly defended by an ancient wall about 
ten feet high. Its garrison consisted 
chiefly of the citizens of the place ; the 
governor was a young nobleman, called 
Don Joseph Palafox. The French, under 
General Lefebvre Desnouettes, endeav- 
oured to carry the place by a coup-de- 
main, in which they failed with great 
loss. As they began to invest the place 
more closely, all the Zaragozans rushed 
to man their defences — condition, age, 
even sex, made no diflercnce ; monks 
fought abreast Avith the laity, and several 
women showed more than masculine 
courage. After a horrid contest for 
several weeks, the French were obliged 
to retreat. 

On the 30th of December, 1808, the 
French under Marshal Moncey again be- 
sieged Zaragossa. The marshal ad- 
dressed a letter to Palafox, and summoned 
him to surrender the city and spare the 
efliision of blood ; he likewise informed 
him, that Madrid had fallen, and that 
Napoleon at the head of a great army, 
was then in the act of chasing the English 
to their ships. Palafox replied, that the 
garrison would rather be buried in the 
ruins of their city than surrender. The 
aid of superstition was not wanting to 
strengthen the confidence of the Zara- 



gozans. They relied on the miraculous 
protection of our Lady of the Pillar, who 
had made their favored city the seat of 
her peculiar woiship. The successful 
termination of the former siege had given 
strength to their belief in the beneficent 
regards of the patron saint. Approaching 
victory, in their belief, had been pre- 
figured by unwonted conformations in 
the clouds ; and celestial voices were 
heard in the elements off"ering divine 
protection, &c. On the 2d of Jan. 1809, 
Moncey was superseded by Marshal Ju- 
not in the command of the beseiging 
army. Napoleon dissatisfied Avith the 
slow progress of the siege, afterwards 
sent Marshal Lannes to assume the com- 
mand, who pushed the siege with vigor, 
and having forced the outwork, gained a 
footing in the city at various points. 

The misfortunes of the Zaragozans 
were hourly accumulating. The Fever 
demon stalked through the city like a de- 
stroying angel, conquering and to con- 
quer. The number of dead per day 
amounted ^o three hundred and fifty, 
without including those who fell the more 
immediate victims of war. The hospi- 
tals were too small to contain the host 
of patients, and the necessary medicines 
were exhausted. The burying grounds 
were choked with corpses ; and large 
pits were dug in the streets, into which 
the dead were tossed indiscriminately. 
Heaps of bloated and putrescent bodies 
were piled before the churches, which 
were often struck by the shells ; and the 
maimed and ghastly carcasses lay dis- 
persed along the streets, a frightful spec- 
tacle of horror. Even under such evils 
the courage of the Zaragozans did not 
quail. 

The city was now open to the inva- 
ders, and the war as formerly was carried 
on in the streets and houses. Not one 
inch of ground was yielded by the be- 
sieged Avithout a struggle ; and when 
finally driven from a building, they fre- 
quently, by a desperate offensive effort, 
recovered it ; and an equal resistance 
had again to be encountered by the as- 
sailants. Traverses were cut around the 
portions of the city occupied by the 
enemy ; and at the sound of the tocsin, 
the garrison Avere always ready to rush 



SPAIN. 



605 



to any quarter where hostilities had com- 
menced. 

Notwithstanding the utmost efforts of 
the garrison, the French gained ground. 
The first of February was marked by the 
capture of the Convents of St. Augustin 
and St. Monica. Having been repelled 
in assaulting the breaches, the assailants 
sprung a mine, and by that means effect- 
ed an entrance, and took in reverse the 
works erected for their defence. A 
deadly struggle took place in the church. 
Every chapel, every column, every altar, 
became a point of defence, — the pave- 
ment was strewed with blood, and the 
aisles and nave of the church were cov- 
ered with the dead. During this terrific 
conflict, the roof, shattered by bombs, fell 
in. Those who escaped, renewed the 
contest on the bodies of the dead and 
dying. The French were at length suc- 
cessful, and advancing on the Rua Que- 
mada, gained possession of several 
houses. From these, however, they 
were eventually compelled to retreat. 

At the same time, an attack was made 
on the houses near Sta. Engracia. Two 
mines, one on the left, the other on the 
right, of the Convent, were sprung by 
the besiegers ; after which, two columns 
of Polish infantry succeeded in gaining 
possession of the ruins caused by the 
explosion. The loss of the besiegers 
was very considerable, and General La- 
coste, commandant of engineers, was 
killed. He was an officer of great pro- 
fessional eminence, and untarnished 
character. 

During four days the besiegers were 
employed in constructing three galleries 
to cross the Rua Quemada. Two of 
these failed. By means of the third 
they succeeded in establishing them- 
selves in the ruins of a house which 
formed an angle of the Cozo, and of the 
Rua del Medio. A building, called the 
Escuelas Pias, commanded several trav- 
erses, made for the defence of the Cozo. 
Aware of the importance of this post, the 
assailants made several unsuccessful 
efforts to gain possession of it. They 
then attempted the adjoining houses ; but 
in this also they failed. The system of 
blowing up the houses now adopted, was 
favorable to the besieged ; for the enemy 



who established themselves on the ruins, 
were thus exposed to the fire of the sur- 
rounding buildings. In the meanwhile, 
the continual succession of formidable 
and unforeseen obstacles, which present- 
ed themselves to the French soldiers, 
had considerably damped their ardor ; 
while the spirits of the besieged, who 
had to contend against famine, fever, and 
the French army, were yet unbroken. 

On the seventh of February, the Con- 
vent of Jesus, on the left of the road to 
Lerida, was attacked. Trenches were 
opened against it ; and twenty battering 
pieces having effected a breach, it was 
carried with little loss, the building not 
being considered by the besieged as of 
meterial importance. The enemy then 
succeeded in establishing a lodgment to 
the right and left. 

The loss of the suburb which was 
carried by assault on the 18th, laid open 
to the enemy the only part of the town 
which had hitherto been exempted from 
direct attack. The besiegers, imagining 
that the courage of the garrison had been 
abated by this irreparable misfortune, 
continued their operations with vigor. 
By means of mining, two enormous 
breaches were made in the University — 
both of which were attacked and carried ; 
and the traverses of the Cozo were at 
length abandoned by the Spaniards. In 
the meantime, Palafox had been smitten 
with the dreadful disease, whose raA^ages 
had been more widely spread than even 
those of famine and the sword. This 
admirable and heroic leader, who, for 
above a month, had been unable to quit 
the vault where he lay stretched on a 
bed of suffering, at length saw the ne- 
cessity of resigning the command. 

On the nineteenth, he transferred his 
authority to a Junta, of which Don Pedro 
Ric was appointed president. A council 
was immediately assembled to deliberate 
on the condition of the city, and the 
measures most proper to be adopted. At 
this meeting it was stated, by the Gen- 
eral of cavalry, that only sixty-two horses 
remained, the rest having died of hunger. 
Of the infantry it appeared there were 
little more than two thousand eight hun- 
dred men fit for service. Ammunition 
was nearly exhausted ; and should a 



606 



SPAIN. 



shell penetrate the Inquisition, their only 
manufactory of powder would be destroy- 
ed. The fortifications were stated, by 
the chief engineer, to have been almost 
utterly demolished. There were neither 
men nor materials necessary for repair- 
ing them ; and bags of earth coidd no 
longer be formed from want of cloth. 

With regard to the measures to be 
adopted, the Junta were divided in opin- 
ion. Twenty-six voted for capitulation ; 
eight against it. The latter were averse 
to surrender, while even a possibility of 
succor remained. With proud gallantry 
of spirit the opinion of the minority was 
adopted by the Junta. A flag of truce 
was sent to the enemy, proposing a sus- 
pension of hostilities, with the view of 
ascertaining the situation of the Spanish 
armies ; it being understood that should 
no immediate succor be at hand, the 
Junta would then treat for a surrender. 
This proposal was peremptorily declined 
by Marshal Lannes ; and the bombard- 
ment recommenced. 

On the twentieth the garrison made a 
last and unsuccessful effort to recover 
two guns which the enemy had captured 
on the preceding day. Affairs were 
now desperate. The fifty guns which 
had been employed in the attack of the 
suburb, now opened fire on the city ; and 
the streets in the neighborhood of the 
quay were laid in ruins. 

Thus situated, the Junta ordered mea- 
sures to be taken to ascertain the senti- 
ments of the people with regard to the 
situation of their city. Two-thirds of it 
were in ruins. Fire, famine, and slaugh- 
ter had done their work ; and from three 
to four hundred persons were daily dying 
of the pestilence. Under such circum- 
stances the Junta declared they had ful- 
filled their oath of fidelity, — and that 
Zaragoza was destroyed. A flag of truce 
was despatched to the French head- 
quarters, followed by a deputation of the 
Junta, to arrange the terms of capitula- 
tion. Marshal Lannes was at first dis- 
posed to insist on unconditional surren- 
der. The proposal was indignantly re- 
jected by the deputies ; and Ric declared, 
that rather than submit to it the Zarago- 
zans would die beneath the ruins of their 
city. "I, and my companions," said 



this noble patriot, " will return there, and 
defend what remains to us as best we 
may. We have yet arms and ammuni- 
tion, and if these fail, we have daggers. 
War is never without its chances ; and 
should the Zaragozans be driven to des- 
pair, it yet remains to be proved who 
are to be victorious." 

In this temper of the garrison, Lannes 
did not think it prudent to refuse grant- 
ing terms. It was accordingly conceded 
that the troops should march out with 
the honors of war, that the heroic Pala- 
fox should be suffered to retire to any 
place where he might think proper to fix 
his residence, and that all persons, not 
included in the garrison, should be suf- 
fered to quit the city, in order to avoid 
the contagion. 

On the twenty-first, the posts of the 
city were delivered up to the French, 
and thus terminated one of the most 
strenuous and extraordinary struggles of 
which history bears record. The resis- 
tance continued for fifty-two days with 
open trenches ; twenty-nine of these 
were consumed by the enemy in effect- 
ing an entrance, — twenty-three in the 
war subsequently carried on in the 
streets and houses. By their own ac- 
count the French threw above seventeen 
thousand bombs into the city, and expend- 
ed above one hundred and sixty thousand 
pounds weight of powder. More than 
thirty thousand men and five hundred 
ofiicers perished in the defence, exclu- 
sive of a vast number of women and 
children, who sank the mute and suffer- 
ing victims of fire, famine, pestilence, 
and slaughter. The amount of loss sus- 
tained by the besieged was studiously 
concealed, — that it was very great, can- 
not be doubted ; and the contemplated 
operations on Lerida and Valencia, for 
which the army was destined, were in 
consequence given up. 

When the garrison quitted the city, 
only two thousand four hundred men 
were capable of bearing arms ; the rest 
were in the hospitals. On the march to 
France, two hundred and seventy of 
these men, weakened by famine and dis- 
ease, were found incapable of proceed- 
ing with the rapidity which their inhuman 
conductors considered necessary ; they 



SPAIN. 



607 



were butchered and left on the road, to 
serve as a spectacle and a warning to the 
succeeding divisions. 

Among the prisoners, was Augustina 
Zaragoza, who had distinguished herself 
in the former siege. At the commence- 
ment, she had resumed her station by the 
Portillo gate. When Palafox visited the 
battery, she pointed to the gim she had 
formerly served with so much effect, and 
exclaimed, " See, General, I am again 
with my old friend." Once, when her 
wounded husband lay bleeding at her 
feet, she discharged the cannon at the 
enemy, in order to avenge his fall. She 
frequently led the assaulting parties, and 
with sword in hand, and her cloak wrap- 
ped around her, mingled in the daily con- 
flicts which took place in the streets. 
Though exposed, during the whole siege, 
to the most imminent danger, Augustina 
escaped without a wound. 

The record of female heroism must 
be yet further extended. During the 
struggle, the women of Zaragoza shrank 
from no ordeal, however terrible. In the 
combat, where the fight was the thickest, 
— on the ramparts, where the fire was 
most deadly, — in the hospitals, — in the 
dark and airless dens of pestilence, 
breathing a tainted and noisome atmos- 
phere, — there were they found, these 
"meek-eyed women, without fear," sooth- 
ing the dying, ministering to the suffer- 
ing, and exhibiting a proud and memo- 
rable spectacle of fortitude and virtue. 

The terms of the capitulation were 
shamefully violated by Marshal Lannes. 
Palafox was sent a prisoner into France ; 
and the city became the scene of pillage 
and atrocity. The province, on the fall 
of Zaragoza, became comparatively tran- 
quil. Fourteen thousand men, under 
Suchet, were left to maintain tranquillity; 
and the remainder of the besieging army, 
under Mortier, moved into Castile. 

In the meanwhile, Europe rang with 
admiration of the noble defence of Zara- 
goza. Every where the pulses of the 
slave beat quicker and more strongly ; 
and the heart of the freeman bounded 
proudly in his bosom. Poets and histo- 
rians consecrated, in undying records, 
the virtue of her citizens ; and Zaragoza, 
like Thermopylae, will remain linked 



with associations of the purest patriotism 
and devotion. 

All opposition to the overwhelming 
power of France must soon have been 
crushed, had not the Spanish people re- 
ceived efficient aid from Great Britain. 
The French were driven from Spain 
early in 1814, by the British forces under 
Lord Welhngton, {see Great Britain,) and 
Ferdinand VII, was seated on the throne. 

A constitution framed by the Cortes 
was promulgated in 1812, but owing to 
its democratical principles, was violently 
opposed in many parts of the kingdom. 
The unhappy division of the nation into 
constitutionalists and royalists, or, as they 
were afterwards called, liberals and 
serviles, was the source of much conten- 
tion and trouble. The affairs of Spain 
were discussed at the congress of Verona ; 
and the powers there assembled, with 
the exception of Great Britain, assumed 
the authority of interfering with the in- 
ternal arrangements of an independent 
kingdom. They demanded a change in 
the institutions formed by the Cortes, and 
a subjection to the arbitary power of 
Ferdinand. A French army under the 
duke d'Angouleme entered Spain, and 
after a slight resistance entered Madrid 
on the 21st of May, 1823. The duke 
having installed a regency, advanced up- 
on Cadiz, whither the Cortes had retired, 
carrying with them Ferdinand as a kind 
of prisoner. Cadiz being besieged by a 
force of 30,000 French troops, with a 
formidable train of artillery, was forced 
to surrender. This event was soon fol- 
lowed by the surrender of all the impor- 
tant fortresses in the kingdom. The 
most effectual resistance against the 
French power, was made by the gallant 
Mina, who maintained a desultory and 
protracted war against a very superior 
force in the mountains of Catalonia. By 
the aid of the presence of a French army, 
Ferdinand became the absolute master 
of Spain. The members of the Cortes, 
and the principal chiefs ofthe former gov- 
ernment fled from their oppressed country. 
The gallant but unfortunate Riego, how- 
ever, was taken, and after a mock trial 
was executed. Since the death of Fer- 
dinand, the affairs of Spain have con- 
tinued in a very unsettled state. 



608 



SWEDEN. 



SWEDEN 



The ancient history of Sweden is 
closely connected with that of Denmark, 
{see Denmark.) The original inliabitants 
were a colony of Finns from the banks 
of the Volga, and the vicinity of Mount 
Caucasus. And about three hundred 
years before the Christian era, they were 
driven from their northern settlements by 
the Teutones, a people who came thither 
from Germany, and who either expelled 
the original inhabitants, or became incor- 
porated with them. Except in the north- 
ern extremity of Lapland, however, every 
trace of the Finns has long been oblite- 
rated. The present Swedes, therefore, 
as well as the Danes and Norwegians, 
are of Teutonic or Gothic origin ; and the 
term Scandinavia, or Land of Caves, was 
conferred on the extensive regions which 
now form these three nations, from the 
practice of the inhabitants dwelling in 
rocky caverns. 

This country was not converted to 
Christianity till the end of the eleventh 
century, when this happy event took 
place by means of missionaries from 
England. It renounced the errors of 
popery, and adopted the reformed doc- 
trines, five centuries afterwards. Swe- 
den, though meanwhile it had various 
forms of government at different periods, 
remained free till the year 1392, when 
Margaret, queen of Denmark, styled the 
Semiramis of the north, conquered it by 
policy and by force of arms, and made 
one Idngdom of these three vast states. 
This conquest was not destined to be 
permanent. Sweden was the victim of 
wars and insurrections ; and was alter- 
nately free and enslaved for upwards of 
a century ; at the end of which time 
appeared Gustavus Vasa, a young man, 
descended from the ancient kings of the 
country ; and, abandoning the forests of 
Delecarlia, where he had concealed him- 
self, he aspired to become the deliverer 
of Sweden. His attempt was successful ; 
the Danes were expelled, and Gustavus 
was himself elected king of the country 
of which he had been the liberator. He 
introduced the reformation into Sweden ; 



and was in many respects a man superior 
to his age. He had the influence to get 
the crown declared hereditary in his 
family, who, with various degrees of 
eminence and merit, have continued till 
within these few years to enjoy it. He 
died in 1560, after a glorious reign of 
thirty-seven years. Anxious to strength- 
en the throne by an alliance with the 
family of some of the neighboring pow- 
ers, he endeavored to accomplish that 
object by the marriage of his son Eric, 
who succeeded him, to Elizabeth queen 
of England. The offer, as is well known, 
was rejected. 

The successors of this enlightened 
restorer of Swedish liberty were, with 
few exceptions, not worthy of him. They 
were all indeed endued with a chivalry 
and heroism not common even in ages 
when such attributes were regarded as 
the perfection of character ; but they 
were devoid of sober judgment, of nice 
discrimination, and of sound policy. 
Their romantic spirit and enterprises, as 
in the case of Charles XII, not unfre- 
quently approached to the verge of in- 
fatuation or insanity ; and tended directly 
to retard the progress of knowledge and 
civilization in the territories over .which 
they ruled. 

Of the descendants of Vasa, Gustavus 
Adolphus, on whom has been confer- 
red the title of Great, was the most 
distinguished, and was the bulwark of 
the Protestant faith. He defended the 
Lutherans against the Emperor with 
equal bravery and good fortune. He 
made war, with success and with con- 
summate skill, against Russia, Denmark, 
Poland, and Germany, and these great 
achievements he performed before he 
had completed his thirty-seventh year; 
at which age he fell in the arms of vic- 
tory at Lutzen ; carrying " to the tomb," 
says Voltaire, " the name of Great, the 
regrets of the north, and the esteem of 
his enemies." 

With the great Gustavus and his gen- 
erals, the fame and prosperity of Sweden 
seemed to expire. Christiana, in 1654, 



SWEDEN 



609 



six years after the peace of Westphalia, 
resigned her crown to her cousin Charles 
Gustaviis. The life and adventures of 
this celebrated princess, exhibit the most 
surprising extremes of magnanimity and 
weakness — of elevation of mind, and per- 
version of taste. The adventures, through 
which she passed, would furnish ample 
materials for the writer of romance. 

Charles Gustavus, who was the tenth 
of that name, was a prince of considera- 
ble abilities, and gained some advantages 
in a war with Poland ; but his reign last- 
ed only six years. He died in 1660, and 
was succeeded in his government by his 
son Charles XI, who was an odious and 
impolitic tyrant. So far from imitating 
the example of several of his illustrious 
predecessors, he used his utmost power 
to oppress and enslave his people. Dur- 
ing his long reign, though apparently suc- 
cessful in several wars, his kingdom and 
the Swedish name were falling from that 
important and splendid rank, they once 
held in Europe. 

In 1697, by the death of Charles XI, 
the throne of Sweden was left vacant to 
the famous Charles XII, his son and suc- 
cessor, than whom, probably, no mortal 
man ever breathed more constantly the 
spirit of war. But, instead of possess- 
ing the great qualities of Vasa and Adol- 
phus, he seemed capable of nothing but 
war and conquest. Headlong as a tiger, 
he rushed forward, as if only solicitous 
to fight, with very little regard to pros- 
pects of advantage, or the favorable mo- 
ment. 

While such a tiger, however, was about 
to be let loose in the North of Europe, a 
lion, if we may keep up the metaphor, 
was prepared still further north, to keep 
him at bay, and set bounds to his lawless 
rage. Peter, justly styled the Great, had 
just returned to his own dominions, en- 
riched with discoveries and improve- 
ments, calculated to aid him in the grand 
scheme of civilizing the North of Europe 
and Asia, when Charles XII, though but 
eighteen years of age, ascended the 
throne of Sweden. The views of Charles 
relative to the conquest of Russia, may 
well be compared with those of Alexan- 
der in relation to the Persian empire. 
But had Charles acted with that prudent 
77 



caution, which governed Alexander's 
counsels and movements he might have 
avoided those disasters, which ruined 
himself and his kingdom, even though he 
had failed in the main object of his 
ambition. 

The wars of Charles, however, were 
tremendous ; and his name soon became 
terrible through the world. But he was 
too rash and impetuous to execute his 
plans by means, which were necessary 
to give permanence to his success. He 
fought in all directions, and was general- 
ly victorious. He humbled all his adver- 
saries except one, and struck terror into 
all his neighbors. He dethroned Augus- 
tus, king of Poland, new modelled the 
government of that kingdom, and caused 
Stanislaus, a creature of his own, to be 
invested with that sovereignty. But his 
whole plan of operations may be clearly 
traced to his great design of subduing 
Russia, which issued in the battle of Pul- 
towa, fought on the 11th July, 1709. 

While Charles, mad with his design 
of becoming a second Alexander and con- 
quering all mankind, was with the utmost 
diligence preparing the way for his oper- 
ations against Peter, the latter by a stretch 
of masterly policy, unequalled in its kind, 
was widening his resources, fortifying 
his power, improving his immense em- 
pire, and strengthening the basis of his 
throne. The victorious standard of 
Charles, in 1707, which had been dis- 
played in Saxony, to the terror of all 
Germany, was removed, and again seen 
in Poland. Thither, at the head of 43,000 
men, Charles now proceeded to oppose 
the Russian arms, which during his ab- 
sence had been employed in favor of 
Augustus, the dethroned monarch. From 
Lithuania, where he had for some time 
been, Peter directed his march toward 
the river Boristhenes, avoiding for the 
present a general battle with the Swe- 
dish hero. So near were the two ar- 
mies, that Charles arrived in the city of 
Grodno, on the same day that Peter left 
it. But the pursuit was in vain. 

The sovereign of Russia, on this oc- 
casion, displayed that wisdom and pru- 
dence, which seemed the prelude to his 
future triumph. Finding himself in his 
own dominions, and justly fearmg the 



610 



SWEDEN. 



consequences of so terrible a conflict, as 
seemed approaching, he sent an embassy 
to the king of Sweden, with proposals 
of peace. Charles returned for answer, 
that he would treat with him at Moscow. 
The czar's remark, when this haughty 
answer was brought him, gives us a trait 
of the character of the two rivals. " My 
brother Charles," said he, "always af- 
fects to play the Alexander ; but I hope 
he will not find me a Darius." The ce- 
lerity of his retreat defeated all hopes of 
overtaking him ; and the Swedish mon- 
arch consoled himself by pursuing his 
march toward Moscow. But in this, he 
found no small difficulty. His army suf- 
fered incredible hardships, in pursuing 
the course of the czar, who, aware of 
his approach, had destroyed all means 
of subsistence, and indeed almost every 
vestige of human habitation. Vast for- 
ests, morasses and extensive solitudes 
presented before them, scenes of desola- 
tion, and the alarming prospect of de- 
struction. Through these dreary wastes 
the Russians moved with safety, being 
in their own country, and led by a gTeat 
commander, who knew well how to avail 
himself of his own resources, and to 
leave behind him, nothing to facilitate 
the progress of his pursuer. 

Charles, though now determined to 
march to Moscow, was compelled to al- 
ter his line of march, and by a more cir- 
cuitous course, to pass through places, 
whence some supplies might be derived 
for his army, now nearly perishing with 
fatigue and want. The north of Europe 
abounds with vast forests and trackless 
wilds, almost impassable even in the 
summer season, and now clothed with 
double horrors by the approach of win- 
ter. The ablest officers of his army, re- 
monstrated against penetrating those in- 
hospitable climes, in the winter season. 
Count Piper, on whom he had ever placed 
much dependence, earnestly recommend- 
ed to him to remain in the Ukraine, a 
province lying along the river Boris- 
thenes, till the winter, which at that time 
was intensely severe, was past. He, 
however, crossed that river, and advan- 
ced to the banks of the Disna, beyond 
which, he perceived a Russian army 
posted to resist his passage. 



He crossed, however, and continued 
his march, making a slow progress into 
the Russian territories. Hovering par- 
ties of the enemy added continual sur- 
prise to his painful and perilous march ; 
and numbers of his men daily perished 
through the inclemency of the season. 
Wearing away the winter in those frosty 
regions, he at length arrived, on the 10th 
of May, at the town of Pultowa, where 
was an important magazine of stores and 
necessaries, of which the Swedish army 
was in great want. But Pultowa was 
defended by a garrison of 9,000 Rus- 
sians ; and the czar himself lay not very 
far distant, with an army of 70,000 men. 

The attack of Charles upon this place, 
which was strongly fortified, was one of 
the most daring enterprises ever attempt- 
ed by any commander. For that reason, 
he could not be dissuaded from so rash a 
measure. In spite of every effort of the 
Swedes, the town could not be reduced 
before the arrival of the czar with his 
main army ; and Charles, although wound- 
ed in his heel by a musket ball, deter- 
mined to give him battle. He ordered 
his army to advance and attack the Rus- 
sian camp. The Swedes, long inured to 
victory, made a formidable onset, and not 
without impression. The Russian caval- 
ry was broken, but soon rallied behind 
the infantry. The king of Sweden, 
borne in a litter, animated his troops, and 
displayed all the talents of the soldier 
and hero. But he contended against su- 
perior fortune. On the side of Peter, 
there were equal skill and bravery with 
greater numbers. The Swedes fought 
with astonishing fury, for two hours ; but 
were exposed in the face of a tremen- 
dous train of artillery, which the czar, 
whose arrangements for the battle were 
masterly, had opened upon them. Their 
charge upon the Russian line, proved in- 
effectual ; and their defeat, which was 
inevitable, was only announced by their 
destruction. 9,000 Swedes fell on the 
field of battle ; and the army of Charles 
was utterly ruined. Charles himself, 
with a small party of horse, escaped 
with difficulty, and hastily crossing the 
Boristhcnes, fled with a few attendants 
to Bender, a town in Moldavia, in the 
Turkish domimons. 



SWEDEN, 



611 




Death of Charles 

While in Turkey his conduct resem- 
bled that of a maniac, more than that of 
a man in his senses. He still hoped to 
dethrone the czar by engaging the Turk- 
ish power against him. After many ef- 
forts the sultan was induced to send 
200,000 soldiers against the Russians. 
But upon the capitulation of Peter's ar- 
my, peace having been made, Charles 
was much disappointed, and vented his 
rage against the Turk. He had been 
hospitably entertained more than three 
years, but his arrogance becoming insuf- 
ferable, he was ordered to quit the Turk- 
ish dominions. This order he refused to 
obey, and undertook to fortify his camp. 
With only three hundred men, he defend- 
ed himself for a time against an army of 
twenty thousand Turks, and yielded only 
when he was taken by the legs and arms, 
and dragged to the tent of the bashaw. 

While Charles remained in Turkey, 
the czar and the king of Denmark rav- 
aged Sweden on every side. This state 
of affairs made him desirous of returning 
to his own country, especially as he des- 
paired of inducing the sultan to engage 
in war with Russia. He returned in 
disguise, and wishing to wrest Norway 
from the Danes, made an attack on that 



XII, of Sweden. 

country. While visiting the works at 
the siege of Frederickshall, Dec. 1718, 
he was killed by a cannon shot, while 
exposing himself to unnecessary danger. 
Though he expired without a groan, he 
instinctively grasped the handle of his 
sword, and was found in that position, so 
characteristic of his temper. After the 
death of Charles, Sweden exhausted and 
impoverished, demanded repose. 

The extensive conquests which Swe- 
den had made beyond the Baltic were 
gradually taken from her during the 
course of the last century. The late 
Gustavus IV, on the French revolution, 
entered into an alliance with Great Bri- 
tain against France; and when, in 1808, 
Russia joined her forces to those of the 
latter kingdom, he broke off an alliance 
with that power ; and on the invasion of 
his territories by the Russians, lost Fin- 
land, which has since (1809,) continued 
dissevered from Sweden. The result of 
this war was not merely this loss, but 
the dislike of his people, and resentment 
of the nobles. The duke of Sundermania, 
who was at the head of the discontented 
party, conceived and executed the plan 
of dethroning Gustavus, and of investing 
himself with his honors. This was easily 



612 



SWITZERLAND. 



effected ; not the least disturbance took 
place on account of it ; and the duke 
assumed the crown under the title of 
Charles XIII. 

Charles changed the government from 
a despotic to a limited monarchy. He 
made peace with Russia. He joined 
himself to the allies against France. By 
a treaty made in 1814, and confirmed in 
the subsequent year at the congress of 
Vienna, Norway was added to his do- 
minions, on condition of his ceding to 
Prussia Pomerania and the island of Ru- 
gen ; Finland was finally guaranteed to 
Russia; and Sweden was confined within 
the bounds which we have already de- 
scribed. It may here be mentioned, that 
when Norway was united to the country 
which we are describing, her indepen- 
dence, as to government, laws, and in- 
stitutions, was solemnly stipulated. — 
Meanwhile, in 1810, general Bernadotte, 
a Frenchman, had the influence to get 
himself declared crown-prince of Swe- 
den ; a choice which, though at first it 
excited general surprise, has proved very 



judicious, from the prudent and liberal 
character of that celebrated person. In 
1818 Charles XIII died, and Bernadotte 
quietly ascended the throne, under the 
title of Charles XIV. This monarch 
has indeed shown himself worthy of the 
dignity conferred on him. He has pa- 
tronised and promoted every species of 
internal improvement. He has construct- 
ed canals, erected schools, and done all 
in his power to promote the cause of ed- 
ucation. A new civil and penal code is 
in progress. The public hospitals have 
not been overlooked ; six useless ones 
have been suppressed ; every modern 
improvement or discovery is immediately 
introduced. And, under his enlightened 
sway, Sweden, though, from inherent 
physical causes, she can never rise high- 
er than a power of the second order, is 
rapidly advancing in real prosperity and 
influence, and is affording an example of 
improvement and of enlightened policy, 
which many nations more highly favored 
in point of climate and physical advanta- 
ges, would do well to imitate. 



SWITZERLAND. 



The history of Switzerland, previously 
to the time of Caesar, may be regarded 
as unknown or uncertain. It may, as has 
been believed by one class of writers, 
have been visited and colonized by the 
Greeks, who founded Marseilles several 
centuries before the time to which we 
refer. This opinion has been supposed 
to gain countenance from statements 
made by Herodotus and Appolonius 
Rhodius. 

At the dawn of authentic history, we 
find the country inhabited by the Helve- 
tii and the Rhaetii ; the latter inhabiting, 
in addition to Swabia and the Tyrol, 
what afterwards formed the Swiss can- 
tons of Appenzell, Claris, Uri, and the 
Orisons ; the Helvetii occupying the re- 
maining cantons. These people were of 
Celtic origin ; and remains of the Celtic 
language, which was long their native 
speech, still exist. Their defeat by Cae- 



sar is well known. They were after- 
wards ranked among the people subject 
to Rome, and were exposed to all the 
hardships which such a connection always 
imposed on conquered nations. 

On the downfall of the Roman power, 
the Helvetians, like the other people of 
Europe, were overrun by hordes of bar- 
barians ; they were successively con- 
quered, and nearly extirpated by various 
tribes, the Alemanni, the Franks, the 
Huns, the Burgundians. From the be- 
ginning of the eleventh century, the pro- 
vinces which now constitute Switzerland, 
began to be regarded as an appendage 
of Germany ; and are mentioned in his- 
tory as receiving at different times certain 
privileges and immunities from the head 
of that empire. These, however, did not 
proceed from the spontaneous policy of 
the emperors ; they were wrested from 
them in consequence of the repeated ap- 



SWITZERLAND. 



613 




William Tell the Swiss patriot. 



plications and urgent remonstrances of 
the Swiss themselves, who seem from 
the earliest periods to have abhorred de- 
pendence, and to have been animated 
with principles of liberty. In truth, the 
inhabitants of Uri, Schweitz, and Under- 
walden, (three territories known by the 
name of the Waldstetten.) possessed from 
time immemorial the right of being gov- 
erned by their own magistrates, and of 
enacting their own laws ; they had al- 
ways declared themselves averse to the 
authority of the emperor's representative 
among them ; and when, like the rest of 
the country, they did consent to acknow- 
ledge this officer, it was on the condition 
that he would govern according to law, 
and make no encroachments on their rights 
and privileges. Usurpation, however, 
followed after usurpation, till at length 
the whole country was reduced under the 
power of the house of Austria. Tyranny 
in truth was carried to the utmost extent, 
and freedom seemed to be for ever extin- 
guished in Helvetia. But it was check- 
ed not destroyed ; its spirit still continued 
to linger among them ; and at length it 
burst forth with a greater energy than 
ever. A confederacy to shake off the 
yoke of their oppressors, and to achieve 



the independence of their country, was 
formed in 1307, by three individuals, na- 
tives respectively of the three cantons 
that composed the "Waldstetten. The 
conspiracy Avas embraced with delight by 
all to whom it was communicated ; the 
names of the heroes who organized it 
have ever since been revered throughout 
Switzerland ; and the spot where it was 
first formed is regarded as sacred. The 
revolution which was contemplated, was 
accelerated, or rather secured, by the in- 
sults shown on the part of Gesler, the 
representative of the emperor. 

Gesler who was governor of Uri, had 
ordered his hat to be fixed upon a pole in 
the market-place of Altorf, and command- 
ed every passenger on pain of death to 
pay the same obeisance to it as to him- 
self. William Tell, of Burglen in the 
valley of Uri, son-in-law to Walter Furst, 
indignant at this insulting mark of wan- 
ton tyranny, disdained to pay an homage 
so absurd and so humiliating. This 
manly resolution was punished by the 
tyrant with the sentence of death. Tell 
was condemned to be hanged, unless he 
should be able to strike with his arrow an 
apple placed upon the head of his son ; 
being an excellent marksman, Tell ac- 



614 



SWITZERLAND. 



cepted the alternative, and fortunately- 
cleft the apple without injuring the child. 
The tyrant Gesler, perceiving another 
arrow in his belt, asked him for what pur- 
pose that was intended ; when Tell re- 
plied, " It was designed for thee, if I had 
killed my son." For this heroic answer 
he was condemned to perpetual imprison- 
ment in a dungeon at Kuffnacht, the re- 
sidence of Gesler ; he was accordingly 
bound, and placed in a boat, that Gesler 
himself might convey him across the 
lake of Altorf to his castle. 

Scarcely, however, had the boat per- 
formed half the passage, when a furious 
squall covered the surface of the lake 
with threatening waves. Gesler, as 
humble in the hour of danger as he had 
been arrogant when fear was at a dis- 
tance, entreated Tell, who was account- 
ed the most skilful boatman in the can- 
ton, to save him ; and unbound his pris- 
oner with his own hands. Tell seated 
himself at the helm, steered the boat to- 
wards a rock, leaped upon it ; and then 
in an instant with the same manly strength 
pushed back the boat into the lake, es- 
caped, and concealed himself At length 
the storm abated, and Gesler gained the 
shore. As he was about to enter his 
fortress, Tell, who had by a circuitous 
route reached the spot before him, dis- 
charged an arrow at the tyrant, which 
pierced his heart ; and thus paved the 
way for that conspiracy which laid the 
foundation of his country's liberty. 

After many remonstrances against the 
tyranny of these governors, which served 
only to increase the cruelties of the ty- 
rants, three patriots, Werner de Staflach 
of Schweitz, Walter Furst of Uri, and 
Arnold de Melchthal of Underwalden, at 
length resolved to put in execution those 
measures which they had concerted for 
delivering themselves and their country 
from the yoke of Austria. Bold and en- 
terprising, and united by friendship, these 
men had frequently met in private to de- 
liberate upon the important subject ; each 
associated three others in their cause ; 
and these twelve men accomplished their 
important enterprise without the loss of a 
snigle life. Having prepared the inhabi- 
tants of their several cantons for a revolt, 
in the dead of night on the first of January, 



1308, they surprised the Austrian gover- 
nors, and conducted them to the fron- 
tiers, obliged them to swear that they 
would never more serve against the Hel- 
vetian nation ; and then suffered them to 
depart Avithout any injury. The other 
cantons soon engaged in the confederacy, 
and thus gave birth to the republic of 
Switzerland. Albert prepared to attack 
the new-born liberty of Helvetia ; and 
was ready to hazard his forces against 
the enthusiasm inspired by freedom, when 
he himself fell a sacrifice to his rapacity 
and injustice ; being assassinated in pre- 
sence of his court and army on the banks 
of the river PrUs, in the neighborhood of 
Switzerland. The widow of Albert, oc- 
cupied in revenging the death of her hus- 
band, left the cantons to the undisturbed 
enjoyment of their liberties, and to the 
provision of the means of strengthening 
themselves against future attacks. Un- 
der these favorable circumstances, the 
cantons of Uri, Underwalden, and 
Schweitz, boldly displayed the standard 
of liberty in 1308. 

Until the year 1315, the confederated 
cantons were unmolested by their former 
sovereigns. At that period the emperor 
Frederic sent against them a considera- 
ble body of troops under the command of 
his brother Leopold, whom he directed 
to ravage the country with fire and sword. 
The invaders could only enter it by en- 
deavoring to force a passage into Schweitz 
at a defile called the straits of Morgarten, 
which 1,300 Switzers undertook to de- 
fend against the numerous army of Leo- 
pold. These patriots posted themselves 
on the impending mountains, whence they 
rolled down huge fragments of rock, 
which crushed the hostile cavalry ; and 
impetuously descending upon the infan- 
try, they discomfited and dispersed them. 
Leopold was panic-struck, and seeking 
safety in flight he made his escape, leav- 
ing multitudes of his soldiers dead upon 
the spot. On this memorable occasion 
the cantons lost only fourteen men ; and 
from the circumstance of the engage- 
ment having taken place in the canton of 
Schweitz, the confederation which was 
the result of it, took the name of Swiss. 

Nothing could be more simple than the 
condition which formed the basis of the 



SWITZERLAND. 



615 



association of the. first three cantons. 
" They were to afford each other aid in 
case of attack ; to acknowledge no other 
authority, protection, or supremacy, than 
that of the empire ; to contract no alliance 
without each other's consent. The three 
states were to admit no judge, who is not 
their fellow-citizen. If any contest should 
arise between the cantons, it was to be 
decided by arbitration ; and if one can- 
ton refused to submit to the award, it was 
to be compelled by the two others. Final- 
ly, malefactors, incendiaries, robbers, and 
other criminals, tried and condemned in 
one canton, were to be considered as 
tried and condemned in the others, and it 
was forbidden to afford them an asylum." 
Such was the treaty of alliance between 
Uri, Schweitz, and Underwalden, called 
the league of the three Waldstaetter or 
Forest-cantons, which laid the founda- 
tion of one of the wisest and happiest re- 
publics that ever existed. 

After these cantons had established 
their liberty and independence, the neigh- 
boring state of Lucerne, then subject to 
Austria, was continually harassed by 
their depredations. Under these circum- 
stances the emperor imprudently loaded 
the citizens of this canton with taxes as 
exorbitant as they were unjust. To evade 
both evils. Lucerne made peace with the 
confederacy; and having expelled the 
Austrian party in the year 1332, entered 
into a perpetual alliance with them, and 
became a member of the union. The 
addition of Lucerne to the league enabled 
the four cantons to resist all the hostile 
efforts of Austria. 

In the year 1 336, Leopold, the grandson 
of that prince who was defeated at the 
pass of Morgarten, eager to regain the 
territory he had lost, invaded the canton 
of Lucerne at the head of a numerous 
army, and attended by the first nobility 
of the empire. The troops of the four 
cantons, greatly inferior in number, met 
their enemies at the lake of Sempach, 
near the town of Surzee. The Austrians 
were drawn up in firm battalions, accou- 
tered in heavy armor, and furnished with 
long pikes. The Swiss advanced in the 
form of a wedge, in order to open their 
■way into the ranks of the enemy, and to 
break the solidity of the battalion ; but 



their endeavors proved fruitless, and the 
fate of war hung doubtful ; when Arnold 
de Wilkenreid, devoting himself to cer- 
tain death, rushed upon the enemy, and 
seizing as many lances as he could 
grasp, endeavored to penetrate their 
ranks, and was killed in the attempt. His 
valor, however, opened the way to victo- 
ry ; it inflamed his countrymen with new 
courage, and taught them the best method 
of breaking the battalion. The Austrians 
yielded to the impetuous torrent, fled, and 
left Leopold with the flower of his army 
dead on the field. On the spot where 
this memorable victory was gained, a 
chapel stands, which was built in com- 
memoration of the event ; and in the ar- 
senal of Lucerne, the armor of the va- 
liant Leopold is still preserved, together 
with a large quantity of cords, with which 
it is said he intended to have bound the 
citizens. 

In the year 1351, the confederacy of 
the four Waldsteetters formed an alliance 
with the canton of Zurich. The town 
of Zurich as an imperial city had enjoy- 
ed many privileges obtained from Fred- 
eric II, till a civil war between the peo- 
ple and their magistrates nearly reduced 
it to ruins. After a struggle of two years 
the magistrates were banished, and a new 
form of government was established un- 
der the sanction of the emperor Lewis of 
Bavaria, in 1337. After several attempts, 
however, the exiled magistrates were 
permitted to return ; but being afterwards 
proved guilty of a conspiracy against the 
state, they fell a sacrifice to their treason- 
able designs. This transaction brought 
upon the people the resentment of the 
neighboring nobles ; and the emperor 
Charles IV refusing to aid them, the can- 
ton of Zurich formed an alliance with, 
and became not only a member of the 
confederacy, but obtained a pre-eminence 
in rank above the other four ; and has 
retained that distinction to the present 
time. Notwithstanding the advantages 
which the Zurichers derived from this 
alliance, their experience of the evils 
and miseries of a ruinous war induced 
them to submit to an arbitration of their 
disputes with the house of Austria. The 
arbitrators included in their award a point 
which had not been submitted to their 



616 



SWITZERLAND. 



judgment ; they decided that thencefor- 
ward none of the nations of upper Ger- 
many should be at liberty to league them- 
selves with the Waldsteetters. This de- 
cision was equivalent to a declaration 
that the confederated cantons should not 
increase their power by the accession of 
other states. The confederacy, however, 
not only despised this prohibition, but 
acted in direct opposition to it. 

During a war which ensued between 
the emperor and these states in the year 
] 350, the troops of Schweitz, assisted by 
Zurich, Lucerne, Uri, and Underwalden, 
entered the canton of Claris, and having 
expelled the Austrians, received it into 
the union ; imposing however, some re- 
strictions upon the inhabitants, which 
were not abolished till 1450. 

In 1351 the six allied cantons laid 
siege to Zug, an imperial city, which, 
lying between Zurich and Schweitz, af- 
forded the Austrians many opportunities 
of harassing the Swiss. It was reso- 
lutely defended by the citizens who ex- 
pected succor from Albert duke of Aus- 
tria ; but this prince not being in a con- 
dition to assist them, the town at length 
capitulated upon the most honorable 
terms. The generosity of the conquer- 
ors was equal to the courage displayed 
by the vanquished ; and Zug accordingly 
was admitted into the confederacy as a 
free and independent city upon equal 
terms. During these events the canton 
of Berne was perpetually engaged in 
wars with the house of Austria, or with 
its neighbors. The state of Berne had, 
in that part of the Alps which they occu- 
pied, formed themselves into a republic, 
that singly was more powerful than one- 
half of the seven united cantons. As 
early as the year 1323, a defensive alli- 
ance took place between the Bernese 
and the Waldstaitters, to whose aid they 
were chilly indebted for the victory which 
they obtained over the troops of Austria 
in 1339. In consequence of this success, 
Berne gained new tei'ritories, which 
placed themselves under its protection. 
These territories adjoined others which 
were protected by the Helvetic confede- 
racy. Between the inhabitants of both, 
certain disputes arose which involved 
the two republics in their quarrels ; and 



the misunderstanding was on the point 
of breaking out into open hostilities. 
They had, however, the moderation to 
perceive, that it was by no means the 
interest of either state that they should 
become enemies ; but that on the other 
hand, a union of their interests would bo 
the certain means of obtaining speedy 
and permanent peace for territories 
which, being thus left without any sup- 
port in their petty dessensions, would 
naturally find their best policy in amica- 
ble agreement. These considerations 
impelled the Bernese to wish for admis- 
sion into the Helvetic league, and indu- 
ced the latter to admit them. The ac- 
cession of so considerable a canton as 
Berne to the other seven considerably 
increased the power of the confederacy. 

These eight allied states are to the 
present distinguished by the appellation 
of the eight " ancient cantons." Although 
Berne was the last of these that acceded 
to the union, yet six of them yielded to 
it the precedency, in consequence of 
which they now rank in the following or- 
der : Zurich, Berne, Lucerne, Schweitz, 
Uri, Underwalden, Zug, and Claris. 

From a review of the several treaties 
which formed the constitution of this 
union, it appears that we ought not to 
consider the confederated states at this 
epoch as one body, or one commonwealth. 
The principal intention of the league was 
to preserve the public liberties and private 
rights of the citizens and subjects of the 
union against any attacks that might be 
made upon them ; without embracing 
any hostile views against such rights as 
belonged to the house of Austria or its 
nobles. 

The origin of the Helvetic diets may 
be traced in the public meetings that 
were appointed upon the frontiers of the 
respective cantons. The different trea- 
ties occasioned many distinct meetings 
to be held by deputies between the 
cantons. These meetings were attend- 
ed with innumerable advantages ; they 
maintained a cordiality, and connected 
j more strongly the bond of union between 
the cantons ; and prepared the way for 
a closer and more intimate alliance. As 
the first members of the Helvetic union 
had formed no intention of erecting them- 



SWITZERLAND. 



617 



selves into one separate and independent 
state, it is natural to suppose that they 
were actuated by the desire of extending 
and ago^randizing their respective territo- 
ries. There were besides two circum- 
stances which strongly operated in draw- 
ing them from the strict rules of a defen- 
sive alliance, and were at the same time 
the means of procuring them additional 
allies ; namely, the insatiable ambition 
and avarice of the nobles, which contin- 
ually occasioned dissension and rebellion 
in the neighboring states ; and the in- 
trigues and artifices of the emperors, who, 
being jealous of the increasing power of 
the dukes of Austria, often encouraged 
the inhabitants to break the fetters of 
their allegiance. Helvetia was thus di- 
vided into powerful factions, who were 
perpetually at variance with each other ; 
the one composed of the nobles, with the 
dukes of Austria at their head ; the other 
of the free cities and districts under the 
protection of the allied cantons. 

Thus half a century was spent in wars 
and truces with the house of Austria, 
who seems to have disdained to honor 
the Helvetic league with either constant 
peace or regidarly supported war. The 
year 1370 is remarkable for the first 
struggle of the Switzers against the 
French. It arose from the pretensions 
of Enquernand de Couci, who, inheriting 
the rights of his mother, the grand-daugh- 
ter of the emperor Albert, claiming cer- 
tain lands, which he asserted to have 
been usurped from his grand-father by 
the Switzers. They successfully de- 
fended their possessions, and, after a 
bloody battle, drove De Couci's auxilia- 
ries from their territory. 

From this unsettled state of peace and 
war, the Swiss derived the advantage of 
being trained to the use of arms, and 
were consequently always on their guard. 
In the year 1393 they subjected them- 
selves to a system of military discipline 
worthy of the ancient Spartans. They 
entered into an ordinance, which forbade 
them, under pain of death, in whatever 
circumstances they might be placed in 
war, to violate the sanctity of churches 
or the honor of women. It enjoined 
them to defend and succor each other as 
brethren, notwithstanding any contests 
78 



which might have previously existed be 
tween them, and in spite of all danger 
to which that mutual assistance might 
expose them. They were not to quit 
their ranks in battle, even though they 
should feel themselves mortally wounded. 
No Swiss was ever to pillage for his own 
private emolument ; but was to carry all 
the fruits of victory to the common stock. 
Finally, the cantons engaged not to un- 
dertake any war that had not been pre- 
viously proposed and determined upon 
by unanimous consent in a general diet. 
The intervals of peace or suspension 
from hostilities with the house of Austria, 
afforded also to the cantons an opportu- 
nity of strengthening themselves, not by 
the accession of new states to their con- 
federacy, but by the protection which 
they granted to some neighboring states, 
on which they conferred the right of 
comburghership. That privilege attached 
the latter to the Helvetic league, which 
protected them without any dependence 
on the part of the protected, except re- 
spect and deference, and without any of 
the degrading circumstances of subjec- 
tion. Such, for instance, were the in- 
j habitants of the valleys of Appenzel, the 
i oppressed vassals of Saint-Gall. 

In the year 1400, these people, loaded 
I by the abbot of St. Gall with intolerable 
taxes, joined the citizens of the town of 
] St. Gall, who rebelled against the Austri- 
' ans. They applied to the Helvetic con- 
i federacy for assistance ; but these can- 
tons having concluded a treaty of peace 
with the emperor, refused their alliance ; 
which obliged Appenzel to remain a se- 
parate and distinct state for several years. 
The treaty which the canton of Zurich 
formed with the house of Austria in 1442, 
merits particular notice, as its consequen- 
ces were the occasion of very important 
regulations in the constitution of the Hel- 
vetic confederacy. 

Frederic III, the last count of Tog- 
genburg, had contrived by different arti- 
' fices to occasion a jealousy between the 
i canton of Zurich and those of Glaris 
I and Schweitz ; which would have ended 
I in a civil war had not the confederacy 
interfered, and compelled them to observe 
'. the articles of their treaty. Fresh dis- 
I putes, however, arose after the death of 



618 



SWITZERLAND, 



Frederic ; and the citizens of Zurich, 
■with the intention of compelUng Claris 
and Schweitz to submission, cut off all 
communication with their inhabitants ; 
by which means these mountaineers were 
deprived of their supply of corn which 
they usually received from Zurich, and 
which constituted the main article of their 
food. The other cantons, however, es- 
poused their cause, and compelled the 
Zurichers to refer the dispute to them 
according to the terms of their engage- 
ment. The residt of the arbitration was, 
that Zurich should relinquish her different 
claims, and provide Claris and Schweitz 
with the necessary quantity of grain. The 
citizens of Zurich, however, regarded this 
award as partial, and therefore concluded 
an alliance with the emperor Frederic 
III, and the other branches of the house 
of Austria; which engagement the con- 
federacy considered as an infringement 
of the articles of the union. The con- 
federacy, in spite of the palliative clauses 
introduced by Zurich into the treaty, 
persisted in opposing it, and threatened 
to use coercive measures to compel that 
canton to withdraw from her alliance 
with Austria. In this crisis the Zurich- 
ers applied to the emperor for relief, and 
received into their town a garrison of 
Austrian soldiers. Hostilities ensued ; 
and in the first action they were defeated, 
and the Burgher-master of Zurich was 
among the slain. Besieged within their 
walls, they beheld during two fatal years 
their fields and villages laid waste and 
plundered. 

During this period the free cities of 
Basil and Soleure, who were indifferent 
spectators of the contest between Zurich 
and the cantons, embraced tlie opportunity 
of invading the Austrian territories. The 
latter applied for aid to Charles VII, 
king of France, who, as well with a view 
of desolving the council of Basil as of 
assisting the Austrians, ordered a large 
army to march against the confederacy, 
imder the command of his son Louis. 
The Dauphin entered Alsace, and after 
laying waste and harassing the adjoining 
provinces, appeared before the gates of 
Basil. The confederates had previously 
thrown into the town, which was but 
thinly garrisoned, a detachment of fifteen 



I hundred men from their army then em- 
I ployed in besieging Famsburg. This 
body of Swiss advanced with determined 
valor to the plain of Bratteline ; where 
they charged with such fury eight thou- 
sand of the enemy's cavalry, that the lat- 
ter were driven back as far as the village 
of Muttenz. Here the repulsed were 
joined by another corps ; but notwith- 
standing this re-enforcement, the Swiss 
renewed the assault with fresh intrepid- 
ity, and obliged them to repass the river 
Birs, where the main body of their army 
was chiefly drawn up. Encouraged by 
their wonderful success, exasperated 
with the most spirited indignation against 
the invaders of their country, and disre- 
garding the remonstances of their officers, 
they rashly attempted to force their pas- 
sage, which was guarded by a strong 
party of the enemy. Their effort proving 
ineffectual, these gallant men threw them- 
selves into the river, and gained the op- 
posite shore in the face of a battery of 
cannon, that was playing upon them. 
The French army, consisting of thirty 
thousand men, were advantageously post- 
ed in an open plain ; the Swiss had no 
alternative than that of throwing down 
their arms, or gloriously expiring with 
them in their hands. They bravely pre- 
ferred the latter ; accordingly five hun- 
dred of them took possession of a small 
island near the bridge ; and after reso- 
lutely defending themselves to the last, 
were cut to pieces. The same number 
of soldiers forced their way through the 
ranks of the enemy, and were making 
towards Basil, when they were opposed 
by a large body of horse, posted there to 
prevent any succors which the town 
might send to the relief of their country- 
men. Being thus surrounded on all sides, 
they threw themselves into the hospital 
of St. James, and there resisted for a 
considerable time the assault of the whole 
French army. The building was at length 
set on fire ; the cannon battered down the 
walls ; and still they fought, resolved to 
sell their lives at the dearest rate, and to 
defend themselves to the last extremity. 
Of the five hundred only sixteen esca- 
ped ; and they were branded with infamy 
for not having sacrificed their lives in de- 
fence of their country. Such w^as the 



SWITZERLAND. 



619 



effect of the battle upon the mind of the 
dauphin Louis, that he declared he had 
derived no other advantage from the vic- 
tory than a knowledge of the valor of the 
Svi^iss. He accordingly gave up his de- 
signs of conquest ; and after remaining 
three days employed in burying the dead 
upon the field of battle, he retired with 
his shattered army into Alsace. The 
remembrance of this action is still cher- 
ished with the warmest enthusiasm by 
the Swiss. The inhabitants of Basil form 
parties every year to an inn situated near 
the hospital and burying-ground, w^here 
they commemorate in red wine produced 
from vineyards near the field of battle, 
the heroic deeds of their countrymen, 
who sacrificed their lives on this occa- 
sion. This wine is called the blood of 
the Swiss. 

The event of these battles lessened 
the resentment of the confederate cantons 
against Zurich ; and the latter, wearied 
with the calamities of a civil war, re- 
nounced its connections with the house 
of Austria, and was again solemnly con- 
firmed the first canton in rank of the 
Helvetic confederacy. Upon this occa- 
sion two articles of great importance in 
the constitution of Switzerland were 
finally settled : first, That all disputes 
between any particular cantons should 
be decided by the mediation of tlie neu- 
tral cantons; and if either of the two 
contending parties should refuse to abide 
by their judgment, they were to be com- 
pelled by force of arms. Secondly, not- 
withstanding the reserved right of any 
canton to contract alliances with foreign 
powers, yet the confederates were to 
judge how far such alliances were con- 
tradictory or incompatible with the arti- 
cles of the general union ; and if proved 
to be so, they were empowered to annul 
them. 

As early as the eighth century Chris- 
tianity was introduced into Switzerland 
by two Scotsmen, educated at the famous 
monastery of lona, founded by St. Co- 
lumbus. The reformed doctrines were 
also early introduced; and the name of 
Switzerland is intimately connected with 
the history of the reformation. 

From a detestation of the traffic of in- 
dulgences, Zuinglius, a priest of Zurich, 



and others with him, proceeded to a per- 
suasion that the dogma which inculcated 
a confidence in these indulgences must 
be erroneous. This doubt naturally gave 
rise to others respecting the power of the 
popes who promulgated them ; to these 
again succeeded discussions on all the 
points of religious discipline, and princi- 
pally on the nature and obhgation of vows. 
The first and most zealous proselytes 
gained by Zuinglius were the nuns of a 
convent at Zurich. As a proof of their 
faith in the doctrines of their new preach- 
er, they quitted their nunnery, and the 
younger part of their number entered 
into the matrimonial state. Zuinglius 
himself, though a priest, and advanced 
in years, married also. These innova- 
tions attracted the attention of the magis- 
trates. Those of Zurich approved of the 
conduct of their priest and his disciples. 
Not only were they pleased to see his 
opinions disseminated through the coun- 
try under their own jurisdiction, but they 
viewed with an evil eye those of the 
other cantons, who, by prohibitory laws, 
retarded the progress of what was em- 
phatically called " The Reformation." 
They assumed the title of Evangelic, and 
declared the reformed doctrine to be the 
onl)^ true Gospel. 

In 1523 the Zurichers had gained over 
the Orisons to the reformation. At this 
time the Roman catholic cantons, into 
which the reformation had not yet pene- 
trated, thought it their duty to adopt 
vigorous measures of precaution against 
what they considered as dangerous inno- 
vations. As the Roman catholic cantons 
formed a majority, they pronounced sen- 
tence of exclusion from the Helvetic 
confederacy against those which profess- 
ed, or should profess, the new religion. 
Their anathema accordingly fell on Zu- 
rich, Berne, Schafi'hausen, and Appenzel, 
which already contained numerous advo- 
cates and proselytes of reformation, who 
were denominated non-conformists. 

But it was not only against the Roman 
church that Zuinglius and his adherents 
had to contend. The far more arduous 
controversy was with one who was 
cherished as a brother, and even revered 
as one of the first champions of true re- 
ligion. The article of faith in which 



620 



SWITZERLAND. 



Zuinglius materially diflered from Martin 
Luther, was the true meaning of the 
words used in the institution of the 
Lord's Supper ; the latter adopting them 
in a strict literal sense, while Zuinglius 
considered them as merely symbolical. 

At the desire of Philip, landgrave of 
Hesse, they, in the month of September, 
1630, held a conference at Marburg, in 
the presence of the most eminent di- 
vines who had separated from the church 
of Rome ; where though each persisted 
in his opinion, they yet parted with cor- 
dial assurances of mutual regard and 
friendship. In consequence of these un- 
happy differences on religious subjects 
arose the civil wars of Switzerland. 

Three memorable battles were fought 
with the intrepidity and fury of religious 
zeal. On the 9th of June, 1530, the 
army of Zurich took post near the con- 
vent of Cappel. Zuinglius, who was no 
stranger to battles, having been present 
at those of Novano and Marignan in the 
capacity of chaplain, desired to attend 
this expedition. Regardless of the re- 
monstrances of the senate, who opposed 
his wishes on account of the value of his 
life, he mounted his steed, grasped a 
spear, and followed the camp. An eye- 
witness wrote thus from the camp : — " It 
is admirable to behold what order and 
subordination prevails among the multi- 
tude ; the word of God is preached daily 
by Ulrich Zuinglius, the abbot of Cappel, 
the priest of Kussnacht, and many other 
learned divines. Not an oath is pro- 
nounced, not a quarrel is heard of : we 
pray before and after each meal ; no 
cards or dice are ever seen ; not a pros- 
titute is tolerated. We sing, dance, and 
practise manly sports ; and are eager to 
encounter the pensioners ." By the me- 
diation of the neutral cantons and the ci- 
ties of Constance and Strasburg, hostili- 
ties were suspended for a time. 

The tranqidllity thus procured was, 
however, of short duration. The five 
cantons learned with the utmost indigna- 
tion, that at a diet held at Zurich, on the 
22d day of May, 1531, the reformed ci- 
ties had, against the declared opinion of 
Zuinglius, who never ceased to preach 
and recommend forbearance, resolved to 
break off all communication with them, 



and even to deprive them of the neces- 
saries of life which they derived from 
those cities. After several fruitless at- 
tempts towards an accommodation, these 
cantons published an hostile declaration 
against Zurich. They formed a camp at 
Zug, and sent detachments to ravage the 
free bailliages. Zurich was dilatory and 
undecided in its preparations. Zuinglius, 
who now saw the urgency of the case, 
found great difficulty in persuading the 
senate and Rudolph Lavater, the milita- 
ry commander, to call together the forces 
of the canton. A small party was sent 
out to meet the enemy, whose numbers 
by this time had increased to upwards of 
eight thousand ; but this party was or- 
dered not to hazard an engagement. On 
the 10th of October the senate at length 
ordered the great banner to be brought 
forth ; but instead of four thousand men, 
who heretofore had accompanied it, only 
seven hundred joined the standard. Zu- 
inglius attended them as chaplain. This 
detachment hastened with all possible 
speed across Mount Albis. Some, either 
from cowardice or disaffection, exclaimed, 
that they could not possibly arrive in 
time, and resolved not to proceed. " As 
to me," said Zuinglius, " I will, in the 
name of God, advance and join our brave 
countrymen. I will either assist in res- 
cuing them, or perish with them." At 
three in the afternoon the banner ar- 
rived at Cappel and joined the forces that 
had preceded, their whole strength now 
amounting to about two thousand men. 
Early on the next morning the catholic 
army drew out in complete armor, and 
close array. The leaders of Zurich, 
deliberated in council whether they 
should abide their approach or withdraw. 
Rudolph Gallman, of the free bailliagers, 
stepped forth, and stamping his foot on 
the ground — "This," cried he, " shall be 
my grave. God forbid that I should 
ever yield one single step to an enemy !" 
The cannonading began at noon ; the 
Zurichers avoided its first effects by fall- 
ing on their faces ; they then rose and 
maintained an obstinate fight for more 
than two hours ; when about three hun- 
dred of the most intrepid among the ene- 
my forced themselves into the centre of 
them, as they were endeavoring to form 



SWITZERLAND. 



621 



into two columns ; some fled instantly and 
threw the remainder into confusion. A 
person from the catholic army came among 
them, and, personating one of their own 
number, represented to them the impossi- 
bility of making an effectual stand, and 
exhorted them to retreat. They follow- 
ed his advice, and were pursued till night 
with much slaughter. The triumphant 
foe then returned to the field of battle, 
fell upon their knees, and returned thanks 
to the holy Virgin and all the saints for 
their victory ; they then sacked the 
camp of the Zurichers, and with horrid 
imprecations put to death the wounded, 
who had been left behind. A few, less 
inhuman than the rest, took some of them 
prisoners, dressed their wounds, and 
afforded them shelter from the intense 
cold. Zuinglius was among the wounded. 
He had been stunned and thrown down 
by a shower of stones, and trampled 
upon by the fugitives and their pursuers ; 
he recovered several times, but was too 
much exhausted to support himself. In 
his last efforts he raised himself upon his 
knees, and exclaimed, " They may in- 
deed kill the body, but they cannoi des- 
troy the soul ;" and then with clasped 
hands and uplifted eyes, he once more 
fell backward. A catholic soldier, ob- 
serving his quivering lips, offered to 
bring him a confessor, to which he made 
signs of dissent. A captain of Under- 
walden, who came by at the moment, 
fired with holy indignation against the 
obdurate heretic, pierced him through 
the neck. Thus fell Ulrich Zuinglius ; 
a man whom all parties allow to have 
possessed an heroic spirit, a greater de- 
gree of moderation than most of the 
other reformers, uncommon sagacity, com- 
bined with profound and extensive learn- 
ing and refined taste. He was ever 
averse to compulsive measures, but at all 
times willing to hazard his life in sup- 
port of his tenets. His manners were 
affable and conciliatory : he was a friend 
to cheerfulness and innocent mirth : and 
though indulgent to others, severely rig- 
id towards himself. The conquerors ex- 
ulted in his fall : they caused his body 
to be cut in quarters by the hangman of 
Lucerne, and to be burnt ; and lest his 
ashes should become an object of ven- 



eration to his followers, they mixed pieces 
of hog's flesh with his mangled limbs. 

With Zuinglius also fell fifteen other 
learned divines, whom a sense of duty 
brought into the field. The number of 
those slain on the part of Zurich, ac- 
cording to BuUinger, was five hundred 
and twelve ; and the loss of the catho- 
lics did not exceed, according to the 
most exaggerated account two hundred. 
Zurich sent out fresh forces, which 
were joined by re-enforcements from 
Berne, Basil, Schaffhausen, and other 
places. These troops, however, met 
with new disasters, and the city was at 
length obliged to sue for a separate peace. 
A treaty was negotiated and signed on 
the sixteenth of November. Each par- 
ty was by this treaty confirmed in the 
free exercise of its religion. Zurich 
agreed not to afford any protection to the 
protestants of the joint bailliages, and 
the indemnification which the five can- 
tons - claimed for the expenses of the 
war was referred to the general pacifica- 
tion that remained to be concluded with 
Berne. It was further stipulated, that in 
any further differences arbitration should 
be resorted to. The Bernese lost no 
time in following the example of the Zu- 
richers in accepting terms similar to 
those which had restored peace to 
Zurich, with the additional conditions 
that they should pay three thousand 
crowns to the five cantons for damages 
occasioned to the abbey of Muri and 
other religious edifices ; that they should 
exempt Underwalden from all further 
claims ; and that the expenses of the 
war, amounting to five thousand crowns, 
should be paid jointly by Berne and Zu- 
rich. This treaty was concluded by the 
mediation of the king of France, the 
duke of Savoy, the margrave of Baden, 
and some of the neutral cantons ; and 
was signed on the twenty-second of No- 
vember. This unfortunate issue of the 
war greatly retarded the progress of the 
reformation ; which is the more to be 
lamented, as it is now generally acknowl- 
edged that had the protestant cities unani- 
mously persevered, and kept the field 
only a few days longer, the catholics 
would have been compelled, by want of 
provisions, to accept any terms which 



622 



TARTARY. 



the former might have prescribed to 
them. 

In the year 1798, the history of the 
Helvetic confederacy began again to be 
connected with that of the surroimding 
countries. Contrary to the express treaty 
conchided between France and the coun- 
try under review, in 1792, the French di- 
rectory made a hostile descent on the 
canton of Basil in the year 1797. The 
Directory, without any other motive than 
the hope of plunder, excited, says M. 
Schoell, a revolution in Switzerland, and 
under pretence of being invited by one 
of the parties, they sent troops into the 
that country ; overturned the existing 
order of things ; and under the title of 
the Helvetic Republic, established a 
government entirely subject to their au- 
thority. 

Such was the downfall of the ancient 
constitution. The Swiss, enslaved by 
the Directory, made several bold efforts 
to regain their former independence, but 
in vain. Nor were they firmly united, 
else success might have crowned their 
exertions. Two parties which had long 
existed, though they had not openly 
avowed themselves, now appeared, and 
Switzerland experienced a series of rev- 
olutions in which the unionists, or aris- 
tocratical party, and the federalist or de- 
mocratic alternately had the ascendency. 
A civil war now tore this country, so 
long peaceful and happy. A French ar- 
my, under the command of Ney, again 
entered it, and established (1803!,) a con- 
stitution not of a kind wished for by the 
majority of the people, but recommended 



by Bonaparte, now consul of France. 
This constitution is known in history by 
the name of the act of Mediation ; and 
Bonaparte putting himself at the head of 
it, commanded the able co-operation of 
the Swiss in his future wars. Switzer- 
land, as before mentioned, now included 
nineteen cantons ; the constitution of each 
of which was more or less democratic ; 
while the equality of the citizens formed 
the basis of them all. Under such circum- 
stances, with the exception of some partial 
commotions, did this country continue till 
the success of the allied forces emanci- 
pated her from the grasp of her conquer- 
or. Immediately on this event, the can- 
tons were far from being agreed as to the 
future constitution of the country. A 
civil war, indeed, was likely to be the 
consequence. But the Congress of Vi- 
enna, which met in 1815, and fixed the 
boundaries of the different countries of 
Europe as they now stand, prevented this 
calamity, by taking the case of Switzer- 
land into their consideration. They did 
for her more than her best friends could 
have expected. They restored her in- 
dependence. They made, as stated in 
the beginning of this article, an addition 
of three new cantons to her territory. 
They granted to her that constitution of 
which we have already given an account. 
Under all these advantages, however, the 
Swiss cantons cannot be looked upon as 
greater than a third rate power ; but in 
other respects, particularly with regard 
to literature, education and civil privi- 
leges, she is not inferior to almost any of 
the first powers in Europe. 



TARTARY. 



" The boundaries of Tartary have 
never yet been ascertained. The cen- 
tral regions of Asia, from time immemo- 
rial, have been inhabited by numerous 
tribes of roving people. They have 
rarely combined under one head, although 
that event is supposed to have taken place 
in the thirteenth century, under the reign 
of Jenghis, or Ghenghis Khan, and again 



in the fifteenth under Timur, or Tamer- 
lane. These people were anciently 
called Scythians. Their character has 
been surprisingly uniform in all ages." 
From this country, in the heart of Asia, 
mighty empires have arisen, and from it 
anciently issued forth the conquerors of 
India, and the present possessors of 
China. In this country, during revolv- 



TARTARY. 



623 



ing centuries, bloody wars "w^ere waged, 
and battles fought, which decided the fate 
of empires. There the treasures of south- 
ern Asia have been frequently collected 
and as often dissipated. In these, now 
almost deserted lands, the arts and scien- 
ces once were successfully cultivated 
and protected ; and here flourished proud 
and powerful cities, now buried in ruins 
and forgotten. 

The ancient religion of the Tartars 
acknowledged the existence of one God; 
they are now divided into two sects, viz. 
the Mahometans and the worshippers of 
the Grand Lama who resides at Thibet. 
The empire of the Tartars, or Moguls, 
(as they are sometimes called from a 
number of Tartar tribes of that name,) is 
one of the most remarkable which has 
yet appeared in the world. It was im- 
agined that the Arabs had carried their 
victorioiis arms to the full extent even of 
the desires of ambition itself ; and that 
no human power could ever exceed the 
efforts of that people, who, in the com- 
pass of seventy years, subdued more 
countries than the Romans had conquered 
in five hundred ; but the Moguls have far 
transcended the Arabs, and from as small 
a beginning acquired a much larger em- 
pire in less time. Jenghis Khan extend- 
ed his dominions through a space of more 
than eight hundred leagues from east to 
west, and above one thousand from north 
to south, over the most powerful and 
wealthy kingdoms of Asia : hence he is 
with justice acknowledged as the great- 
est prince who ever filled the eastern 
throne ; and historians have bestowed 
upon him the highest titles that flattery 
and servility have ever contributed to 
offer to the possessor of sovereign power. 

The ancestors of this great conqueror 
were renowned for their valor, by which 
they gradually augmented the originally 
narrow extent of their dominion. His 
father Pisuka first brought under his com- 
mand the greater part of the chiefs of the 
Mogul nations. After this, having re- 
ceived an affront from the tribe of Su- 
Moguls or Tartars, he entered their ter- 
ritory, which he pillaged ; and being op- 
posed by Temujin Khan, with several 
tribes, who came to drive him away, he 
put them to flight, after a bloody battle, 



and returned to liis own country covered 
with honor. To commemorate this vic- 
tory, he gave the name of the vanquished 
khan to a son, of which his wife was 
shortly after delivered, calling him Te- 
mujin. This child is said to have been 
born with congealed blood in his hands, 
from which the astrologers foretold that 
he would overcome all his enemies in 
battle, and at length attain to the dignity 
of Grand Khan of Tartary. Pisuka chose 
for a tutor to his son, a man of exalted 
parts, and extensive erudition ; but be- 
fore the child had attained his ninth year, 
he showed a dislike to any other pursuit 
than that of arms. 

Temujin, at forty years of age, seeing 
himself master of very extensive domin- 
ions, he adopted the resolution to legiti- 
mate his power, by the public homage of 
all the princes within his dominions. He 
convoked them at Karakorom his capital, 
where they all met on the appointed day 
clothed in white, among whom were the 
princes of the blood attired like the rest. 
The emperor, with a diadem encircling 
his brow, advanced into the midst of this 
august assembly, seated himself on the 
throne, and received the compliments of 
the khans and other nobility, who offered 
up prayers for his health and prosperity. 
They then proceeded to confirm to him 
and his successors the sovereignty of the 
Mogail empire. After some subsequent 
victories, he renewed a similar inaugura- 
tion at the head of his army, with less 
pompous ceremonial, but much more af- 
fecting simplicity. He took his place on 
an ornamented seat, on an eminence of 
turf, whence he harangued the assembly 
with an eloquence that was natural to 
him. His discourse being ended, he sat 
down on a piece of black felt which had 
been spread on the earth, and the orator 
appointed for the occasion addressed him 
in the following terms : " However great 
the power you possess, O prince, you 
hold it from heaven ; God will prosper 
your undertakings if you govern your 
subjects with justice. If, on the con- 
trary, you abuse the authority lodged in 
your hands, you will become black as 
the felt on which you sit ; wretched and 
an outcast." Seven khans then respect- 
fully assisted him to rise, conducted him 



624 



TARTARY. 



to the throne, and proclaimed him chief 
of all the Mogul empire. Kokja, one of 
his relatives, was present ; a man who, 
by strictly practising the rigid duties of 
religion, had gained the reputation of be- 
ing inspired. He approached the prince, 
and said, "I am come, by the command 
of God, to inform you, that it is his plea- 
sure you should henceforth take the name 
of Jenghis Khan ; and you must publish 
it to your subjects, that in future they 
may give you that appellation." This 
title signifies the greatest Khan of Khans. 
The inauguration was ratified by the most 
extravagant demonstrations of joy. The 
Moguls, persuaded of the truth of the 
revelation, considered the rest of the 
world as a fit subject for conquest, which 
belonged by divine right to their Great 
Khan. When the emperor had thanked 
the people for the marks of love and re- 
spect which they had shown him, he de- 
clared his resolution to add to the ancient 
laws some new ordinances, which he 
said were necessary for their welfare. 

From this time, the Moguls thought 
only of war, and those who resisted them 
appeared in their ej'^es to be committing 
a crime against the sovereignty of Hea- 
ven. There was no enterprise, however 
hazardous, which Jenghis Khan did not 
think himself equal to accomplish. His 
ambition, however, might perhaps have 
been satisfied with Tartary in its natural 
state, without walls or fortresses, had not 
the sovereign of the Kin, or northern part 
of China, imprudently demanded of him 
the same tribute as was paid him by 
princes whom he had dethroned, and 
whose authority he had usurped. This 
claim irritated the haughty conqueror, 
who said in a sneering tone, "The Chi- 
nese ought to have the Son of Heaven 
for their master, but, at present, they 
know not how to choose a man." Neither 
the great wall built for the defence of 
China against the invasions of the Tar- 
tars, nor any other fortifications, could 
arrest the victorious progress of his 
troops. They poured like a torrent over 
China, routed its armies, desolated the 
country, and amassed immense treasures. 
The cities, and even the royal residence, 
fell into the hands of Jenghis Khan, by 
unforeseen events, which he had neither 



a right to expect nor hope for. In the 
short space of five years, the Mogid be- 
held himself master of all that extensive 
territory. He appointed Muhuli, his ex- 
perienced general, governor and lieuten- 
ant, with the title of king, which was to 
descend to his posterity ; while he him- 
self determined to make the domains of 
Mohammed, sidtan of Karazm, the boun- 
dary of his empire. 

It would exceed the limits of this work 
to enter into the particulars of all the 
cities taken and battles fought at this 
period. The devastation made by the 
Great Khan was like that of a thunder- 
bolt bursting over several countries at 
once, involving them in flames and ruin. 
The celerity and extent of the military 
exploits of Jenghis cannot be illustra- 
ted by a more opposite comparison. 
Never were those of any conqueror so 
destructive. His generals rushed on 
every part of the whole empire of Ka- 
razm at once, and enveloped it in one 
conflagration. The most beautiful and 
flourishing cities were reduced to heaps 
of ashes. Although the sultan employed 
every effort to succor his wretched do- 
minions, his armies were constantly de- 
feated in general engagements ; and the 
few partial advantages which they ob- 
tained, served only to retard, for a short 
time, the ruin of some particular cities 
and countries, and to give a lustre to the 
names of some of his captains. 

While Jenghis Khan, on one side of 
his empire, had fixed the Indus as its li- 
mit, his lieutenants on the other subjuga- 
ted Persia, inclosed the Caspian sea with- 
in his dominion, and carried their victo- 
rious arms as far as Iconium. As soon 
as the princes and generals had returned 
from their several expeditions, he assem- 
bled them in a plain of twenty-one miles 
in extent ; but this space was scarcely 
sufficient for the tents and equipages of 
all those who were convoked. The 
khan's quarters alone occupied nearly six 
miles in circumference. Streets, squares, 
and markets, were appointed, and tents 
were pitched for his household. The 
tent destined for the assembly would 
contain two thousand persons ; its cover- 
ing was white to distinguish it from the 
rest. A magnificent throne was erected 



TARTARY. 



625 



in it, and the black felt was not forgotten, 
on which the monarch sat when he first 
took his assumed name. This symbol 
of the original poverty of the Mogul's, 
long continued an object of veneration 
among them ; though they had already 
estranged themselves from their original 
simplicity, and all the luxury of Asia 
glittered in their attire, horses, harness, 
arms, and furniture. 

There appeared a great deal of mag- 
nificence in their equipages ; on the tops 
of their tents were placed streamers of 
the richest silks, of various colors, which 
alTorded a gay and grand prospect. Al- 
though the affairs of so vast an empire, 
were very numerous and complex, yet, 
by the regularity and order adopted by 
the keeper of Jenghis Khan's laws, all 
public business was transacted without 
the least confusion. The khan, who 
loved to harangue in public, took occa- 
sion to make a speech in praise of those 
laws, to which he imputed all his victo- 
ries and conquests. As a farther proof 
of his greatness, he ordered all the am- 
bassadors who had followed the court, 
as well as the envoys and deputies from 
the countries he had subdued, to be call- 
ed in, and gave them audience at the 
foot of the throne ; when his children 
and grand-children were also introduced 
to kiss his hand with tenderness. He 
graciously accepted their presents, and 
in return distributed among them magni- 
ficent donations. The ceremonial ter- 
minated with a grand festival which con- 
tinued many days, accompanied with ban- 
quets, abounding with whatever was most 
exquisite in liquors, fruits, and game, 
throughout his immense dominions. 

Soon after this assembly was dissolved, 
Jenghis Khan departed with his court, 
obliging the queen Turkhan Katun, whom 
he had taken prisoner, to follow him on 
a chariot, and loaded with irons, as the 
proud monument of his victories in the 
west. During his absence, the emperor 
left the government of his dominions to 
his brother Wache, who conducted him- 
self in his charge with great prudence. 

On the other hand, Muhuli, his lieu- 
tenant-general in China, acquired much 
reputation in the M'ar which he maintain- 
ed against the emperor of the Kin, and 
79 



I the king of Hya. Muhuli was consid- 
j ered by all the Moguls as the first cap- 
tain of the empire, and Jenghis placed 
entire confidence in him. The dignity 
to which he was advanced did not lessen 
his military ardor ; and in all his great 
enterprises he underwent as much fa- 
tigue as the meanest soldier. The khan, 
before he was proclaimed emperor, re- 
treating to his camp by night, after a se- 
vere defeat, and not able to find it from 
the snow that had fallen, lay down upon 
some straw to sleep, when Porchi and 
Muhuli took a covering and held it over 
him all night in the open air, which ac- 
tion gained them considerable reputation, 
and rendered their families highly esteem- 
ed among the Mogid princes. 

In the year 1225, the emperor Jenghis 
Khan arrived at the river Tula, after an 
absence of seven years. Among those 
who came out to meet him was Tyauli, 
queen of Lyau-tong, with the princes her 
nephews. That lady, who had a supe- 
rior and well cultivated understanding, 
fell on her knees before Jenghis, and paid 
him high compliments on his numerous 
conquests, and besought him to nominate 
Pitu to be king of Lyau-tong, in the room 
of the deceased king ; with this he com- 
plied, associating with him in the gov- 
ernment Shenko, the eldest son of the 
late monarch. 

In the next year Jenghis reduced the 
kingdom of Hya, after it had continued 
two hundred years under its own princes. 
This triumph was followed by others ; 
all his enterprises were crowned with 
victory. Prosperity, indeed, never de- 
serted him, even to his death. He was 
desirous of completing the conquest of 
the Kin empire ; but he fell sick before 
he could accomplish this purpose, and 
died at the age of seventy, A. D. 1227. 
He left his throne to his son Otkay ; and 
commanded Toley, another of his chil- 
dren, to assume the regency till his broth- 
er, who was then absent, should return. 

The death of the emperor threw all 
the court into extreme sorrow. His body 
was interred with gi-eat magnificence, in 
a place chosen by himself for that pur- 
pose ; it was under a beautiful tree, 
where, in his return from the chase, a 
few days before he fell sick, he had rest- 



626 



TARTARY. 



ed himself with much satisfaction, A 
noble monument was erected over his 
grave, and the people who came to visit 
the tomb planted trees around it, in such 
regular order, that in time it became one 
of the finest sepulchres in the east. 

Jenghis Khan on the whole merited 
respect and esteem, by his extraordinary 
talents. Besides all the qualities and 
virtues requisite in a great conqueror, he 
possessed a genius capable of forming 
great designs, and prudence equal to 
their execution ; a natural and persuasive 
eloquence ; a degree of patience enabling 
him to endure and overcome fatigue ; an 
admirable temperance ; a superior under- 
standing, and a penetrating mind, that 
instantly conceived the measure proper 
to be adopted on every occasion. His 
military talents are conspicuous in his 
successfully introducing a strict disci- 
pline, and severe police among the Tar- 
tars, who were till then unused to any re- 
straint. Every thing was done accord- 
ing to established rules ; whether ser- 
vice, recompense, or punishment. In- 
toxication was no excuse for such ac- 
tions as required one ; neither were birth 
or power admitted as a palliation for error 
or misconduct. 

His religion went to the acknowledg- 
ment of " One God, the creator of hea- 
ven and earth, who alone gives life and 
death, riches and poverty, who grants 
and denies whatsoever he sees proper ; 
and has over all things an absolute and 
irresistible power." Such was the creed 
of the Tartar khan, but he granted most 
extensive toleration to all his subjects. 
Some even of his own children, and 
princes of the blood, were Christians ; 
some Jews and Mohammedans, without 
incurring any marks of his disapproba- 
tion. 

His laws were simple, suitable to a 
newly formed people, who have few com- 
plex social connections. They enjoin 
the belief of one God ; that the chief of 
sects, and ministers of worship, of what- 
ever denomination, shall be exempt from 
taxes, which privilege was likewise ex- 
tended to physicians ; that no person 
shall assume the title of Great Khan un- 
less previously elected to that dignity at 
a general diet ; that no treaty of peace 



shall be entered into, with any king, or 
nation, till they are first subdued. 

To banish idleness out of his domin 
ions, he obliged every one of his sub 
jects to serve the public in some employ- 
ment. Adultery was punished with death 
Polygamy was permitted in the greatest 
extent ; and in order to multiply alliances 
between families, marriages were allow- 
ed to take place among the dead ; by this 
law the nuptial ceremony might be per- 
formed between a deceased man and wo- 
man, and the families of the parties be- 
came, in consequence of it, legally uni- 
ted. This custom is still prevalent 
among the Tartars, who throw the con- 
tract of marriage into the fire, and ima- 
gine that the flames will waft it to the 
parties, who will be espoused in the other 
world. 

Spies, false witnesses, and sorcerers, 
were by these laws condemned to death. 
The same punishment was awarded 
against those who attempted to plunder 
an enemy before the general's leave had 
been obtained. Unfortunately, however, 
in this reign, leave was never refused. 
All Jenghis Khan's generals were san- 
guinary and inexorable. According to 
the most moderate calculations, not fewer 
than two millions of men fell beneath the 
murdering sword, without reckoning the 
number that affliction and the horrors of 
slavery consigned to the grave. It is 
said that during his reign fifty thousand 
cities were demolished, some of them en- 
tirely desolated, the very vestiges of 
which scarcely remain. Such are the 
melancholy fruits of victories, such are 
the memorials that warriors leave behind 
them ! 

After the death of Genghis Khan, the 
next conqueror who makes a consider- 
able figure in the history of Asia was 
the celebrated Timur Beck, better known 
by the name of Tamerlane, who was 
born A. D. 1335. His father was one 
of those chieftains who had taken pos- 
session of a part of Persia, during the 
troubles which desolated that country. 
Timur, at his father's death, in 1359, 
was ambitious of preserving his usurped 
power, and with that view formed an al- 
liance with the neighboring chiefs, of 
whom the principal was the emir Hus- 



TARTARY. 



627 



sayn. These two jointly encountered 
the greatest dangers in the wars which 
they were compelled to wage. After an 
important action with Tekil, the gover- 
nor of Kivah, the two princes thought it 
safest to separate ; Timur crossed the 
desert with his wife, Hussayn's sister, 
and came to Jerfey, where he was sur- 
rounded by the Turkmans, and his situa- 
tion might have proved fatal if he had 
not been known by one of them, who 
protected him, and provided him with the 
means of joining his brother-in-law. 

Timur valiantly exposed his person in 
every formidable engagement : he had a 
genius capable of great actions, and was 
as well acquainted with the art of com- 
manding as with that of fighting. He 
experienced the greatest vicissitudes of 
fortune ; being at different times a con- 
queror, defeated, prisoner, released, 
wounded, fleeing almost alone through 
deserts, received in the great cities, some- 
times on terms of the strictest friendship 
with Hussayn, at other times at variance 
with him ; but in the end he became 
more powerful than his colleague, whose 
ill qualities estranged the affection of his 
troops and generals, while the excellent 
disposition of Timur captivated every 
heart. At a great entertainment made 
by the latter, A. D. 1364,he proposed to 
deliver out of prison Hamid, general of 
the Getes, whose father had been his 
friend, and prince Eskander his compan- 
ion. Hussayn consented, although the 
latter was his personal enemy. When 
those who assisted at the consultation 
were returned home, Timur sent two 
emirs to release the prisoners ; but their 
keepers seeing them at a distance, and 
imagining they came to put Hamid to 
death, knocked him down and cut off 
his head. This mistake proved fatal 
also to Eskander ; for emir Hussayn sent 
to demand that prince, and on getting 
him into his power, put him to death. 

In the following spring, news was 
brought that the Getes were marching 
towards Great Bukharia. The two 
princes went out to meet them : Hussayn 
commanded the right wing, and Timur 
the left. In consequence of a violent 
storm during the engagement, the Getes, 
who were well sheltered, obtained a 



complete victory. In a second attack 
they were also successful, when Timur 
rallied his forces, and a terrible slaughter 
ensued. Hussayn might still, if he had 
been attentive to Timur's advice, have 
rendered the victory complete ; but, 
whether through envy or presumption, 
he twice abused the messengers sent by 
Timur, who resolved to show his resent- 
ment at seeing the opportunity thus lost ; 
and when Hussayn, after he had recov- 
ered from his ill-humor, sent several 
messengers to Timur, requesting to see 
him at his tent, that prince refused to go 
to him. The battle was renewed the 
next morning, when Timur's forces were 
defeated with great slaughter. Hussayn 
crossed the Jihun ; but Timur remained 
in the country, with the resolution of op- 
posing the Getes. Finding his endeav- 
ors fruitless, he repaired to Balk, where 
he took great pains to increase his forces. 
The Getes laid siege to Samarcand, but 
were obliged to abandon the enterprise. 
Timur and Hussayn renewed their 
friendship, and in conjunction extended 
the limits of their empire. Although the 
former had the greater share in the war, 
he took but a secondary interest with re- 
spect to the general administration of the 
states which they had in this manner 
added to their possessions. But Hussayn 
was not satisfied with the authority ceded 
to him by Timur. He obliged him, by 
his unjustifiable conduct, to defend him- 
self by declaring war against him. All 
the princes ranged themselves on the 
side of Timur. He besieged his rival 
in the city of Balk, whither he had re- 
tired, and took him prisoner. When he 
was brought before Timur, the recollec- 
tion of their ancient friendship drew 
tears from the conqueror's eyes; who, 
when it came to his duty to pronounce 
sentence upon the captive, only said, " I 
renounce the right of taking away his 
life, and cancel the sentence of death 
awarded against him." The nobles, 
j fearing Hussayn's resentment, should he 
be suffered to escape, determined not to 
consider the emperor's renunciation of 
his power as a pardon to the captive 
' prince ; and when he withdrew, followed 
I him and killed him. Thus was Timur 
left alone at the head of a vast empire, 



TARTARY. 



which he afterwards augmented by sub- 
sequent victories, that have placed him 
among the most illustrious conquerors, 
under the name of Tamerlane. 

After the reduction of Balk, A. D. 
1371, he was elected by the unanimous 
voice of all the emirs, princes, and nobles, 
assembled in that city, to fill the imperial 
seat of Jagatay. At the ceremony of 
the coronation, Timur ascended the 
throne, placed a crown of gold upon his 
own head, and girded himself with the 
imperial belt, in the presence of the 
princes of the blood and the grandees ; 
who, kneeling before him in token of 
homage, wished him prosperity. They 
also made him sumptuous presents, 
sprinkled handfuls of gold and precious 
stones upon his head, and gave him the 
title of Emperor of the age, and Conquer- 
or of the world. 

The emperor treated the inhabitants 
of Balk with great rigor, putting some 
to death, imprisoning others, making 
their wives and children slaves, burning 
their houses, and ravaging the country 
around. By such methods he extermi- 
nated the rebels, and distributed their 
property among his own adherents. 

From Balk, Timur repaired to Samar- 
cand, which he made the seat of empire. 
Here he ordered a diet to be held, at 
which Zende Hasham refusing to attend, 
the emperor sent him a threatening sum- 
mons ; but this yoimg prince, instead of 
obeying, imprisoned the officer who was 
the bearer of it. The emperor, incensed 
at this insult to his authority, marched 
against him at the head of an army ; on 
the appearance of which Hasham's cour- 
age failed, and he sued for pardon, which 
Timur granted him. Hasham, however, 
rebelled a second time, and was again 
forgiven, and admitted to the court. 

This is not the only instance in which 
Timur extended a repetition of his clem- 
ency to princes who appeared against 
him in the field of battle ; by which he 
appeared to consider them in the light 
of independent sovereigns, rather than 
as rebels. For towards his natural sub- 
jects who resisted his authority, and took 
up arms against him, he behaved with a 
degree of rigor approaching to savage 
barbarity. 



About, A. D. 1377, Timur seemed to 
have attained to the summit of fehcity ; 
many of his officers bearing the titles of 
khan and sultan. While he was at Otrar, 
Isuf Soft sent an army to Bokhara, which 
ravaged that province. Timur complain- 
ed of the outrage, but without obtaining 
any sort of redress. In a short time af- 
ter, Sofi, shut up in the town of Skuz, 
sent a challenge to Timur, who accepted 
it, and, putting on his armor, contrary to 
the entreaties of his commanders, went 
to the edge of the ditch, and called on 
Isuf to come forth ; but the challenger 
thought it safer to keep within the walls. 
Notwithstanding this, Timur having 
some time afterwards received a present 
of some melons, thought it would be un- 
civil if he did not send some of them to 
Isuf who was so near : a part of the 
fruit was accordingly sent to him in a 
gold basin, and was delivered at the 
wall ; but Isuf ordered the melons to be 
thrown into the ditch, and gave the basin 
to the town-porter. After this the be- 
sieged made a furious sally, but were 
repulsed, and obliged to return within 
their city. Timur then ordered his 
generals to begin the siege of the capital, 
which continued about four months, till 
the castle was ruined, when the khan 
Isuf died of grief, and the town, after a 
brave resistance, was taken, many of the 
inhabitants slain, and all the learned men, 
as well as tradesmen, sent to Kash. 

This place, which had long been the 
seat of learning, surnamed on that ac- 
count. The Dome of Science and Virtue, 
was, from the verdure of its gardens and 
meadows, called also. The Green City. 
The emperor made it his ordinary re- 
sidence in summer, and the second city 
in the empire. 

Towards the end of the year 1380, 
Timur raised a great army of Turks and 
Tartars, crossed the Jihun, and made an 
expedition into the country of Korassan. 
When he arrived at Andekud, his devo- 
tion prompted him to visit the illustrious 
santon Baba Senku, one of those darwish 
who make a profession of folly, and for 
whom the Mohammedans have an extra- 
ordinary veneration, from the idea that 
God loved them before their creation, 
and on that account did not render them 



TARTARY. 



capable of offending. The idiot flung a 
breast of mutton at the emperor's head, 
who took this reception as a favorable 
augury, saying, " I am persuaded that 
God will grant me the conquest of Koras- 
san, because it has been always called 
the breast or middle of the habitable 
world." 

The people of this country being pos- 
sessed of a high degree of martial spirit, 
were not an easy conquest. The forces 
of Timur were several times repulsed ; 
but at length that emperor triumphed, and 
his glory and power were heightened in 
proportion to the difficulty of the con- 
quest. His court became that of the 
supreme sovereign of nations. He was 
surrounded with emirs and sheiks de- 
scended from Mohammed ; men who 
were held in a high degree of reverence, 
who devoted themselves to the study of 
the sciences, and professed the strictest 
principles of religion. 

Though Timur had fixed his residence 
at Samarcand, he enlarged and embellish- 
ed the city of Kash, and enriched it with 
the ornaments which he had found in 
the capital of the Getes. Even the gates 
of the latter place, which were curiously 
wrought and covered with remarkable 
inscriptions, he removed to his new-built 
town. He likewise transported thither 
the treasures of the kings of Guris, con- 
sisting of gold and silver coin, precious 
stones of all kinds, magnificent thrones, 
golden crowns, costly furniture, and a 
variety of other valuable effects, the ac- 
cumulated wealth of ages. He took 
there two thousand prisoners ; who by 
his command, were piled one upon an- 
other with bricks and mortar to construct 
towers, as a monument to deter his other 
subjects from rebellion. This was a 
species of cruelty not unfrequently prac- 
tised by Timur, and reflects eternal dis- 
grace on his name. 

After this period, victory was almost al- 
ways withhim the consequence of warfare. 
Persia, Armenia, Georgia, Turkestan, Ka- 
razm, the territory of the Kipjaks, and the 
Turkmans, all were witnesses to the valor 
of his arms ; and most of them were in 
their turns,equally monuments of this cru- 
elty, exhibiting testimonies, which endur- 
ed for ages, of the ferocity of his character. 



At Ispahan he issued an order for the 
massacre of all the inhabitants, except 
those who had saved some of his soldiers 
from death ; and to insure the prompt ex- 
ecution of his mandates, each company 
were bound, under pain of the severest 
punishment, to furnish a stated number of 
heads, which the merciless conqueror 
employed in building towers, in various 
parts of the city. 

From Ispahan, Timur carried his vic- 
torious arms into Russia, crossed the ri- 
vers Wolga, Yaik, and Oby, penetrated 
into the northern parts of Muscovy, and 
conducted his troops through regions 
where, for several months together, they 
beheld not the traces of any other human 
beings. Astracan, Moscow, Tobolsk, and 
otherlarge and important cities fell be- 
fore his arms ; and, what must ever tar- 
nish his glory, the more valiantly he was 
opposed by those whom the great law 
of self-defence excited to withstand his 
progress, the more cruelly did he treat 
them when the fortune of war threw them 
into his power. The bloody scenes of 
Ispahan were repeated again and again, 
in cities at the distance of many hundred 
miles from the capital of Persia. While, 
however, we reprobate and detest this 
part of his conduct, yet the modern war- 
rior will admire his skill ; and will be 
obliged to admit, that the laurels which 
he gathered were the just reward of his 
cares, his laborious life, and his courage. 
The discipline which he kept up was 
most severe ; as a chastisement to one 
of his captains for having lost an incon- 
.siderable post, he ordered him to be 
shaved, his face painted, and a woman's 
cap to be put on him ; and in this dis- 
guise he was compelled to walk through 
the town, barefooted. 

A. D. 1392, Timur advancing to Ku- 
laghi, a town in Kurdestan, led his troops 
against the robber Serek Mehemud, the 
Turkman, who had fortified himself in 
the mountains, where he had a citadel. 
This was taken and great numbers of the 
banditti were put to the sword. While 
the court resided at Ak Bulak, the great 
mufti came as ambassador from tlie sultan 
Ahmed Jalayr, of Bagdad, with offers of 
submission and presents ; which the em- 
peror did not receive with his usual po- 



630 



TARTARY. 



liteness, because he suspected Ahmed's 
sincerity, as the prayers were not read, 
nor money coined at Bagdad in his 
name. 

Timur, however, paid respect to the 
personal character of the mufti, but dis- 
missed him without any positive answer 
on the subject of his mission, and resolv- 
ed to lay siege to Bagdad. In his march 
to that city he travelled day and night. 
When he had arrived at Ibrahim Lik, a 
place within about a hundred miles of it, 
he inquired of the inhabitants whether 
they had sent pigeons to give notice of 
the approach of his army ? On being 
answeTed in the affirmative, he made them 
write another advice, importing, that the 
dust which they had perceived at a dis- 
tance, was caused by the Turkmans who 
fled to avoid Timur. This notice was 
tied under the wing of a pigeon, which 
was immediately despatched to Bagdad. 
This fresh intelligence inspired Ahmed 
with courage, though he was somewhat 
mistrustful of it. A very few days unde- 
ceived the sultan, when Timur with his 
troops arrived at Bagdad. The Tartar 
army were encamped on nearly two 
leagues of ground, but such was their 
panic, that they threw themselves into the 
Tigris, which theypassed, notwithstand- 
ing the rapidity of the stream. Timur pur- 
sued them for a distance of ten leagues, 
and then returned to Bagdad, at the en- 
treaty of his emirs, who continued on their 
route. 

The emperor having sent ambassadors 
to invite the sultan of Egypt and Syria to 
conclude a treaty of amity, advanced to- 
wards Takrit, a fortress on the Tigris, with 
an intent to destroy that nest of robbers. 
The town was built on a high rock near 
the river, the passes were closed up with 
stones laid in mortar, and it was so well 
fortified, that it was deemed impregnable. 

The emir Hassan, who commanded in j 
the place, sent several times to offer to 
capitulate. In the mean time the soldiers j 
advanced to the foot of the wall, which 
they began to undermine ; the whole ar- 
my, consisting of 72,000 men, being em- 
ployed in the work. At length part of i 
the wall fell down ; but the besieged re- 
paired the breach, and fought desperate- 
ly. Fire being afterwards set to the 



wooden props, most of the wall fell sud- 
denly, together with a great tower. Still 
the robbers, armed with planks and great 
bu(;klers, continued to defend themselves 
against the assailants ; who advanced to 
the very middle of the place, where a 
bloody battle ensued. Timur ordered the 
rest of the walls to be undermined ; which 
operation occasioning the fall of a large 
bastion, Hassan was so terrified that he 
retired to the edge of the mountain. 
Some of the besieged came out, and be- 
sought the emirs to intercede for their 
lives ; but Timur answered, " Let him 
come or not, no quarter shall be given." 
The assailants animated by these words, 
gained the top of the rock ; and seizing 
Hassan and those about him, brought 
them bound in chains to Timur, who or- 
dered the soldiers to be separated from 
the inhabitants and put to death ; he like- 
wise left a part of the walls standing, as 
a monument to posterity, of the arduous- 
ness of his exploit ; and, according to his 
usual custom, caused towers to be built 
with the heads of the robbers, as a terror 
to others. 

Having conceived an intention of car- 
rying his arms into China, in order to ex- 
terminate the infidels of that country, he 
determined to acquire the glory attached 
to the leader in a religious war, and to 
march into India in person ; for although 
j the religion of the prophet was professed 
in Delhi, and many other cities of that 
empire, yet the greater part of the pro- 
vinces were inhabited by idolaters. With 
this view, therefore, in the month of 
March, he took the field with a large ar 
my, composed of many nations, chiefly 
Tartars ; and after passing the Jihun, en- 
camped at Anderab, A. D. 1398. 

The inhabitants of this place having 
complained that the idolaters of mount 
Ketner, and the Siapushes, exacted large 
sums from the Mohammedans, under the 
denomination of tribute, and on the fail- 
ure of payment, slew the men, and made 
slaves of the women and children, the 
warlike Timur marched against these 
people. His emirs began to ascend the 
mountain of Ketner with great fatigue ; 
and as the infidels dwelt in narrow pas- 
sages and among precipices, and the 
roads were covered with snow, they 



TARTARY. 



631 



could not be attacked without much diffi- 
culty and danger. These obstacles how- 
ever, could not oppose the progress of the 
troops of Timur. The Siapushes, a sa- 
vage and gigantic race, defended them- 
selves with great obstinacy. The fight 
lasted three days and nights without in- 
terruption ; but at length the infidels beg- 
ged for quarter. It was granted on the con- 
dition of their becoming Mohammedans, 
to which they readily acceded ; but these 
having in the night treacherously put to 
the sword an entire regiment of their 
conquerors, the army of Timur ascended 
the mountain, and, following Mohammed's 
precept to spare the women, cut to pieces 
all the men, both old and young ; then 
raised towers of their heads, and left a 
marble monument inscribed with the his- 
tory of this action. 

In September, Timur crossed the In- 
dus, and in his march made a great num- 
ber of captives. When he arrived with- 
in two leagues of Delhi, he prepared for 
a pitched battle, and harangued his troops 
upon the art of fighting, breaking the en- 
emy's ranks, and rallying after a defeat. 
Fearing lest the prisoners attached to his 
army should join the people of Delhi, he 
ordered that every one of his soldiers 
that had any Indian slaves should instant- 
ly put them to death. This ferocious 
mandate was immediately carried into 
execution; and in one hour a hundred 
thousand human beings were slaughtered, 
to the eternal disgrace equally of the ty- 
rant who could command, and the troops 
who could perpetrate so atrocious a mas- 
sacre. 

On the 30th of December, Timur set 
out for Delhi. When the astrologers 
were consulting about the aspect of the 
planets, and were at variance as to the 
most favorable moment to begin the at- 
tack, some of them earnestly entreating 
him to delay it, he thus addressed them : 
" Happiness or misery does not depend 
on the influence of the planets, but on the 
will of the Creator of the universe. For 
my part, when once I have arranged my 
plan, and taken every necessary precau- 
tion, I would not defer the execution of it a 
single minute, to wait for a fortunate cri- 
sis" However, either to satisfy his own 
devotion or to animate his troops, he open- 



ed the Koran, and fell by accident or de- 
sign on a verse which, according to his 
interpretation, promised complete victory; 
he announced the good tidings to his ar- 
my, and pursued his design. 

The Jagatays were not alarmed at the 
Indian army ; but they had conceived 
strange notions respecting the elephants, 
having never before seen animals of this 
sort. They imagined that neither the 
arrow nor the sword could penetrate their 
bodies ; that they were so strong as to 
overthrow trees by only shaking the earth 
as they passed along ; that they could 
push down the firmest buildings ; and 
that in battle they would throw man and 
horse to a vast height in the air. This 
opinion prevailing in the camp, dispirited 
the troops, as well as all the rest of Timur's 
train. The emperor always showed a 
certain degree of respect to men of learn- 
ing, and asked those who were near his 
person, what posts they would choose. 
Several doctors, terrified at what they 
had read and heard of the elephants, im- 
mediately answered, " If it please your 
majesty, we will be near the ladies." 

Timur took means to dissipate these 
fears ; when the battle was about to com- 
mence, he ascended an eminence to ob- 
serve the motions of the hostile armies, 
and as soon as the engagement began, he 
fell on the ground, often bowing to im- 
plore of Heaven victory. 

Such an engagement had never been 
witnessed before, nor so dreadful a noise 
of warlike instruments heard. On the 
4th of January, Timur erected his stand- 
ard on the walls of Delhi, and the prin- 
cipal inhabitants came to make submis- 
sion and sue for mercy. Even the ele- 
phants and rhinoceroses are said to have 
fallen down before the emperor in an 
humble posture, and to have uttered a 
great cry, as if they demanded quarter. 
On the 1 3th, the army of Timur entered 
this great and magnificent city and entire- 
ly destroyed it. Some soldiers carried 
out one hundred and fifty slaves each ; 
even boys possessed themselves of seve- 
ral much superior to themselves in age 
and strength. The other spoils, in pre- 
cious stones, jewels, plate, and manufac- 
tures, were innumerable ; for the Indian 
women and girls were adorned with pre- 



632 



TARTARY. 



cioiis stones, and had bracelets and rings 
on their hands, feet and toes ; so that the 
soldiers were loaded with them. On the 
]5th day of January, the Indian troops in 
Old Delhi retired into the mosque to de- 
fend themselves ; but the emir Shah Ma- 
lek, and Ali Sultan, entering it with five 
hundred men, slaughtered them all with- 
out mercy, as an acceptable sacrifice to 
God and the prophet. The city was 
plundered, and the remaining inhabitants 
were made slaves. The different artifi- 
cers were distributed among the princes 
and commanders ; but the masons were 
all reserved for the emperor, in order to 
build him a spacious mosque at Samar- 
cand, which at the close of the expedi- 
tion he effected, making it large enough to 
serve for all the faithful in that great city. 

There is no danger of exaggeration in 
asserting that millions perished in this 
horrible war. The only privilege grant- 
ed to the survivors was that of being re- 
duced to slavery. It is scarcely possible 
to conceive the prodigious booty that the 
troops of Timur acquired in this expedi- 
tion, which was one uninterrupted scene 
of plunder and devastation. 

Immediately after the war in India, 
Timur undertook another expedition into 
Georgia. His troops laid waste all be- 
fore them, and the terrified inhabitants 
who escaped the sword fled with their 
effects and provisions to the high moun- 
tains, where they had fortified caverns 
and houses built upon craggy rocks, so 
that no power had ever yet been able to 
conquer them in these recesses. 

Timur's soldiers, however, never con- 
sidered danger when a sense of duty 
and honor called them ; they ascended 
the mountains, and were let down in 
boxes by cords to the caverns of the 
infidels, which they entered, making a 
terrible slaughter. Some of these craggy 
places were so well defended, that in 
order to disperse the enemy and bum 
their houses and entrenchments, the army 
were obliged to make use of combustible 
matter. In this expedition they took 
fifteen strong places, giving quarter only 
to such as embraced the religion of Mo- 
hammed. Timur left a strong garrison 
in Teflis, the capital of Georgia; and 
encamped in the plain of Mohran. The 



king of this place fled into the deserts, 
but the greater part of the people came 
to the camp and sued for pardon. When 
the country was reduced, the temples 
and monasteries were razed to the ground, 
and chapels and mosques erected in their 
room. The whole territory of Georgia 
would have submitted to the yoke of the 
conqueror, had not a quarrel made Timur 
turn his arms against Bajazet emperor 
of the Turks. 

Bajazet and Timur were rivals for 
glory, and burned with a desire of trying 
their strength upon each other. Both 
parties prepared for battle, in which for- 
tune once more favored Timur. Ba- 
jazet was taken prisoner, but the emperor 
treated him in this situation with great 
respect. In the course of their route, 
Bajazet was seized with an illness, of 
which he died, A. D. 1402. Timur be- 
wailed his death with many tears, hav- 
ing intended, after the conquest of Ana- 
tolia, to re-establish him on the throne. 

Timur enriched his troops with the 
plunder of Anatolia, and then menaced 
the Egyptian monarch, who despatched 
embassadors with terms of submission, 
which having accepted, he returned to 
Georgia. The king, whose name was 
Malek, made promises, M'hich after the 
departure of Timur he neglected to per- 
form. At length, however, learning that 
the Tartar was once more ravaging his 
dominions with fire and sword, Malek 
sent to entreat him to suspend hostilities, 
adding, that fear alone prevented him 
from appearing personally before him, 
and that if assured he could do so with 
safety, he was ready to throw himself at 
the feet of the emperor, and take the oath 
of fidelity and obedience to him. " The 
case of your master," replied the Tartar 
khan, " who is a Christian, has no simi- 
larity with that of the Mohammedans ; 
because their religion pleads for them. 
Tell him, if he wishes to preserve his 
life, he must repair instantly to my court. 
Should God refuse him the grace of em- 
bracing the faith of the prophet, I will 
impose a tribute upon him, and leave him 
the government of his territories, and will 
not molest the inhabitants. The emperor 
of Constantinople, who is a Christian, is 
on these terms with me." 



TARTARY. 



633 




Bajazct b) ought htfoic Timui , or Tamcdanc. 



Malek was still dilatory in complying 
with these hard conditions, and Timur 
resumed his religious warfare with his 
customary barbarity. The king then sent 
to offer to relinquish all his treasures, to 
pay an annual subsidy, and to furnish 
troops. The emirs conjured the emperor 
on their knees to accept these submis- 
sions. He consulted the doctors of the 
law, who declared, that since the Geor- 
gians consented to become tributary, and 
promised never to injure the Mussulmen, 
the law required that quarter should be 
granted them, and that all pillage and 
massacre should cease. On hearing this 
judgment, Timur made a favorable mo- 
tion of his head, and the peace was rati- 
fied. 

Notwithstanding the furious zeal with 
which the Tartar emperor prosecuted his 
religious wars, he appears occasionally 
to have been animated with heroic prin- 
ciples, which, if they had been properly 
directed, would have excited him to gen- 
erous actions. These laudable senti- 
ments are apparent in a discourse which 
he addressed to his council. " Until 
now," said he, " my ambition has been 
to make conquests, and to extend the 



limits of my vast empire ; henceforth my 
nobler ambition shall be to secure the 
peace and prosperity of my subjects, and 
render my dominions flourishing. Let 
individuals make known their requests 
and grievances to me in person ; let them 
counsel me for the good of the Mussul- 
men, the glory of the faith, and for the 
extirpation of the wicked and the dis- 
turbers of the public peace. The op- 
pressed shall not, at the day of judgment, 
demand vengeance against me ; neither 
on that solemn occasion shall my brave 
soldiers have reason to complain of me 
or of fortmre. Their sorrows aflfect me 
even more than themselves. My wishes 
and intentions are, that the world should, 
under my reign, be converted into a para- 
dise ; and I know, that when a monarch 
is just and merciful, his kingdom is 
crowned with blessings and glory. In 
short, I am determined to amass a trea- 
sure of justice, that my soul may be en- 
titled to happiness after death." This 
was surely an extraordinary harangue 
from the mouth of one who had spent a 
long life in usurping dominions, dethron- 
ing princes, depopulating countries, ex- 
tending and multiplying scenes of misery 



634 



TARTARY. 



and devastation, and destroying the hu- 
man race with the most savage bar- 
barity. 

It must be for ever regretted, that a 
man, who with proper ideas of justice 
and religion would have been formed to 
amend the faults of mankind, should have 
been reduced by religious fanaticism into 
the most horrible crimes. It was cer- 
tainly under the impression that he was 
performing a meritorious act, that he de- 
termined to undertake a new war against 
China. He announced his intention to 
his council in the following terms: "My 
dear companions, as my conquests have 
not been effected without considerable 
violence, which has unavoidably occa- 
sioned the destruction of numbers of the 
faithful, I am resolved to expiate my past 
crimes by performing some good action. 
I will therefore declare war against the 
infidels, and exterminate the idolaters of 
China. It is proper that the same troops 
who have assisted me in committing these 
faults, should become the instruments of 
my penitence. Hence, then, let them 
prepare to march to China, that they may 
acquire the merit of this holy Avar, by 
demolishing the temples of idols, and 
erecting mosques in their places." 

Timur now prepared to lead his army, 
consisting of twelve hundred thousand 
men, through dreary deserts, or already 
desolated countries. The cold was so 
excessive on their departure, that the 
troops passed the largest rivers on ice. 
They could not procure water without 
digging to the depth of several feet. 
Multitudes had their limbs frozen ; and 
numbers both of men and horses per- 
ished on the march ; but no obstacle 
could daunt the spirit of the victorious 
Timur; his presence animated every 
heart. 

He was obliged, however, by fatigue, 
to stop in a town of small importance, not 
far distant from the frontiers of China. 
In this place he was seized with a raging 
fever, which threatened his life. He 
seemed to have a melancholy presenti- 
ment of a speedily approaching dissolu- 
tion. He thought he heard a voice call- 
ing him to repent, for he must soon ap- 
pear before God. Obedient to the solemn 
admonition, he set about the great work 



of repentance, and resolved to endea- 
vor to make satisfaction for his faults, 
by the performance of good actions. 
Although his sickness daily increased, 
he was not unmindful of his army, 
but was perpetually inquiring after its 
condition. At last he perceived that 
death was approaching ; and, animated 
with the hopes of his religion, he sum- 
moned his family and his nobles aroimd 
his bed. He saw them bathed in tears, 
and addressed them in a low but firm 
tone : " Do not," said he, " weep, but 
pray for me. I hope God will pardon 
my sins, though they are very numerous. 
I have, however, the consolation of re- 
flecting that I, at all times, restrained the 
powerful from oppressing the weak. 
Labor all of you for the happiness of the 
people ; for at the day of judgment a 
rigid account will be demanded of those 
who have enjoyed authority." He then 
declared his grandson, Pir Mehemed Je- 
han Ghir, his sole heir, and successor in 
the empire; enjoining the persons present 
to obey him, and if necessary, to sacri- 
fice their lives to maintain his authority. 
After this he ordered all the emirs, and 
great lords of his court, to come into his 
presence, and made them swear to see 
his will executed. 

Having, in the most affectionate man- 
net, recommended brotherly love and con- 
cord to the princes his children, he order- 
ed one of the doctors to read the Koran 
at his bed's-head, and often to repeat the 
unity of God. In the evening he made 
many and unequivocal professions of his 
faith, and expired while he was emphat- 
ically repeating a favorite article of his 
creed, " Verily, there is no other god than 
God." He was seventy-one years of 
age, of which he had reigned thirty-six. 
A. D. 1405. 

Timur Bek was the first who brought 
the crown into his family. At the age 
of twenty-five he had astonished every 
one with his exploits, his valor, and am- 
bition. To perfect the great talents 
which he had received from nature, he 
spent nine years in travelling, during 
which his great understanding and ele- 
vated genius appeared in councils and 
assemblies, while his intrepidity and 
prowess, whether in personal combats or 



TURKEY. 



635 



in pitched battles, drew upon him the ad- 
miration of all mankind. 

He made himself master of the three 
empires of Jagatay Khan, Tushi Khan, 
and Hulaku Khan ; so that his power, 
wealth, and magnificence, were almost 
beyond conception. Nmnerous monu- 
ments of his grandeur are still remaining 
in the cities, towns, castles, and walls, 
which he built ; in the rivers and canals 
which he dug ; and in the bridges, gar- 
dens, palaces, hospitals, mosques, and 
monasteries, which he erected in differ- 
ent parts of Asia. 

In his person Timur was corpulent 
and tall. He had a broad forehead, an 
agreeable countenance, and a fair com- 
plexion. He wore a large beard, was 
very strong, and of robust limbs ; he had 
broad shoulders, his fingers were thick, 
and he had long legs. His constitution 
was amazingly vigorous ; but he was 
maimed in one hand, and lame of the 
right side. His eyes appeared full of 
fire; his voice was loud and piercing; 
he feared nothing ; and at his death, 
though upwards of seventy, his under- 
standing was sound and perfect, his body 
vigorous and robust, his mind constant, 
and unshaken as a rock. 

He did not like raillery, and could not 



endure a lie. There was no joking or 
trifling before him, for he loved the naked 
truth, even although it was to his own 
disadvantage. He neither grieved if he 
miscarried in any attempt, nor appeared 
overjoyed on any great success. The 
device which he had chosen for his seal 
was, " I am sincere and plain." He took 
great delight in reading history, and was 
exceedingly well versed in the state of 
different countries, provinces, and cities. 
He was penetrating, subtle, close and 
dissembling; just from inclination, and 
liberal from habit and disposition ; but 
on the other hand, ambition had in a 
great measure extinguished his humanity ; 
war had familiarized him to blood ; and 
his religious zeal had inspired him with 
a cruel, implacable, and pernicious fanat- 
icism. 

Timur left behind him fifty-three de- 
scendants, thirty-six males, and seven- 
teen females. The Mogul empire be- 
came dismembered, and from its wreck 
arose a number of kingdoms and small 
principalities governed by princes de- 
scended from this conqueror, reigning 
under the title of sultans, khans, emirs, 
and shahs. Samarcand the seat of the 
empire of Timur, after his death, relapsed 
into its former barbarism. 



TURftEY. 



The obscurity in which the Turkish 
annals are involved, have prevented his- 
torians from tracing, with any degree of 
accuracy, the origin of those warlike 
tribes, who, under the name of Ottomans, 
have subjected to their dominion, and 
covered with ignorance and despotism, 
some of the fairest and most fertile por- 
tions of Asia and Europe. The Turkish 
writers claim their descent from Turc, 
the eldest of the eight sons of Japhet, 
who is represented as the great progeni- 
tor of the Tartar tribes, or Huns, who 
dwelt in tents, and occupied, with their 
flocks and herds, the extensive plains on 
the north of China, India, and Persia, 
between the Caspian and the sea of Ja- 



pan ; and parts of which have received 
the name of Turkistan. Little, however, 
is known of the history of this country 
until the middle of the sixth century, 
when one of these tribes, denominated 
Turks, who inhabited the Altai mountains, 
and were chiefly engaged in the manu- 
facture of iron, renounced their allegiance 
to the Geougen Tartars, to whom they 
had been long subject. After repeated 
victories, under Bertezena, their first 
leader, the name and dominion of the 
Geougen were extinguished; and the 
subject tribes, marching under the stand- 
ard of the Turks, were led to distant and 
important conquests. On the banks of 
the Til they overthrew the khan of the 



636 



TURKEY. 



Ogors or Varchonites, with 300,000 of 
his subjects. They subdued the Neph- 
thalites, or White Huns, a polished and 
warlike people who then inhabited Great 
Bucharia, and in the invasion of China 
their forbearance was purchased with 
splendid gifts. In the course of fifty 
years they had established a powerful 
empire, extending from the wall of China 
to the sea of Azoff, and were connected 
in peace and in war with the Chinese, 
Persians, and Romans. They contin- 
ued, like their fathers, to wander from 
place to place without any fixed habita- 
tions ; and their favorite exercises were 
hunting and war. Attached to their na- 
tive seats, the royal encampment was 
seldom far removed from mount Altai; 
and when the Roman ambasssdors were 
first presented to Disabul, their khan, 
" the tent of the monarch," according to 
Mr. Gibbon, " was surrounded with silk 
hangings, embroidered in various figures, 
and the royal seat, the cups, and the va- 
ses, were of gold. Another pavilion was 
supported by columns of gilt wood, a bed 
of pure and massy gold was raised on 
four peacocks of the same metal, and be- 
fore the entrance of the tent, dishes, ba- 
sins, and statues of solid silver and ad- 
mirable art, were ostentatiously piled in 
wagons, the monuments of valor rather 
than of industry." 

The Romans frequently experienced 
the benefit of the Turkish alliance, by 
their powerful diversion, on the side of 
the Oxus, against their common enemy 
the Persians. But this extensive em- 
pire, after a duration of 211 years, fell 
by its own weight. The princes of the 
blood, who were appointed to the govern- 
ment of its distant provinces, soon forgot 
their gratitude and their allegiance, and 
the vanquished tribes were encouraged 
and supported by the policy of China in 
resuming their independence. 

After the dissolution of this empire, 
many of the Turkish chiefs obtained 
other thrones, and more wealthy domin- 
ions. The family of Samanee usurped 
the sovereign authority in Persia, which 
they held for 125 years, and were suc- 
ceeded by that of Ghizni, where Sultan 
Mahmoud was one of the greatest mon- 
archs that ever sat upon the throne of 



Persia. After the short period of forty 
years, they, in their turn, were supplanted 
by the shepherd kings of the tribe of Sel- 
jookee, who extended their dominion from 
China over Anatolia, Syria, and Egypt. 
The unity of this mighty empire was 
dissolved by the death of Malik Shah, 
and while Persia continued subject to the 
elder branch, the younger dynasties of 
the house of Seljookee established the 
kingdoms of Kerman, Syria, and Roum, 
or Anatolia. 

The kingdom of Roum, in which the 
others eventually merged, extended from 
the Euphrates to Constantinople, and 
from the Black Sea to the confines of Sy- 
ria, with Nice for its capital ; and Soly- 
man, its first sultan, had his conquests 
confirmed to him by a treaty of peace 
with the emperor Alexius Comnenus. 
But his successor was driven from his 
capital by the arms of the crusaders, and 
the battle of Dorylseum stript him of all 
his territories upon the sea-coast from 
Trebisond to the Syrian gates. After 
the loss of Nice, the royal residence was 
removed to Iconium, an obscure inland 
town, above three hundred miles from 
Constantinople. Here the successors of 
Solyman continued to reign for nearly a 
century and a half, engaged in almost in- 
cessant hostilities with the Greek empe- 
rors, until Anatolia was overwhelmed in 
the general wreck by the ravages of Jen- 
ghis Khan and his successors. The sul- 
tan of Iconium, after a feeble resistance," 
fled for refuge to his former enemies the 
Greeks of Constantinople, and the frag- 
ments of the Seljookian monarchy were 
seized by the emirs or governors of the 
cities and provinces, who continued to 
exercise an independent dominion until 
their territories became gradually and 
imperceptibly incorporated with the Ot- 
toman empire. 

One of these emirs was Olhman, from 
whom the Ottomans derive their name. 
His grandfather Solyman, who, with other 
Turkman chiefs, had attached himself to 
the fortunes of the sultan of Carizm^, 
after the dispersion of the Carizmean army 
by the Moguls, directed his course to- 
wards the west, and perished while at- 
tempting to cross, on horseback, the wa- 
ters of the Euphrates. Orthogrul, the 



TURKEY. 



637 



eldest of his sons, led his forces into 
Anatolia, and having obtained a grant of 
territory from Aladdin, the sultan of Ico- 
nium, he established a camp of 400 tents 
at Surgut, on the banks of the Sangar. 
Placed on the verge of the Byzantine 
empire, he made constant incursions into 
its territory ; and being appointed gener- 
alissimo of the army of Iconium, he per- 
severed for half a century in preserving 
and extending his conquests in that 
quarter. 

Othman fixed the seat of his govern- 
ment at Byrsa, the chief town in Bythi- 
nia, and assumed the title of sultan. — 
From this time the Turks were known 
as the Ottoman race and sovereignty. 
In the reign of Orchan, 1 334, the Turks 
crossed the Hellespont, took Gallipoli, 
and laid the foundation of the Turkish 
power in Europe. The order of Turkish 
soldiers, called Janizaries, was formed 
by Orchan. Bajazet I, a successor of 
Orchan, purposed to besiege Constan- 
tinople in form, but was suddenly forced 
to defend himself from TLnur or Tamer- 
lane, who had now become a great con- 
queror in the east, [see Tartary.) The 
battle of Angoria, between Timur and 
Bajazet, is famous in history. Nearly 
one million of men were engaged in this 
battle, and 300,000 slain. Bajazet was 
defeated and taken prisoner, and accord- 
ing to some writers, was shut up in an 
iron cage, in which he destroyed him- 
self. Under Amurat II, the Turks re- 
sumed the project of taking Constantino- 
ple, but did not suceeed. 

Mahomet II, his successor, commenced 
his reign with the murder of his two in- 
fant brothers ; and the first object of his 
ambition was the capture of Constantino- 
ple. That city, with its suburbs, com- 
prised the dominions of Constantine 
Paloeologus, its reigning emperor. Its 
inhabitants were distracted by religious 
divisions. Some were anxious for their 
union with the Romish church, while 
others declared that they would rather 
see the turban of Mahomet in the church 
of St. Sophia than the pope's cap ; and 
when Constantine sent ambassadors to 
Rome to demand succors, and complete 
the union of the two churches, the pope, 
suspecting his sincerity, refused all as- 



sistance. The eastern empire was thus 
abandoned to its fate, and Christendom 
beheld its fall with indifference. 

The site of the city of Constantinople 
forms an equilateral triangle, having on 
the south the sea of Marmora, and on 
the north-east the gulf of Keras, which 
forms the port or harbor. On the land 
side it was defended by a double wall, 
and a ditch 100 feet deep and 200 wide ; 
and the harbor was secured by a strong 
chain drawn across from the Fair-gate 
to Galata, and protected by eight large 
ships. Had this city been garrisoned 
according to its capability, it might have 
defied every attempt for its subjugation ; 
but out of 100,000 inhabitants, scarcely 
5,000 could be found willing to man the 
ramparts in defence of all that was dear 
to them. These, with a re-enforcement 
of 2,000 Latins, under John Justinian, a 
noble Genoese and a skilful warrior, 
formed its sole defence against 250,000 
Moslems, instigated by religious fanati- 
cism and the hopes of plunder. But the 
heroic valor of Constantine was worthy 
the best days of Rome, and although al- 
most hopeless of success, he resolved to 
die in the cause of religion and honor. 
Anxious, however, to save the lives of 
his people, and desirous of peace upon 
any conditions short of the surrender of 
his capital, he proposed to pay whatever 
tribute the Moslem might impose. But 
Mahomet could too well appreciate the 
situation of Constantinople as the centre 
of a mighty empire, and his ambition 
would be satisfied with nothing less. He 
offered the Morea as an equivalent to the 
emperor, and to the people a free tolera- 
tion or a safe departure. Constantine 
rejected the degrading compromise, and 
answered with firm resignation and heroic 
resolution, " My trust is in God alone ; 
if it should please him to mollify your 
heart, I shall rejoice in the happy change ; 
if he delivers the city into your hands, 
I submit without a murmur to his holy 
will. But until the judge of the earth 
shall pronounce between us, it is my duty 
to live and die in the defence of my 
people." 

The Turkish army extended from the 
Propontis to the harbor, and all the ge- 
nius and valor of Mahomet were employ- 



638 



TURKEY. 




Death of Constantine at Constantinople 



ed in the attack ; but they were met by 
the little garrison with equal skill and 
bravery, and who made such an obstinate 
resistance that all his efforts on the land 
side were unavailing. In order, there- 
fore, to make a double attack, and as the 
barrier to the harbor was impenetrable, 
he formed the wonderful project of trans- 
porting by land his lighter vessels and 
military stores from the Bosphorus to 
the higher part of the harbor. A road 
was opened behind Galata, through brush- 
wood and over hills ; and seventy gal- 
lies, drawn forward by the power of men 
and pullies, were launched into the shal- 
low waters of the harbor, where the hea- 
vy vessels of the Greeks could ofter no 
molestation. Being thus provided with 
the means of attack against a more vul- 
nerable part of the city, and having open- 
ed several breaches in the wall by his 
enormous cannon, Mahomet prepared his 
army for a general assault. He inspired 
his troops by setting before them the joys 
of paradise if they fell, and the certainty 
of plunder if they survived. " The city 
and its buildings I claim for my own ; 
but I resign to your valor the captives 
and the spoil ; and the intrepid soldier 
who first ascends the wall, will I reward 



with the govcTnment of the fairest and 
most wealthy province of my empire." 
The decisive attack commenced at day- 
break, on the 29th of May, 1543. Ma- 
homet, with an iron mace in his hand, 
encouraged his soldiers to enter the 
breach, which was bravely defended 
against fearful odds by the emperor and 
.lustinian. The latter being wounded, re- 
tired from the fight, and Constantine fell 
in the breach, covered with heaps of 
slain. His death spread consternation 
among the Greeks, who fled towards the 
city, pursued by the victorious Turks, 
and Constantinople was irretrievably lost 
to the Christians. The sultan, attended 
by his pachas and guards, passed in tri- 
umph through the gate of St. Romanus. 
The inhabitants were devoted to slavery 
or ransom, and their treasures became 
the lawful spoil of the conquerors. All 
the public buildings were preserved, and 
the principal churches stripped of their 
images and ornaments, were transformed 
into mosques by worship and purifica- 
tions. 

From the period of the taking of Con- 
stantinople, in the middle of the fifteenth 
century, the Turks were a great and con- 
quering people. In the sixteenth cen- 



TURKEY. 



639 



tury, Selim I, after subduing Syria and 
Mesopotamia, undertook the conquest of 
Epypt, then governed by the Mamelukes, 
a race of Circassians, who had seized the 
country in 1250, and put an end to the 
government of the Arabian princes, the 
posterity of Saladin. The conquest of 
Egypt by SeUm made Uttle change in the 
form of its government. It professes to OM'n 
the sovereignty of the Turks, biit is in real- 
ity governed still by the Mameluke Beys. 

Solyman the (Magnificent,) son of Se- 
lim, was, like his predecessors, a great 
conqueror. The island of Rhodes, pos- 
sessed by the knights of St John, was a 
darling object of his ambition. These 
knights had expelled the Saracens from 
the island in 1310. Solyman attacked 
Rhodes with 140,000 men and 400 ships. 
The Rhodian knights, aided by the Eng- 
lish, Italians, and Spaniards, made a no- 
ble defence ; but, after a siege of many 
months, were forced to capitulate, and 
evacuate the island, in 1522, which has 
been the property of the Turks ever since. 
The commercial laws of the ancient Rho- 
dians were adopted by the Romans, and are 
at this day the foundation of the maritime 
jurisprudence of all the nations of Europe. 

Solyman subdued the greatest part of 
Hungary, Moldavia, and Wallachia, and 
took from the Persians, Georgia and Bag- 
dad. His son Selim II, took Cyprus 
from the Venetians in 1571. They ap- 
plied to the pope for aid, who, together 
with Philip II of Spain, entered into a 
triple alliance against the Ottoman pow- 
er. An armament of 250 ships of war, 
commanded by Philip's natural brother, 
Don John of Austria, was opposed to 
250 Turkish gallies in the gulf of Lepan- 
to, near Corinth ; and the Turks were 
defeated, with the loss of 150 ships, and 
15,000 men, 1571. This great victory 
was soon after followed by the taking of 
Tunis by the same commander. 

But these successes were of little con- 
sequence. The Ottoman power continu- 
ed extremely formidable. Under Amu- 
ruth II, the Turks made encroachments 
on Hungary, and subdued a part of Per- 
sia. Mahomet III, though a barbarian 
in his private character, supported the 
dignity of the empire, and extended its 
dominions. The Ottoman power declined 



from his time, and yielded to that of the 
Persians under Schah-Abbas the Great, 
who wrested from the Turks a large part 
of their late acquired dominions. 

Under Mustapha III, Russia and Tur- 
key engaged in a furious and bloody vvar, 
which lasted from 1769 to 1774. By 
means of a fleet which sailed to the Ar- 
chipelago, the Russians seized a part of 
the Morea, whose inhabitants soon rose 
in a general revolt, and declared in favor 
of Russia. The Sultan, however, quelled 
the insurrection, 8,nd inflicted cruel pun- 
ishments on many of the Greeks. This 
war was generally disastrous to the Turks. 
The war was renewed by Achmet IV, in 
1787, and was concluded by Selim III, 
after important concessions had been 
made to Russia. The Russian command- 
ers KoutousofF, and Suwarrow, distin- 
guished themselves in this war. 

It was during the reign of Selim that 
Bonaparte invaded Egypt, {see Egypt,) 
and afterwards Syria. He was signally 
defeated at St. Jean d'Acre, in 1799, after 
making eleven desperate attempts to car- 
ry the place by assault. The Turks at this 
fortress under the command of Djezzar Pa- 
cha were assisted by a British force under 
Sir Sidney Smith. The Turkish soldiers 
contended with Sir Sidney for the honor of 
defending the breach in the walls made 
by the artillery of the French. The en- 
ergetic old pacha coming behind the 
British officers at the breach, actually 
pulled them down, observing, that if any 
thing should happen to them all would 
be lost. At the last desperate attempt of 
the French, the plan of Djezzar was not 
to defend the breach, but to admit a cer- 
tain number of the enemy, and then close 
Avith them according to the Turkish mode 
of warfare. A French column, therefore, 
mounted the breach unmolested, and de- 
scended from the rampart into the pacha's 
garden, where, in a few minutes, the 
bravest and most advanced of them lay 
headless corpses ; the sabre in one hand 
and a dagger in the other, being more 
than a match for the French bayonet, the 
rest precipitately retreated. The French 
after a siege of about two months made a 
disastrous retreat into Egypt, having lost 
about 4,300 men. 

During the period of the Greek revo- 



640 



TURKEY 



^^9 




^m 




^Sii^l 




^^m^^^^ii 




^^^m 



Sir Sidney Smith at the siege of Acre- 



liition, which commenced in 1821, {see 
Greece,) a contest of a most sangui- 
nary nature was maintained at Con- 
stantinople, between the sultan and his 
rebellious janissaries. Halet Efl'endi, 
an enlightened minister, and the favorite 
of the sultan, had fallen a sacrifice to the 
jealous interference of these troops ; and 
the frequent murders and frightful disor- 
ders which they committed rendered 
them so dangerous to the peace and hap- 
piness of the capital, that Mahmoud threat- 
ened to abandon Constantinople unless 
a stop was put to such atrocious proceed- 
ings. This threat produced a temporary 
quiet ; but their rebellious movements 
were again renewed, and several of their 
officers, suspected of plotting against the 
life of the sultan, were arrested and put 
to death. Their outrages and domina- 
tion, however, became at last so intolera- 
ble, that Mahmoud prepared to reduce 
them to subordination by forcing upon 
them a new system of discipline ; and al- 
though every attempt to promote this 
measure had hitherto proved abortive and 
fatal to its supporters, yet he retained so 
strong an impression of its importance, 
that he resolved upon their submission or 



extirpation. At a general council of the 
principal ministers and officers of the 
Porte, it was determined to commence 
this measure by a draught of 150 men 
from each orta of the janissaries, who 
were to be drilled by Egyptian officers, 
and to be incorporated with the new 
troops. As these detachments entered 
upon the new evolutions, under an im- 
pression that they were merely the revi- 
val of an old exercise used in the time of 
Solyman, no dissatisfaction was evinced 
for some time, and preparations were 
making for a general review, when a 
standard bearer happened to call out, 
" This is very like Russian mancEuvring." 
The effect was instantaneous. These 
haughty troops no sooner perceived that 
they had been led to practice the hated 
exercise of the Nizam djedit, than their 
resentment was excited to the utmost. 
They immediately marched to the palace 
of the Porte, which having pillaged, they 
dispersed themselves throughout the city, 
and committed the most frightful exces- 
ses. The grand vizier and Janissary 
Aga escaped their fury only by a timely 
flight to the country palace of Bashiktash, 
where the sultan was then residing. 



TURKEY. 



641 



Mahmoud was no sooner informed of 
the revolt, than he hastened to the se- 
raglio, and, with a prompt and energetic 
decision, took immediate steps for crush- 
ing with a strong arm those dangerous and 
turbulent subjects. At a meeting of the 
Divan it was resolved to display the 
Sandschak Sherif; and orders were des- 
patched to Hussein Pacha and the Top- 
gee Bashi, or commander of artillery, to 
advance with their forces to the capital. 
The zealous Ottomans hastened to rally 
round the sacred banner, which was 
borne to sultan Achmet's mosque ; and 
there, surrounded by the ulema and his 
court, the sultan pronounced an anathema 
against all who refused to acknowledge 
the symbol of the prophet. The janissa- 
ries, to the number of upwards of 20,000, 
had, as usual on such occasions, assem- 
bled in the Atmeidan ; and the offer of 
pardon, upon condition of their submis- 
sion, was received with scorn, and an- 
swered with the murder of the messen- 
gers, and a demand of the heads of the 
grand vizier and other distinguished offi- 
cers. The mufti having declared them 
beyond the pale of the law, and issued 
\iisfetva to that effect, Hussein Pacha 
was ordered immediately to advance and 
extirpate the rebels. Presuming upon 
their former power and privileges, and on 
the influence which they had hitherto ex- 
ercised in the government, the janissa- 
ries awaited with confidence a compli- 
ance with their demands, when they were 
awakened to the dreadful reality of their 
situation by a discharge of grape-shot 
among their dense and crowded masses. 
After a feeble resistance, they retired to 
their barracks, and offered submission ; 
but Mahmoud, convinced that the safety 
of the throne and empire depended upon 
their utter extinction, was inexorable. 
He ordered the barracks to be fired and 
no quarter given. The buildings were 
battered to pieces by cannon, and the 
wretched inmates who attempted to es- 
cape were thrown back hito the smoking 
ruins. Above 4,000 miserable victims 
perished by the shot or in the flames. Du- 
ring the two following days a tribunal sat 
in the Atmeidan for the trial of the insur- 



concerned in the revolt, was strangled on 
the spot ; and others less culpable were 
banished to Asia. The numbers that suf- 
fered on this occasion could never be 
distinctly ascertained, but 20,000 at least 
were removed by death or exile. 

A firman of the Porte abolished for ever 
the name and institution of the janissa- 
ries ; and thus was successfully achieved 
this great military revolution ; and those 
turbulent troops, who, for upwards of 
four centuries, had exercised a control in 
the government alike incompatible with 
the dignity of the sovereign and the safe- 
ty of the state, who had deposed and put 
to death so many sultans, and who had 
so often filled the empire with troubles 
and commotions, were swept from the 
capital, and crushed under the vigorous 
hand of the inexorable Mahmoud. 

The threatening attitude of Russia, 
compelled the Porte to take measures to 
oppose the movements of that power to 
obtain possession of his territory. Mah- 
moud seeing that a rupture could not 
be avoided without degrading submissions, 
prepared for the struggle. With his best 
troops occupied in Greece and Servia ; 
his navy destroyed, and the janissaries 
annihilated, his principal dependence 
rested upon the raw levies of Asia, who 
could not be expected to cope with reg- 
ular troops of Russia in the field ; he 
therefore resolved upon strictly defensive 
operations, to strengthen his fortresses 
on the Danube, to concentrate his army 
at Shumla, and to defend the barriers of 
the Balkan. 

The Russian armies under Count 
Wittgenstein passed the Pruth, in May, 
1828, and occupied the principalities 
without opposition. The Emperor Nich- 
olas with an army passed the Danube on 
the 7th of June. After various opera- 
tions during the summer, the severity of 
the weather put an end to hostile move- 
ments on both sides. 

Russia had little to boastofin the issue 
of this campaign. After all her mighty 
preparations, her troops were stopped by 
the Balkans, the first spot where they 
met with a Turkish army. Her only 
conquests of importance, where any resis- 



gents. Every janissary taken in arms, tance to her arms was offered, were Brai- 
or who was suspected of having been ' low and Varna, and this last vi^as obtain- 
81 



642 



TURKEY, 



ed by treachery; and she acknowledged 
the loss of 20,000 men slain, or so badly 
■wounded, as to be incapable of again 
serving. The capture of Varna, however, 
and more especially the destruction of 
the Turkish fleet at Navarin, which the 
Russians could not have accomplished in 
open and honorable warfare, gave them 
a decided advantage in the following 
campaign. By the former she obtained 
a point of advance, which gave her the 
command of the road into the plains of 
Roumelia ; and by the latter she obtained 
the command of the Black sea, which 
enabled her to harass the Turkish coasts, 
and to convey re-enforcements and sup- 
plies to her invading armies. 

General Diebitsch commenced his 
operations on the Danube, by the invest- 
ment of Silistria, on the 17th of May, 
1829, after defeating a corps of Turks 
and taking two redoubts. He also secur- 
ed his communications by a line of posts 
with Bazardjik and Varna. About the 
same time, the grand vizier, Redchid 
Pacha, left Schumla, with the intention 
of attacking the fortified town of Pravadi. 
At Eski Arnaullar he fell in with a Rus- 
sian detachment of 4,000 men, who de- 
fended themselves bravely for Ave hours 
against four times their number, till fresh 
troops came to their assistance, when 
the Turks were compelled to retire. Be- 
ing joined by a strong re-enforcement, 
Redchid returned to the charge, and en- 
deavored to turn the left flank of the 
Russians. Here he was opposed by 
general Roth, when after some hard 
flghling, he abandoned the enterprise 
with the loss of 2,000 men, and return- 
ed to Schumla. In the beginning of June, 
however, the grand vizier succeeded in 
making a regular investment of Pravadi 
with 40,000 troops. General Roth, find- 
ing himself unable to make head against 
such a force, solicited re. enforcements 
from the commander-in-chief. Count 
Diebitsch, who was then prosecuting the 
siege of Silistria, left that operation in 
charge of his second in command, and 
proceeded in person at the head of the 
re-enforcements, with a determination to 
force the Turks to a general battle. With 
this view, he cut off their communica- 
tion with Schumla, by occupying the de- 



files and passes in their rear, by which 
they drew their ammunition and supplies 
from that fortress ; and the grand vizier 
was not aware of his approach till he 
beheld the Russian columns advancing 
to the attack. A most sanguinary combat 
ensued, Avhich continued for four hours, 
when the fire from the exhausted troops 
wholly ceased on both sides. Redchid 
Pacha then prepared to fall back upon 
Marash ; but Diebitsch was resolved up- 
on his complete defeat ; and having 
made some new arrangement of his forces, 
returned to the charge before the Turks 
had commenced their retreat. The ac- 
cidental blowing up of their amunition 
wagons so intimidated the Ottomans, and 
disordered their ranks, that, after dis- 
charging their artillery, they gave way 
on all sides, abandoning their camp, 
with 40 pieces of cannon, and all their 
ammunition and baggage. Sixteen more 
cannon and many prisoners were taken 
in the pursuit, and so thorough was the 
rout, that, with the exception of some 
cavalry who fell back upon Aidos, the 
Turkish army was entirely dispersed, 
and the grand vizier reached Schumla 
by a circuitous road, attended only by a 
small escort of cavalry. This complete 
defeat, which decided the fate of the 
campaign, must be attributed entirely to 
the skilful and judicious movements, and 
the admirable plan of attack of count 
Diebitsch, who, by surprising the grand 
vizier, while he thought himself in per- 
fect security, and by cutting ofl" his com- 
munication with Schumla, accomplished 
such a thorough dispersion of the Turk- 
ish forces, as prevented them ever rally- 
ing again for the purpose of opposing his 
advance ; and of 40,000 combatants not 
above one-third reassembled after the en- 
gagement. Count Diebitsch, immediately 
after the battle, sent a pacific communi- 
cation to Schumla by M. Fonton, a coun- 
sellor of state, who returned with the 
answer, that the grand vizier had receiv- 
ed his despatches and proposals, and had 
sent them to Constantinople for the de- 
cision of the sultan. 

While count Diebitsch was trium- 
phantly advancing towards the Balkan, 
Silistria capitulated after practicable 
breaches were made in the ramparts, and 



UNITED STATES. 



643 



the Russians were ready to storm. Two 
pachas, 8,000 soldiers, 220 pieces of 
cannon, and 80 standards fell into the 
hands of the victors ; and the besieging 
corps hastened to join the army under 
count Diebitsch, who had now resolved 
to cross the Balkan. Leaving a sufficient 
force for the observation of Schumla, 
he proceeded with his army in three 
divisions, the right column commanded by 
general Iludiger, the left by general 
Roth, and the centre by count Pahlen, 
with whom was the commander-in-chief. 
The Turkish forces, which they encoun- 
tered on their route, were so panic-struck 
at the appearance of the Russians sur- 
mounting those heights which they had 
always considered as the impregnable 
bulwarks of their empire, that they be- 
came irresolute, and gave way on the 
first fire, their officers generally setting 
them the example. Except some smart 
skirmishes, therefore, at Kamabat and 
Selimno, count Diebitsch continued his 
uninterrupted and victorious march by 
Aidos, Bourgas, and Kirk-Kilissa to 
Adrianople. This city, from its situation, 
its fortifications, and its numerous garri- 
sons, might have maintained a protracted 
resistance ; but the Turks were prepared 
for submission, and despatched a propo- 
sal to the Russian commander for an im- 
mediate capitulation. The arms and ar- 
tillery, with the magazines of provisions 
and ammunition, were delivered up to 
the enemy ; and the Turkish pachas, 
with their troops, were allowed to return 
to their homes, provided they did not 
take the road to Constantinople. 

Count Diebitsch entered Adrianople 
on the 20tli of August, and fixed his 
head quarters in the palace of the sultans. 



which had been previously prepared for 
the reception of Mahmoud ; and the con- 
quest of this city, according to the Rus- 
sian bulletin, " was more like a popular 
festival than the occupation of a capital 
city by an armed hostile force. The 
Turkish as well as christian inhabitants 
continue their usual occupations. The 
shops and coftee-houses are open, and the 
local authorities and tribunals have not 
been interrupted in their proceedings." 

The intelligence of the occupation of 
Adrianople, and the advance of the Rus- 
sian army on the road to the capital, pro- 
duced an instantaneous change in the 
councils of the porte. Mahmoud, who 
probably trusting to the interference of 
the other European powers in his behalf, 
had hitherto contemplated the progress 
of the enemy with a firm determination 
to resist to the last, and had even refused 
to answer the propositions of count 
Diebitsch after the battle of Pravadi, 
was now brought to the alternative of 
negotiation, or exposing his capital to be 
occupied by a victorious army. The reis 
effendi, accordingly, having conferred 
with the British and French ambassadors, 
and the Prussian general Muffling, re- 
specting the means of averting this latter 
c alamity, plenipotentiaries were despatch- 
ed to the Russian head-quarters, with full 
powers to treat respecting the indemni- 
ties to be awarded to Russia for the ex- 
penses of the war. When count Diebitsch 
! inquired what propositions the plenipo- 
j tentiaries had to make, they answered 
that the sultan left it entirely to the dis- 
cretion of the emperor of Russia to make 
his own terms, upon which the count 
signed the armistice on the 27th of Au- 
gust, and hostilities ceased. 



UNITED STATES 



[As the history of the United States has been 
published in quite a variety of forms, easily ac- 
cessible, it was thought advisable to give only an 
outline sketch, in order to make room for the his- 
tory of other countries.] 

After the first daring and successful 
voyage of Columbus, the attention of the 
European governments was directed to- 



wards exploring the " new world." In 
the year 1497, John Cabot, a Venetian 
in the service of Henry VII, of England, 
first discovered the island of Newfound- 
land, and from thence ranged the coast of 
the United States to Florida. The coun 
try was peopled by uncivilized nations, 



644 



UNITED STATES. 



who subsisted chiefly by hunting and 
fishing. The Europeans who first visited 
our shores, treated the natives as wild 
beasts of the forest, which have no prop- 
erty in the forests through which they 
roam ; and therefore planted the standard 
of their respective masters on the spot 
where they first landed, and in their 
names took possession of the country, 
which they claimed by right of discovery. 
Previous to any settlement in North 
America, many titles of this kind were 
acquired by the English, Dutch, French 
and Spanish navigators. Slight as these 
claims were, they were afterwards the 
causes of much dispute and contention 
between the European governments 
These contentions arose from the fact 
of the subjects of different princes laying 
claim to the same tract of country, be- 
cause both had discovered the same river 
or promontory ; or because the extent of 
the claims of each party was undefined. 

The first permanent English settle- 
ments in the United States were at 
Jamestown, in Virginia, in 1607, and at 
Plymouth, in Massachusetts, in 1620. 
While the European settlements were 
few and scattered in this vast and uncul- 
tivated country, and the trade of it con- 
fined to the bartering of a few trinkets, 
&c, for furs, the interfering of dilTerent 
claims produced no important controversy 
among the Europeans. But in proportion 
as the settlements were extended, and in 
proportion as the trade with the natives 
became valuable, the jealousies of the 
nations who had made discoveries and 
settlements on the coast were alarmed, 
and each power took measures to secure 
and extend its possessions, at the expense 
of its rivals. 

From the earliest settlement of the 
colonies to the treaty of Paris, in 1763, 
they were often harassed by frequent 
wars with the Indians, French, Spaniards 
and Dutch. During the Indian wars, the 
savages were often instigated by the 
French and Dutch to fall on the EngUsh 
settlements, in order to exterminate the 
colonists, or drive them from the country. 
These wars were by far the most dis- 
tressing ; the first settlers lived in con- 
tinual fear and anxiety, for fear their In- 
dian foes would fall upon them in some 



unguarded moment, and oftentimes they 
had to struggle to prevent their entire 
extermination. After the colonies had 
subdued the Indians in their immediate 
vicinity, they were assailed by the French 
and Indians. The French possessed 
Canada, and had made a number of set- 
tlements in Florida, and claimed the 
country on both sides of the Mississippi. 
To secure and extend their claims they 
established a line of forts back to the 
English settlements, from Canada to 
Florida. They used much art and per- 
suasion to gain over the Indians to their 
interest, in which they were generally 
successful. Encroachments were ac- 
cordingly made on the English posses- 
sions, and mutual injuries succeeded, 
which soon broke out into open war. 

In order to put a stop to the depreda- 
tions of the French and Indians, it was 
contemplated to conquer Canada. In 
1690, the commissioners of the colonies 
projected an expedition against Quebec. 
The land forces ordered for this invasion 
consisted of 850 men, raised from the 
colonies of New England and New- York, 
and commanded by General Winthrop. At 
the same time a fleet of armed ships and 
transports, with 1,800 men, under sir 
William Phipps, was ordered to sail up 
the St. Lawrence, and co-operate with 
the land forces in the reduction of Que- 
bec. But owing to the delay of the fleet, 
and the want of boats and provisions 
among the land forces, the expedition 
was unsuccessful. The next expedition 
against Canada took place in 1709, in 
queen Anne's reign. The colonies of 
New England and New-York, raised 
about 2,500 men, who were placed under 
the command of General Nicholson, who 
proceeded to Wood creek, south of lake 
George. Here they waited to hear of 
the arrival of the fleet which was to co- 
operate with them. The fleet did not 
arrive, and the army at Wood creek were 
attacked with a malignant disease, which 
occasioned a great mortality, which com- 
pelled them to withdraw, and the expe- 
dition was abandoned. In 1711, another 
attempt, under Gen. Nicholson with the 
land forces, and a fleet under admiral 
Walker, was made for the conquest of 
Canada. But this failed by the loss of 



UNITED STATES. 



645 



eight or nine transports, with about 1 ,000 
men, by shipwreck. The peace of Utrecht, 
signed March 3d, 1713, put an end to 
hostiUties, and continued till 1739. 

In 1744, Great Britain declared war 
against France, and the next year Louis- 
burg, a strong fortress on cape Breton, 
was taken from the French. The French 
government soon fitted out a large fleet, 
with a large boby of land forces, for the 
purpose of recovering Louisburg, and at- 
tacking the English colonies. But this 
expedition, by means of storms, sickness 
among the troops, &c, failed of accom- 
plishing any thing, and the colonies were 
relieved from consternation and dismay. 
This war closed by a treaty of peace, 
signed at Aix la Chapelle, in 1748. 

In 1755, hostilities again commenced 
between Great Britain and France, and 
in 1756 four expeditions were undertaken 
against the French. One was conducted 
by Col. Monckton and Gen. Winslow, 
against Nova Scotia. This expedition 
was attended with success. The country 
was subdued, and the inhabitants, about 
2,000 in number, were transported to 
New England, and dispersed and incor- 
porated with their conquerors. General 
Johnson was ordered with abody of troops 
to take possession of Crown Point, but 
he did not succeed. Gen. Shirley com- 
manded an expedition against the fort at 
Niagara, but lost the season by delay. 
Gen. Braddock was sent against Fort du 
Quesne, but in penetrating through the 
wilderness fell into an ambuscade of 
French and Indians, where he was killed, 
and his troops suffered an entire defeat. 

In 1758, great efforts were made to 
subdue the French in America. Three 
armies were employed — one commanded 
by Gen. Amherst, to take possession of 
cape Breton — one under Gen. Abercrom- 
bie, destined against Crown Point — and 
a third under Gen. Forbes, to drive the 
French from the Ohio. Gen. Amherst 
was successful in taking Louisburg, after 
a warm siege. The inhabitants of cape 
Breton were sent to France, and the for- 
tifications of Louisburg reduced to a heap 
of ruins. 

General Abercrombie, who was sent 
against Crown Point and Ticonderoga, 
attacked the French at the latter place, 



and was defeated with a terrible slaugh- 
ter of his troops. Gen. Forbes was suc- 
cessful in taking possession of Fort du 
Quesne, which the French thought proper 
to abandon. The next year the efforts 
of the British and Americans to reduce 
the French were more successful. Gen. 
Prideaux and sir William Johnson began 
the operations of the campaign, by taking 
possession of the French fort near Niag- 
ara. Gen. Amherst took possession of 
the forts at Crown Point and Ticondero- 
ga, which the French had abandoned. 

But the decisive blow which proved 
the destruction of the French power in 
America, was the taking of Quebec by 
Gen. Wolfe. The loss of Quebec was 
soon followed by the capture of Montreal 
by Gen. Amherst, and Canada became a 
province of the British Empire. " Thus 
after a century of wars, massacres, and 
destruction, committed by the French 
and savages, the colonies were secured 
from ferocious invaders, and Canada, 
with a valuable trade in furs, came under 
the British dominion." 

The conquest of Canada and the ex- 
pulsion of the French from the Ohio, put 
an end to all important military operations 
in the American colonies. In Europe, 
however, the war continued to rage ; and 
in the West Indies, the British, aided by 
the Americans, took Havanna from the 
Spaniards. But in 1762, " a definitive 
treaty of peace was signed at Paris, by 
which the French king ceded Nova Sco- 
tia, Cape Breton and Canada to the Bri- 
tish king ; and the middle of the Missis- 
sippi, from its source to the river Ibber- 
ville, and the middle of that river to the 
sea, was made the boundary between the 
British and French dominions in Ameri- 
ca. Spain ceded to Great Britain, Flo- 
rida, and all her possessions to the east 
of the Mississippi. Such was the state 
of the European possessions in America, 
at the commencement of the Revolution." 

Before the Revolution there were three 
kinds of government established in the 
British American colonies. "The first 
was a chartered government, by which 
the powers of legislation were vested in 
a governor, council and assembly, chosen 
by the people. Of this kind were the 
governments of Connecticut and Rhode 



646 



UNITED STATES. 



Island. The second was a proprietary 
government, in which the proprietor of 
the province was governor ; although he 
generally resided abroad, and adminis- 
tered the government by a deputy of his 
own appointment ; the assembly only be- 
ing chosen by the people. Such were 
the governments of Pennsylvania and 
Maryland; and originally of New-Jersey 
and Carolina. The third kind was that 
of royal government, where the governor 
and council were appointed by the crown, 
and the assembly by the people. Of 
this kind were the governments of New- 
Hampshire, Massachusetts, New-York, 
New- Jersey, after the year 1702,Virginia, 
the Carolinas, after the resignation of the 
proprietors in 1728, and Georgia. This 
variety of governments created different 
degrees of dependence on the crown. 
To render laws valid, it was constitution- 
ally required that they should be ratified 
by the king ; but this formality was often 
dispensed with, especially in the charter 
governments. 

" At the beginning of the last war with 
France, commissioners from many of the 
colonies had assembled at Albany, and 
proposed that a great council should be 
formed b}^ deputies from the several colo- 
nies, which, with a general governor to 
be appointed by the crown, should be 
empowered to take measures for the 
common safety, and to raise money for 
the execution of their designs. This 
proposal was not relished by the British 
ministry ; but in place of this plan it was 
proposed, that the governors of the colo- 
nies with the assistance of one or two of 
their council, should assemble and con- 
cert measures for their general defence ; 
erect forts, levy troops, and draw on the 
treasury of England for monies that should 
be wanted ; but the treasury to be re-im- 
bursed by a tax on the colonies, to be laid 
by the English parliament. To this plan 
which would imply an avowal of the 
right of parliament to tax the colonies, the 
provincial assemblies objected with un- 
shaken firmness. It seems, therefore, 
that the British parliament, before the 
war, had it in contemplation to exercise 
the right they claimed of taxing the colo- 
nies at pleasure, without permitting them 
to be represented. Indeed, it is obvious, 



that they laid hold of the alarming situa- 
tionof the colonies, about 1754, and 1755, 
to force them into an acknowledgment of 
the right, or to the adoption of measures 
that might afterwards be drawn into pre- 
cedent. The colonies, however, with 
an uncommon foresight and firmness, de- 
feated all their attempts. The war was 
carried on by requisitions on the colonies 
for supplies of men and money, or by 
voluntary contributions. 

" But no sooner was peace concluded, 
than the English parliament resumed the 
plan of taxing the colonies; and to justify 
their attempts, said, that the money to be 
raised was to be appropriated to defray 
the expense of defending them in the 
late war." 

The first attempt of the British govern- 
ment to raise a revenue in America, ap- 
peared in the memorable Stamp Act ; but 
such was the opposition of the colonies 
to this act, that it was shortly after re- 
pealed. The parliament, however, per- 
sisted in their right to raise a revenue 
from the colonies, and accordingly passed 
an act, laying a certain duty on glass, 
tea, paper, and painter's colors — articles 
which were much wanted, and not man- 
ufactured in America. This Act was so 
obnoxious to the Americans, that the 
parliament thought proper in 1770, to take 
off these duties, except three pence a 
pound on tea. But this duty, however 
trifling, kept alive the jealousies of the 
colonies, and their opposition continued 
and increased. It was not the incon- 
venience of paying the duty which raised 
their opposition, but it was the pmiciple, 
which once admitted, would have sub- 
jected the colonies to unlimited parlia- 
mentary taxation, without the privilege 
of being represented. 

After a series of oppressive acts 
on the part of the British government, 
and of opposition on the part of the 
colonies. Gen. Gage was sent over with 
an armed force to Boston, in 1774, to 
overawe and reduce the rebellious colo- 
nies to submission. But these measures 
did not intimidate the Americans. The 
people generally concurred in a proposi- 
tion for holding a congress by deputation 
from the several colonies, in order to 
concert measures for the preservation of 



tJNITED STATES. 



647 




Death of General Warren at Bunker Hill. 



their rights. Deputies were accordingly 
appointed, and the frst Congress met at 
Philadelphia, in October, 1774. The 
proceedings of the American Congress 
had a tendency to confirm the people in 
a spirited and unanimous determination 
to resist the oppressive acts of the moth- 
er country, and to defend their just and 
constitutional rights. On the other hand, 
the British Parliament declared that a 
rebellion actually existed, and besought 
his Brittanic Majesty to take the most 
effectual measures to enforce due obedi- 
ence to the laws and authority of his 
government ; and assured him that they 
were determined to support him in main- 
tainingthejustrightsof the crown. " From 
this moment an appeal to arms became 
unavoidable, and both parties prepared 
for the conflict." 

The first scene of this sanguinary con- 
test opened at Lexington, on the morn- 
ing of the 19th of April, 1775. Here 
was spilt the first blood in a war of seven 
years duration, a war which severed 
these United States from the British Em- 
pire, and ended in the establishment of 
the independence of a nation of freemen. 

1775. The first year of the Revolu- 
tion. The principal operations of the war 



during this year took place in the nor- 
ihern States. As the province of Mas- 
sachusetts had been foremost in opposi- 
tion, the British government sent their 
forces to Boston, the capital, and held it 
in possession during the year. In order 
to annoy the British forces, the Ameri- 
cans on the night of the 16th of June, 
threw up a breast work on Bunker's Hill, 
an elevation in Charlestown, which com- 
manded the inner harbor of Boston. In 
order to drive the Americans from this 
position, a body of between 3 and 4,000 
British troops landed, and were suffered 
to advance to within ten or twelve rods 
of the American works, when a deadly 
fire was opened upon them which com- 
pelled them to retreat. Advancing the sec- 
ond time they were suffered to approach 
still nearer, when another discharge strew- 
ed the field with the dead and wounded, 
and the remainder fled in dismay to their 
boats. At this moment Gen. Clinton, 
who had been watching the progress of 
the battle from Boston, crossed over with 
a re-enforcement of 1000 men, and with 
great difficulty led up the troops to a third 
charge, with fixed bayonets. The Amer- 
icans having no bayonets, and their pow- 
der being exhausted, were forced to aban- 



648 



UNITED STATES. 



don their works. The loss of the Brit- 
ish was nearly 1 ,500 in killed and woun- 
ded ; the loss of the Americans was 
about 400, but among the number was 
Gen. Warren, a brave soldier and firm 
patriot. Soon after the battle of Bunker 
- Hill, Gen. Washington, who was appoint- 

ed commander-in-chief of the American 
forces, arrived at Cambridge, and took 
the command of the army in July. The 
army investing Boston amounted to about 
15,000 men. They were mostly desti- 
tute of good arms, ammunition, clothing, 
and experienced officers. Washington's 
first and most difficult task was to organ- 
ize and discipline the troops. Owing to 
his uncommon exertions and influence, 
he succeeded in bringing high-minded 
freemen to know their respective places, 
and to have the mechanism as well as 
the movements of a regular army. 

In the autumn of this year, a body of 
troops under the command of Gen. Mont- 
gomery, besieged and took the garrison 
at St. John's, which commanded the en- 
trance into Canada. Gen. Montgome- 
ry pursued his success, and took Mon- 
treal. At Quebec being joined by Gen- 
eral Arnold, who had marched a body of 
men through the wilderness to his 
sistance, Montgomery made an assault 
on Quebec, on the last day of the year. 
In this attack he was killed, his troops 
defeated, and the American army was 
finally compelled to evacuate Canada. 

During this year nearly all the old 
governments of the colonies were dis- 
solved ; and the royal governors, and the 
crown officers adhering to British meas- 
ures, were obliged to leave the country, 
or suspend their functions. From that 
time temporary conventions were held, 
for the purpose of administering the 
laws, and making regulations to meet 
the public exigencies. In some of the 
colonies, however, the British adherents 
(who were called lories) were numerous 
and powerful ; which weakened the op- 
position to the British arms. 

1776. This year was opened by the 
burning of the large and flourishing town 
of Norfolk in Virginia, by order of Lord 
Dunmore, the royal governor of that 
province. 

The British King entered into treaties 



with some of the German States for about 
17,000 men who were to be sent to 
America this year, to assist in subduing 
the colonies. These troops were gener- 
ally called Hessians, from the circum- 
stance of many of them being raised in 
Hesse Cassel in Germany. Gen. Wash- 
ington who still continued before Boston, 
in the opening of the spring planted his 
batteries so judiciously before that town, 
that the British General Howe, on the 
17th of March abandoned the place, and 
Gen. Washington marched into the place 
in triumph. 

During the summer a squadron of 
ships commanded by Sir Peter Parker, 
and a body of troops under Generals 
Clinton and Cornwallis, attempted to 
take Charleston the capital of South Car- 
olina. The fort on Sullivan's Island 
near Charleston was attacked with great 
fury by the ships of the squadron, but the 
British were repulsed with great loss and 
the expedition was abandoned. 

On the 4th July, Congress published 
the Declaration of Independence. Soon 
after the declaration. Gen. Howe with a 
powerful force arrived near New- York ; 
and landed the troops on Staten Island. 
General Washington at this time was in 
New-York with about 13,000 men who 
were encamped either in the city, or the 
neighboring fortifications. The opera- 
tions of the British began by attacking 
the Americans on Long Island. The 
Americans were defeated with severe 
loss, and General Washington probably 
saved the remainder of his troops by or- 
dering them to retreat in the night after 
the battle. 

In September, New- York was aban- 
doned by the Americans, and taken by 
the British, and in November, fort Wash- 
ington on York Island was taken, and 
more than 2,000 men made prisoners ; 
about the same time Gen. Clinton took 
possession of Rhode Island. 

The American army being greatly di- 
minished by the loss of men taken pris- 
oners, and the departure of large bodies 
of others whose term of enlistment had 
expired, General Washington was obli- 
ged with the remnant of his army which 
had been reduced from 25,000, to scarcely 
3,000, to retreat towards Philadelphia, 



UNITED STATES. 



649 



pursued by their victorious enemies. 
This was the most gloomy period of the 
Revohition. Washington saw the ne- 
cessity of striking some successful blow, 
to re-animate the expiring hopes of his 
countrymen. The battles of Trentonand 
Princeton revived the hopes of America, 
and confounded their enemies. Congress 
also made great exertions to rouse the spir- 
its of the people, and sent agents to solicit 
the friendship and aid of foreign powers. 

1777. The plan of the British Minis- 
try during this year was to separate the 
Northern from the Southern Slates, by 
sending an army under Gen. Burgoyne 
from Canada, to penetrate into the Nor- 
thern States and endeavor to effect a 
communication with the British at New- 
York. If this plan had been successful, 
it would probably have had a fatal effect 
on the American cause. But the defeat 
of Burgoyne at Bennington and Saratoga, 
and the surrender of his army at the lat- 
ter place, produced important results in 
favor of the Americans. At the South 
the British were more successful. Gen. 
Howe embarked his forces at New-York, 
sailed up the Chesapeake, landed at the 
head of Elk river, and began his march 
to Philadelphia. Gen. Washington en- 
deavored to stop his progress and a battle 
was fought near Brandywine Creek, but 
the Americans were overpowered by su- 
perior numbers and discipline, and Gen. 
Howe took possession of Philadelphia. 
The American Congress now retired to 
Yorktown in Virginia. 

1778. The beginning of this year was 
distinguished by a Treaty of Alliance 
with France, whereby the Americans ob- 
tained a powerful ally. When the Brit- 
ish Ministry were informed that this treaty 
was in agitation, they despatched commis- 
sioners to America to attempt a reconcilia- 
tion. But the Americans had now gone 
too far to accept their offers. The British 
evacuated Phila., in June, and marched 
for New- York ; on their march they were 
annoyed by the Americans, and at Mon- 
mouth an action took place, in which had 
General Lee obeyed his orders, a signal 
victory would have been obtained. 

In July, Count D'Estaing arrived at 
Newport, R. I. with a French fleet for 
the assistance of the Americans. In 
83 



August, Gen. Sullivan with a large body 
of troops attempted to take possession of 
Rhode Island, but did not succeed. In 
December, Savannah, the then capital of 
Georgia, was taken by the British under 
the command of Col. Campbell. About 
this time an insurrection of the Royalists 
in North Carolina, was crushed by the 
spirited exertions of the Militia. Dur- 
ing this year a more regular discipline 
was introduced into the American army 
by Baron Steuben, a German officer. 

1799. The campaign of 1799 was dis- 
tinguished for nothing decisive on the 
part of the Americans or British. " The 
British seemed to have aimed at little 
more than to distress, plunder, and con- 
sume — it having been, early in the year, 
adopted as a principle upon which to pro- 
ceed, to render the colonies of as little 
avail as possible to their new connec- 
tions." In accordance with these views, 
an expedition was sent from New-York 
to Virginia for the purpose of distressing 
the Americans. They landed at Ports- 
mouth, and destroyed the shipping and 
valuable stores in that vicinity. After 
enriching themselves with various kinds 
of booty and burning several places, they 
returned to New- York. Soon after this 
expedition, a similar one, under the com- 
mand of governor Tryon was sent against 
Connecticut. New-Haven and East-Ha- 
ven were plundered ; Fairfield, Norwalk, 
and Green's Farms were wantonly burn- 
ed. About this time Stoney Point was 
taken by General Wayne. In October, 
General Lincoln, (who commanded the 
Southern American army,) and count 
d'Estaing made an assault on Savannah, 
but they were repulsed with considerable 
loss. During the summer. General Sul- 
livan was sent against the Six Nations, 
and laid waste their country ; these In- 
dians had been induced by the British to 
take up arms against the Americans. — 
Forty villages were consumed, and 
100,000 bushels of corn were destroyed. 

1780. On the opening of the campaign 
of this year, the British troops left Rhode- 
Island, and Sir Henry Clinton finding it 
more easy to make an impression on the 
Southern States, which were less popu- 
lous than the Northern, determined to 
make them the seat of war. Clinton 



650 



UNITED STATES. 



with lord Cornwallis undertook an expe- 
dition against Charleston, South Caroli- 
na, where General Lincoln commanded. 
This pkce after a close siege surrendered 
to the British commander ; and General 
Lincoln, and the whole garrison were 
made prisoners on the 12th of May. 

General Gates was now appointed to 
the command of the Southern American 
army. In August, lord Cornwallis (who was 
left in the command of the British forces 
at the South,) attacked General Gates and 
entirely routed his army. He afterwards 
marched through the Southern States, and 
supposed them entirely subdued. During 
the summer, the British troops made fre- 
quent incursions into New-Jersey, ravag- 
ing and plundering the country. This 
year was also disthigiiished for the infa- 
mous treason of General Arnold, which 
stamped his name with lasting infamy. 

1781. The beginning of this year was 
distinguished by a mutiny in the Ameri- 
can army ; this was occasioned by their 
severe sufferings and privations, and the 
depreciation of the Coiitinental Money 
with which they were paid. But the 
punishment of the ringleaders and the 
exhortation of the officers, prevailed to 
bring them back to their duty. 

After the defeat of General Gates in 
Carolina, General Greene was appointed 
to the command of the American troops 
in that quarter. From this period the 
aspect of the war was more favorable. 
On the 17th of January, at the Cowpens, 
General Morgan the intrepid commander 
of riflemen, signally defeated Colonel 
Tarleton, the active commander of the 
British legion. After a variety of move- 
ments, the main armies met at Guilford, 
in Carolina, on the 15th of March. — 
General Greene and lord Cornwallis ex- 
erted themselves at the head of their re- 
spective armies ; and although the Amer- 
icans were obliged to retire from the field 
of battle, yet the British army suffered a 
severe loss, and could not pursue the vic- 
tory. After the battle of Guilford, Gen- 
eral Greene moved towards South Caro- 
lina, to drive the British from their posts 
in that State, and by a brilliant action at 
Eutaw Springs, forced lord Cornwallis to 
withdraw his forces and fortify himself 
in Yorktown in Virginia. 



In the spring of this year, Arnold the 
traitor, with a number of British troops 
sailed to Virginia and plundered the coun- 
try, and at the time Cornwallis was at 
Yorktown, made an incursion into Con- 
necticut, burnt New-London, took fort 
Griswold by storm, and put the garrison 
to the sword. 

About the last of August, count de 
Grasse with a large French fleet arrived 
in the Chesapeake, and blocked up the 
British troops at Yorktown. General 
Washington, previous to this, had moved 
the main body of his army to the south- 
ward, and when he heard of the arrival 
of the French fleet, made rapid marches 
to the head of Elk river, where embark- 
ing, his army soon arrived at Yorktown. 
A vigorous siege now commenced, and 
was carried on with such eflect by the 
combined forces of America and France, 
that Cornwallis was forced to surrender. 
This important event took place on the 
19th of October, 1781, and decided the 
revolutionary war. 

On the 30th of November, 1782, the 
provisional articles of peace were signed 
at Paris ; by which Great Britain ac- 
knowledged the Independence and sov- 
ereignty of the United States of Ameri- 
ca ; and these articles were afterwards 
ratified by a definitive treaty. 

" Thus ended a long and arduous con- 
flict, in which Great Britain expended 
near a hundred millions of money, with 
a hundred thousand liv^es, and won no- 
thing. America endured every cruelty and 
distrust ; lost many lives and much trea- 
sure ; but delivered herself from a foreign 
dominion, and gained a rank among the 
nations of the earth." 

After peace was restored to the coun- 
try, the next and most difficult object was 
to organize and establish a general gov- 
ernment. Articles of confederation and 
perpetual union had been framed in Con- 
gress, and submitted to the consideration 
of the States in 1778, and in 1781 were 
agreed to by all the State legislatures. 

The articles, however, were framed 
during the rage of war, when principles 
of common safety supplied the place of 
a coercive power in the government. — 
To have offered to the people, at that 
time, a regular system of government, 



UNITED STATES, 



651 



armed with the necessary power to re- 
gulate the conflicting interests of thirteen 
States, might have raised a jealousy be- 
tween them or the people at large, that 
would have weakened the operations of 
war, and perhaps have rendered a union 
impracticable. Hence the numerous de- 
fects of the confederation. On the con- 
clusion of peace the defects began to be 
felt. Each State assumed the right of 
disputing the propriety of the resolutions 
of Congress, and the interests of an in- 
dividual State were often placed in op- 
position to the common interest of the 
union. In additon to this a jealousy of 
the powers of Congress began to be ex- 
cited in the minds of many of the people. 

Without a union that was able to form 
and execute a general system of com- 
mercial regulations, some of the States 
attempted to impose restraints upon the 
foreign trade that should indemnify them 
for the losses they had sustained. These 
measures, however, produced nothing but 
mischief. The States did not act in 
concert, and the restraints laid on the 
trade of one state operated to throw the 
business into the hands of its neighbor. 
Thus divided, the States began to feel 
their weakness. Most of the Legisla- 
tures had neglected to comply with the 
requisitions of Congress for supplying 
the Federal Treasury ; the resolves of 
Congress were disregarded ; the propo- 
sition for a general impost to be laid and 
collected by Congress was negatived by 
Rhode Island and New-York. 

In pursuance of the request of Virgi- 
nia, most of the States appointed dele- 
gates, who assembled at Annapolis in 
1786, to consult what measures should 
be taken in order to unite the States in 
some general and efficient government. 
But as the powers of these delegates 
were limited, they adjourned, and re- 
commended a general Convention to 
meet at Philadelphia the next year. 
Accordingly in May, 1787, delegates 
from all the States except Rhode-Island, 
assembled at Philadelphia and appointed 
Gen. Washington their president. "After 
four months deliberation, in which the 
clashing interests of the several States 
appeared in all their force," the conven- 
tion agreed to a frame of government 



which was finally agreed to by all the 
States, and on the 30th of April, 1789 
Gen. Washington was inaugurated the 
first President of the United States. From 
this auspicious moment the American 
Republic has steadily advanced in a tide 
of prosperity and growing power. 

Washington's Adininistration. — This 
period continued for eight years. Wash- 
ington, the leader of the armies of the 
United States, who conducted them 
through the perilous and successful strug- 
gle for independence, now received the 
unanimous suffrages of his countrymen to 
administer their national government. 
" His administration, partaking of his 
character, was mild and firm at home; 
noble and prudent abroad." The princi- 
pal events which took place during this 
period were, the Indimi ivar on our west- 
ern frontiers — the Whiskey Insurrection, 
in Pennsylvania — Jay's treaty with Great 
Britain, and the establishment of a Na- 
tional Bank and Mint. 

" During this period, the arts and man- 
ufactures attracted the attention of gov- 
ernment. Mr. Hamilton, Secretary of 
the Treasury, made a report to Congress 
on the subject, in which he set forth their 
importance to the country, and urged the 
poUcy of aiding them. Since that time 
the revenue laws have been framed, with 
a view to the encouragement of manufac- 
tures, and their promotion has been con- 
sidered as a part of the policy of the 
United States." The United States at 
the close of this period, contained about 
5,000,000 of inhabhants. 

/. Adams'' Administration. — In 1796, 
Mr. Adams was elected President, and 
continued in the office four years. The 
principal events during this time, were — 
the difficulties with the French Govern- 
ment — the death of Washington and the 
transfer of the seat of the national gov- 
ernment to Washington. The greater 
part of Mr. Adam's administration was 
the subject of much popular clamor, ow- 
ing to several imprudent laws which were 
passed during his presidency. Such were 
the " Alien" and " Sedition Laws" the 
act for raising a standing army, and the 
act for imposing a direct tax, and inter- 
nal duties. These causes with some 
others, caused so much opposition to Mr. 



652 



UNITED STATES. 



Adams, that it prevented his re-election 
to the presidency. 

Jefferson^ s Administration. — Mr. Jeffer- 
son's administration commenced in 1801, 
and continued for eight years. The most 
prominent events during this period were 
the purchase of Louisiana — the War with 
Tripoli — Burros conspiracy, the outrage 
upon the Chesapeake, and the laying of an 
Embargo. 

The bitterness of party spirit during 
this time raged with some violence, and 
it interrupted in some degree that general 
harmony which it is always important to 
the welfare of our union to cultivate. 
Trade and commerce progressed with 
great rapidity. The European nations 
being at war with each other, and the 
United States remaining neutral, our ves- 
sels carried to Europe the produce of our 
own country, and the produce of other 
countries. This is commonly called the 
carrying trade, and was very profitable to 
our citizens. After the year 1807, the 
commercial restraints laid by France by 
her Berlin and Milan decrees, and by 
Great Britain by her Orders in Council, 
began to curtail our trade, and the Embar- 
go laid by our Government at the close of 
the year interrupted it still more. The 
Arts and Manufactures still progressed, 
and the population of the United States 
at the close of Mr. Jefferson's adminis- 
tration amounted to about 7,000,000. 

Madison^s Administration. — On the 4th 
of March, 1809, Mr. Madison was induc- 
ted into the office of President, and con- 
tinued in office eight years. This period 
was distinguished for the Second war with 
Great Britain. When Mr. Madison en- 
tered upon his office, the state of the 
country was in some respects gloomy 
and critical. France and England were 
at war, and they issued against each other 
the most violent commercial edicts, in vio- 
lation of the laws of nations and injurious 
to those nations who wished to remain 
neutral. After a series of injurious and 
insulting acts on the part of the govern- 
ment of Great Britain and its Agents, the 
government of the United States declared 
war against that power, June 18th, 1812, 
which continued about three years. 

The seat of war on the land, was prin- 
cipally on the frontiers of Canada, of 



which province it was the object of the 
Americans to take possession. The war 
at that point continued with various suc- 
ceas on the part of the Americans and 
British. The Americans, however, were 
able to effect but little towards accom- 
plishing the designs of their government. 

The situation of the contending par- 
ties at the close of the war was nearly 
the same as it was at the commencement ; 
on the ocean however it was different. 
The splendid success of the American 
navy in various engagements, raised it to 
a high elevation, and taught her proud ri- 
val a lesson which will not be forgotten. 
During Mr. Madison's Presidency in 1 8 1 6, 
a National Bank was established with a 
capital of 35 millions of dollars. 

Monroe's Administration. — Mr. Monroe 
commenced his administration in 1817, 
under many favorable circumstances, — 
the country was fast recovering from the 
depression of commerce and a three years' 
war. The political feuds which had 
since the revolution occasioned so much 
animosity, were now gradually subsiding, 
and there appeared in the administration 
a disposition to remove old party preju- 
dices, and to promote union among the 
people. A spirit of improvement was 
spreading throughout the country : roads 
and canals were constructed in various 
parts of the union. The principal events 
which took place in Mr. Monroe's ad- 
ministration, were — the war with the 
Seminole Indians — the passage of an act 
by Congress granting a pension to the in- 
digent officers and soldiers of the revolu- 
tion — the cession of Florida to the United 
States by the Spanish government, and 
the visit of General Lafayette to the Uni- 
ted States. 

J. Q. Adams' Administration. Mr. 

Adams was elected President in 1825, 
and continued in office four years. The 
principal events during this period were— 
the Treaty with Colombia — the Panama 
mission, and the death of the two vener- 
ble patriarchs of the revolution, John 
Adams and Thomas Jefferson, on the fif- 
tieth anniversary of Independence. Du- 
ring this period the people of the United 
States were divided into two parties in re- 
ference to the Presidential election ; one 
party desirous of retaining Mr. Adams 



VENICE. 



653 



during another term of office, the other 
upholding Gen. Andrew Jackson as a 
suitable candidate for the office of Presi- 
dent. Party spirit now raged with vio- 
lence, each party upholding their favorite 
candidate and traducing the other. Upon 
counting the votes, it appeared that a 
large majority were in favor of Andrew 
Jackson ; and on the 4th of March, 1829, 
he was inducted into the office of Presi- 
dent of the United States, according to 
the form prescribed by the Constitution. 
Jackson's Administration. — The ad- 
ministration of Gen. Jackson commenced 
at a period when the affairs of the nation 
were unusually prosperous. During the 
session of 1831-2 a bill for the recharter 
of the United States Bank, was brought 
forward, which, after a warm and protract- 
ed debate, was passed by a small majority. 
The bill, however, was vetoed by the 
President, and as there was not two 
thirds of Congress in favor of its pas- 
sage it was lost. In 1832, Congress 



passed a new tariff bill. This caused 
so much excitement and opposition in 
South Carolina, that an ordinance was 
published by a convention, nullifying, or 
forbidding the operation of the tariff laws 
of the general government in that state. 
This act called forth a proclamation from 
the President, in which he expressed his 
determination to enforce the laws of Con- 
gress. The tariff laws have since been 
modified. In 1835, some apprehension 
was felt of war with p'rance, on account 
of certain proposed measures to be used 
towards that power, to compel the pay- 
ment of an acknowledged claim of 
25,000,000 of francs. Fortunately, all 
differences were settled, and arrange- 
ments made for payment. During the 
winter of 1835, a war was commenced 
with the Seminole Indians, which still 
(1839) continues. In 1832, President 
Jackson was re-elected to the presidency, 
and was succeeded in 1837 by Martin 
Van Buren. 



VENICE. 



Venice is built upon a number of 
small islands, in the Adriatic sea, or gulf 
of Venice, standing in forty-five degrees 
forty minutes north latitude. Its situa- 
tion is strong, beautiful, and romantic. 
Nothing can be more wonderful than to 
see one of the finest cities of the earth 
rising out of the ocean, and appearing to 
float on the waves. Its magnificent 
palaces and lofty towers, washed by the 
flood, form a noble and delightful spec- 
tacle. One would almost think them 
either the splendid work of some magi- 
cian's wand, or one of fancy's light aerial 
scenes. Its inhabitants amount to two 
hundred thousand, and its territories were 
of considerable extent. The history of 
the Venetians is one of interest, exhibit- 
ing a great variety of changes and inci- 
dents during the many wars in which 
they were engaged with the neighboring 
powers. A part only of the incidents in 
their history can be given. 

Relative to the first establishment of 



Venetian government, A. D. 421, Cassi- 
odorus relates, that one would have taken 
this multitude of people for a numerous 
seminary of philosophers, cultivating the 
duties of religion and of virtue, and en- 
joying a perfect tranquillity. They con- 
tended not in luxury, ostentation, and ex- 
pense ; but in moderation, chastity, and 
virtue. Riches, honors, and ambition, 
had no charms for the Venetians ; rich 
and poor lived upon a familiar equality ; 
Property was common to all, and entirely 
devoted to the occasions of the republic. 
Merit was the only distinction, and that 
alone was esteemed true nobility which 
was acquired by virtue. Under such 
happy auspices did this republic receive 
her first laws, ordinances, and regulations. 
At this period, the government seems to 
have been consular. 

It was afterwards changed to the tri- 
bunitian form, in which it continued for 
nearly three hundred years. Under the 
tribunes, Venice first made war. It is 



654 



VENICE. 



related, that, during this period, the in- 
habitants of Trieste, landing suddenly at 
Venice, carried oft' a number of the citi- 
zens. Pietro Candiano was appointed 
to revenge this unprovoked aflront. His 
diligence was so great, that on the same 
day two ships of war were equipped, and 
under sail to seek the enemy, with whom 
he came up in the evening. He gave 
- immediate orders for the attack, defeated 
the enemy, retook his countrymen, and 
carried the Tergestines prisoners into 
Venice. This is one of the finest in- 
stances we have of the spirit, resolution, 
and prowess of this republic. By such 
exploits, Venice first acquired esteem 
and consequence among the neighboring 
states. 

Upon the abuse of power by the tri- 
bunes, A. D. 697, the ducal government 
was established. Paulatio was the first 
doge. He made the nation happy, pow- 
erful, and wealthy. As he was the first, 
so he was one of the best princes Venice 
ever saw. 

During the dogeship of Mauritio, Venice 
was attacked by Pepin, the son of Charle- 
magne ; but his success was not great, 
and the impression he made on the fron- 
tiers, which the duke bravely defended, 
was inconsiderable. The Venetians now 
declared themselves a free and inde- 
pendent people, acknowledging neither 
the eastern nor the western empire. 

During the government of Pietro Tri- 
bune, the seventeenth doge, the Hunns, 
having defeated Berengarius, entered 
Italy. Induced by the wealth of the 
Venetian republic, they resolved to sack 
and pillage the city, in 903. March- 
ing through the maritime provinces, they 
burned Villa Nuova, Jesuola, and Chiog- 
gio, and prepared to attack the Rialto, 
which they imagined must yield to their 
prodigious numbers. Pietro Tribuno 
omitted nothing which became a gi-eat 
general ; he placed strong guards round 
the city, fortified the places most expos- 
ed, equipped a fleet with incredible de- 
spatch, and harassed the enemy by per- 
petual sallies. His activity, presence 
of mind, and skill, were astonishing. He 
animated the troops by his example ; was 
the foremost in every attack ; in a word, 
was the life and soul of the state. The 



Hunns, preparing to make a general as- 
sault, Pietro, after a short and animating 
speech, ordered the soldiers to be em- 
barked, and immediately bore down upon 
the enemy near Albiola. The battle be- 
gan with fury, and continued with obsti- 
nacy for several days ; the fleets sepa- 
rated at night, the combatants returning 
next day to the charge with fresh vigor ; 
the Venetians every where opposed cour- 
age to numbers, and the doge performed 
prodigies of valor. At last, Tribuno, 
fearing that the spirit of his men might 
sink under the multitude of the enemy, 
collected all his force, resolving to die or 
make an impression upon their line. He 
was so bravely seconded by his troops, 
that the barbarians were broken and de- 
feated, and a general carnage ensued. 
The sea was covered with dead bodies, 
and the Venetians fought, says Blondus, 
upon heaps of the slain barbarians, as 
upon dry land ; the siege was raised, the 
Hunns were driven from Italy, and the 
reputation of Venice for arms became 
famous over the world. 

Ziani, the thirty-ninth doge, was no 
sooner elected, than the republic was 
involved in a war with Frederic Barba- 
rossa, from whose persecution the pope 
Alexander had retired to Venice. The 
Venetians despatched ambassadors to the 
emperor, who answered them in a rage, 
" Go, and tell your prince and people, 
that Frederic, the Roman emperor, de- 
mands his enemy, who is protected by 
them. If they send him not instantly, 
bound hand and foot, he will overturn 
every law, human and divine, to accom- 
plish his revenge ; he will bring his 
army before their city, and fix his victo- 
rious standards in their market-place, 
which shall float in the blood of its citi- 
zens." The ambassadors returning with 
this terrible menace, it was agreed to 
equip a fleet with all expedition, and pre- 
pare for repelling the emperor's medita- 
ted vengeance. While the Venetians 
were thus employed, Otho, the emperor's 
son, entered the gulf with a strong 
squadron of seventy-five gallies, and Avas 
making sail to the city. The doge re- 
solved to oppose him with the few ships 
which were fit to put to sea; in 1173 
the fleets met off" the coast of Istria, and 



VENICE. 



655 



a dreadful battle ensued, the event of 
which was, that the doge took, sunk, and 
destroyed forty-eight of the enemy's 
ships, and returned in triumph to Venice. 
From this time was continued the cere- 
mony of marrying the sea ; the pope 
going out to meet the victorious doge, 
presented him with a ring, saying, " Take, 
Ziani, this ring, and give it to the sea, as 
a testimony of your dominion. Let your 
successors annually perform the same 
ceremony, that posterity may know your 
valor has purchased their prerogative, 
and subjected this element even as a 
husband subjecteth his wife." 

After Bartolomeo Gradonico, Andrea 
Dandolo next succeeded to the ducal 
chair ; and war commenced with Genoa. 
The command of the Venetian fleet was 
given to Marco Rusino, who joining the 
Aragonian fleet, of forty sail, went in 
quest of the Genoese admiral, Grimaldi. 
The two fleets met on the Sardinian 
coast. Rusino ordered his ships to grap- 
ple with the enemy, and then chained 
them to each other in such a manner, that 
there was a necessity either to conquer 
or die. Thus a kind of land battle was 
fought upon the sea, in which there was 
no room for disputing the victory, the 
whole Genoese fleet having been either 
taken or destroyed, Grimaldi's ship alone 
escaping. When the news of this defeat 
arrived at Genoa, in 1347, the whole 
city was in the utmost consternation. In 
their despair, the Genoese sent ambassa- 
dors to the duke of Milan, requesting 
his protection and acceptance of the 
sovereignty of their dominions ; an offer 
which he did not decline. 

Soon after the promotion of Marino 
Faliero, the fifty-fifth doge, the Venetians 
were in their turn defeated. Their com- 
mander, Pisani, with five thousand of his 
men, were made prisoners, and above 
twenty of their gallies were sunk. The 
republic sustained an irreparable loss, 
and the city would probably have been 
undone, had the victorious Doria known 
as well how to pursue as to gain a vic- 
tory. The Venetians were equally sur- 
prised and overjoyed when the news ar- 
rived that he was returned to Genoa, at 
a time they every hour expected him be- 
fore their gates. A truce was imme- 



diately concluded; m 1353 the doge 
himself conspired against her freedom. 
Seized with a violent desire of absolute 
authority, he began his design by popu- 
lar acts, and gave entertainments to the 
lower orders of people. When he per- 
ceived that the populace listened to him 
with attention, he began to drop hints of 
his determination to deliver them from 
the t5n:anny of the senate, and for that 
purpose, to assume a greater latitude of 
power, after which it should be left to 
their choice to continue him or not, as 
they found him deserving. His proposal 
was to murder the chief persons of the 
assembly, senate, and seigniory, who had 
raised him to the dignity he possessed. 
The first of April was appointed for the 
execution of this infamous plot ; but, on 
that very day, Beltrand, a conspirator, 
went to the house of Nicholas Leon, and 
made an ample discovery. Leon was 
so confounded with horror, that, for some 
time, he Avas unable to reply ; at last, 
ordering Beltrand to be confined, he de- 
spatched messengers to the chief sena- 
tors, the seigniory, and oflficers of the 
city, to come instantly to his house. 
The doge and the conspirators were 
quickly seized and put to death, and a 
pension settled upon the discoverer. 

In 1477, while Giovanni Moncenigo 
was doge, the Turks besieged Croia. 
The assault was furious, and the defence 
valiant ; Antonio Legiero, the proveditor, 
who commanded in chief, omitted nothing 
which was the duty of an experienced 
and good officer. The Turks shot such 
quantities of arrows in the different as- 
saults, that the garrison for months used 
no other fuel. The moats round the town 
were filled with heaps of slain, which 
produced a stench intolerable to the be- 
siegers, and was one cause of Mahomet's 
relinquishing the enterprize, after several 
attempts to cleanse it, in which he was 
boldly attacked, and forced to retire. 
Meanwhile, Mahomet had detached thirty 
thousand men to enter Italy, by the fords 
of Livornia, which being guarded, they 
proposed to enter Germany, and accord- 
ingly proceeded, horse and foot, over 
Alpine mountains almost impracticable, 
drawing up or letting down a body of 
twelve thousand horse, over the rocks, 



656 



VENICE. 



by means of engines. Determined to 
pursue their march, though opposed by 
the natives, they began climbing the moun- 
tains, by means of hooks and grapples, 
the sight of which so terrified the natives, 
that they abandoned their posts, and fled. 
Peace was soon after concluded u^ith the 
Turks ; and war denounced against the 
pope, and the duke of Ferrara. 

During this war, the Venetian admiral 
took Gallipoli, in Avhich enterprize he 
lost his life in 1484. He was animating 
the troops in the scaladc, praising the 
valiant, and upbraiding the backward, 
when ho dropt ; his secretary threw a 
cloak on his body, and gave out that 
Marcello was slightly hurt, and gone to 
be dressed ; the assault was persevered 
in, and the town was in consequence 
taken. 

About 1508, war was declared by 
France against the Venetians ; the pro- 
gress of the confederates was rapid, and 
the republic was plunged into the deepest 
distress. At this period, a circumstance, 
attested by all historians, reflects great 
honor on the Venetians. They refused 
the assistance off'ered them by the grand 
seignior; and, though reduced to the ut- 
most extremity, resolved to suff'er every 
distress, rather than give their ancient 
enemies, the infidels, a footing in Italy. 
Such a noble spirit was alone wanting ; 
the siege of Padua was quickly raised, 
and the Venetians recotered Vicenza. 
At last, however, Padua, distracted by 
differences among the leading citizens, 
was surrendered to the emperor, but, 
soon after, recovered. The Venetian 
general, Gritti, having conveyed some 
choice troops into wagons covered with 
straw, under pretence that they were a 
convoy of provisions, seized upon a gate 
of the city, and pursuing his advantage, 
got possession of Padua. The Imperi- 
alists made a vigorous defence ; but 
Gritti, joined by the greater part of the 
inhabitants, totally defeated them, making 
near two thousand prisoners. Thus the 
republic once more became possessed of 
the most valuable city she had upon the 
continent. A treaty was, soon after, 
entered into between the pope and the 
Venetians, and the league was broken, 
in J511. 



Soon after the promotion, of Pietro 
Lando,the seventy-eighth doge, the Turks 
attacked and took Castelnuovo, and peace 
was concluded with Solyman, in 1541. 
But the Venetians were involved in dis- 
putes with Ferdinand and the empire ; 
the seizure of Maran maybe deemed the 
foundation of a future bloody war. Bar- 
barossa was, at this time, ravaging the 
coast of Italy with a fleet of near two 
hundred sail. He took Reggio, but gave 
liberty to the prisoners, at the instance 
of Polin, the French enA'oy, who accom- 
panied him. The terror of the Turkish 
arms had spread itself all over Italy, nor 
was Rome itself free from apprehensions. 
But Polin sent assurances, and dispersed 
proclamations round the country, that his 
incursions should be confined wholly to 
the imperial dominions. 

An event of some importance fell out 
towards the end of the year 1 545 ; name- 
ly, a controversy with the Porte, con- 
cerning some districts in Dalmatia, which 
both sides claimed. The Sangiacs of 
Bosnia and Clissa insisted that a part of 
the territory of Zary, containing forty- 
nine villages, was really a dependency 
upon the fortresses of Nadin and Laurena, 
belonging to Solyman. The senate had 
recourse to the justice of Solyman ; nor 
had they reason to repent of this mea- 
sure ; with a moderation and integrity 
becoming those who call themselves 
Christian princes, this great man ordered 
commissioners on both sides to be appoint- 
ed, insisting upon their determining the 
dispute according to equity, without re- 
gard to power. The commissioners met, 
and soon adjudged the lands in dispute 
to the Venetians, with which award 
Solyman was perfectly well satisfied. 

Under the government of Marco Fos- 
carini, the dey of Algiers made some ex- 
traordinary demands upon the republic 
of Venice ; among the rest, besides the 
payment of an exorbitant sum of money, 
he insisted that his corsairs should have 
free liberty to cruise in the gulf of Ven- 
ice, and to take the ships of any nation 
with whom he was not bound by treaty ; 
with this extraordinary condition annex- 
ed, that if any of his 'cruisers should 
happen to be taken, the republic should 
repair the loss in ready money. These 



VENICE. 



657 



dishonorable proposals were refused, 
with a proper disdain, by the senate ; and 
as the dey of Algiers had broken the 
peace, they equipped a squadron of men 
of war, which they despatched to Al- 
giers, in 1767, under the command of 
admiral Emo, to bring him to reason. 
The dey continued obstinate ; upon which 
the admiial, according to his orders, im- 
mediately declared war against him, and 
sailed out of the harbor to fulfd his in- 
structions, which were to block up the 
port, and destroy all the Algerine corsairs 
he could meet with. These vigorous 
resolutions soon brought the dey to tem- 
per, and indeed to a submission as mean 
as his demands had been insolent ; he 
found himself under a necessity of having 
recourse to the mediation of the British 
consul, to obtain a renewal of the peace 
upon the original terms. 

In the year 1789, Luigi Manino, the 
last doge, succeeded Riniero in the ducal 
chair. During his government, nothing 
important occurred till the invasion of 
Italy by the French. At that time, the 
Venetians, in order to check the progress 
of the republicans, put Peschiera into 
the hands of the Imperialists ; but Bona- 
part quickly becoming master of all Italy, 
they trembled at the progress of his vic- 
torious arms. 

Like the other natives of that country, 
the Venetians harbored a dislike to the 
French, induced by the difference of 
their character and manners. But the 
political antipathy of the Venetians was 
still greater than their national dislike. 
The conquest of the French had render- 
ed them the arbiters of the fate of all 
Italy. The former importance of the 
sovereignty of the states of that country 
had totally disappeared, and they alone 
gave the law. This was peculiarly mor- 
tifying to a state that stood upon a foot- 
ing of equality with any other in Italy, 
and of superiority to most. The Vene- 
tians, therefore, waited with anxiety for 
a change of fortune in favor of the Aus- 
trians, whose neighborhood they had long 
experienced to be much less dangerous 
than that of the French. In the mean 
time, they rendered many good offices to 
the former, and clearly manifested a par- 
tiality to them, which did not escape the 
83 



notice of Bonaparte, who gave sufficient 
indications that he would remember it in 
due time. 

At last the Austrian army was forced 
to leave the territories of Venice, and 
take refuge in the hereditary states. As 
soon as the French had penetrated into 
these, the Venetians began to look upon 
them as entangled in straits, from which 
they could not easily extricate them- 
selves. A report was also universally 
circulated, that the French were on the 
point of laying down their arms, and that 
nothing was wanting, to render victory 
over them complete, but a general co-op- 
eration on the part of the Venetian gov- 
ernment. An opportunity now offered to 
intercept the communication between 
Bonaparte and his posts in Italy. For 
this purpose, forty thousand of the Vene- 
tian peasantry were armed, and embodied 
with ten regiments of Sclavonians. They 
were posted on all the roads, and the con- 
voys to the French army were every 
where stopped. 

In the mean time, the hatred of the 
Venetians burst forth in the most out- 
rageous manner. Those pessons who 
had behaved kindly to the French, were 
treated as enemies of the state, and put 
under arrest ; and none but their declar- 
ed adversaries entrusted with any au- 
thority. In all places of public resort, 
the French were insulted and reviled in 
the grossest terms. They were expelled 
from the city of Venice, and at Padua, 
Vicenza,and Verona, the inhabitants were 
ordered to take up arms against them. 

These transactions were made the 
subject of a manifesto issued by Bonaparte 
on the third of May, in which he direct- 
ed the French resident at Venice to quit 
that city, and ordered the agents of the 
Venetian republic in Lombardy, and in 
its provinces on the main land, to leave 
them in twenty-four hours. He com- 
manded his officers and troops to treat 
those of Venice as enemies, and to pull 
down, in every town, the lion of St. Mark, 
the arms of the Venetian republic. In 
consequence of this manifesto, the French 
troops overran and subjugated, in a few 
days, all the Venetian dominions. The 
Veronese, whose conduct to the French 
had been remarkably atrocious, were con 



658 



EMPIRE OF THE ASSASSINS. 



demned to an exemplary punishment. 
Some thousands of the peasants, who 
attempted to oppose the French, were 
put to the sword. The Sclavoriians, who 
had come to their assistance, were rout- 
ed, and fled to a fort filled with their 
powder and ammunition ; but it was 
blown up by the cannon of the French, 
and they were all destroyed. Another 
engagement took place before the walls 
of Verona, and the Venetians fought 
with great fury ; but they were defeated 
with vast slaughter, and the place com- 
pelled to surrender. 

The Venetian senate, despairing of be- 
ing able to make any effectual resistance, 
formally submitted to the French com- 
mander, and consented to deliver up 
those persons who had been instrumen- 
tal in the atrocities of which the French 
complained. On the 16th of May, in 
1797, the French took possession of the 
city of Venice, where a provisional gov- 
ernment was established on the republi- 
can plan. The press was declared free, 
persons and property secure, and religion 
left on its former footing. The only 
seizures, made in the name of the French 



government, were of tne arsenal and its 
contents, with the shipping that belonged 
to the state. 

Thus fell, after a splendid existence 
of fourteen centuries, the celebrated re- 
public of Venice. No modern state had 
risen from such small beginnings to a 
situation of equal prosperity. It was 
with sincere regret that every nation in 
Europe beheld its fall. The celebrity 
it had long enjoyed, on a multiplicity of 
accounts, interested every one in its pre- 
servation. Without inquiring how far 
the French could claim a right to doom 
it so immercifully to destruction, they 
only considered that it had subsisted 
with honor to the present period, and had 
maintained its reputation imimpaired 
amidst a variety of dangers and trials, 
that had sometimes, reduced it to the 
last extremity. The political world saw 
with concern the fatal hour arrive, that 
was to deprive it of the place it had so 
long and so honorably held among the 
nations of Europe. By the treaty of Cam- 
po Formio, Venice, with most of its de- 
pendencies, was ceded to the emperor 
of Germany. 



EMPIRE OF THE ASSASSINS 



It was thought advisable to insert the following articles, not exclusively belonging to the history 
of any country, in the order which follows. 



This singular sect (from which the fa- 
miliar term assassin is derived) was form- 
ed in the eleventh century, the object of 
which was to expel the Mahometan reli- 
gion and government by establishing an 
empire of their own. 

The founder of this society, that for more 
than a century and a half filled Asia with 
terror and dismay, was the celebrated 
Hassan Ben Sahab, who was one of 
those characters that appear from time 
to time in the world, as if sent to oper- 
ate some great change in the destinies of 
mankind. 

Having strengthened himself by a 
large number of followers, Hassan look- 
ed about for some strong position as a 
centre from which he might gradually 



extend his possessions ; and he fixed his 
eye upon the hill-fort of Alamoot, in 
Persia, situated in the district of Roodbar, 
to the north of Kasveen. Alamoot was 
gained partly by force and partly by 
stratagem : he first sent thither one of 
his most trusty missionaries, who con- 
verted a great number of the inhabitants, 
and with their aid expelled the governor. 
In possession of a strong fortress, 
Hassan turned his mind to the organiza- 
tion of that band of followers whose 
daggers were to spread the dread and 
the terror of his power throughout Asia. 
Experience and reflection had shown 
him that the many could never be gov- 
erned by the few without the salutary 
curb of religion and morality; that a 



EMPIRE OF THE ASSASSINS 



659 



system of impiety, though it might serve 
to overturn, was not calculated to main- 
tain and support a throne ; and his ob- 
ject was now to establish a fixed and 
lasting dominion. Though he had been 
long satisfied of the nothingness of reli- 
gion, he determined to maintain among 
his followers the religion of Islam in all 
its rigor. The most exact and minute 
observances of even its most trivial or- 
dinances was to be required from those 
who, generally unknown to themselves, 
were banded for its destruction ; and the 
veil of mystery, whhin which few were 
permitted to enter, shrouded the secret 
doctrine from the eyes of the major part 
of the society. The claims of Ismail 
(a Mahometan devotee), the purity of re- 
ligion were ostensibly advanced ; but 
the rise of Hassan Sahab, and the down- 
fall of all religion, were the real objects 
of those who directed the machinery. 

The Ismailite doctrine had hitherto 
been disseminated by missionaries and 
companions alone. Heads without hands 
were of no avail in the eyes of Hassan ; 
it was necessary to have a third class, 
which, ignorant of the secret doctrine, 
would be the blind and willing instru- 
ments of the designs of their superiors. 
This class were named the Fedavee or 
Devoted, were clothed in white, with 
red bonnets or girdles, and armed with 
daggers. These were the men who, 
reckless of their lives, executed the 
bloody mandates of the Sheikhel Jebel, 
the title assumed by Hassan. As a 
proof of the fanaticism that Hassan con- 
trived to instil into his followers, we give 
the following instance. 

In the year 1126, Kasim-ed-devlet 
Absoncor, the brave prince of Mosul, 
was, as he entered the mosque, attacked 
by eight assassins disguised as dervises ; 
he killed three, and the rest, with the 
exception of one young man, were mas- 
sacred by the people ; but the prince 
had received his death wound. When 
the news spread that Kasim-ed-devlet 
had fallen by the hand of the assassins, 
the mother of the young man who had 
escaped painted and adorned herself, re- 
joicing that her son had been found wor- 
thy to offer up his life in support of the 
good cause ; but when he came back the 



only survivor, she cut off her hair and 
blackened her face, through grief that 
he had not shared the death of glory. 

A display of the means by which the 
chief of the assassins succeeded in in- 
fusing this spirit of strong faith and de- 
votion into his followers, forms an inter- 
esting chapter in the history of man. 

Of those who fell in executing the or- 
ders of their superiors, it was said, that 
the gates of paradise were unfolded, and 
that they entered into the enjoyment of 
the ivory palace, the silken robe, and the 
black-eyed houries ; and to increase their 
longing after the joys of paradise, and a 
disregard of earthly existence, Hassan 
made use of the following means : — 
There was at Alamoot, and also at Ma- 
siat, in Syria, a delicious garden, encom- 
passed with lofty walls, adorned with 
trees and flowers of every kind — with 
murmuring brooks and translucent lakes, 
with bowers of roses and treUices of 
vines — airy halls and splendid kiosks, 
furnished with the carpets of Persia, 
and the silks of Byzantium. Beautiful 
maidens and blooming boys were the in- 
habitants of this delicious spot, which 
ever resounded with the melody of birds, 
the murmur of streams, and the ravish- 
ing tones of voices and instruments ; all 
respired contentment and pleasure. — 
When the chief had noticed any youth 
to be distinguished for strength and reso- 
lution, he invited him to a banquet, where 
he placed him beside himself, conversed 
with him on the happiness reserved for 
the faithful, and contrived to administer 
an intoxicating draught prepared from the 
hyoscyamus. While insensible, he was 
conveyed into the garden of delight, and 
there awakened by the application of 
vinegar. On opening his eyes, all par- 
adise met his view ; the black-eyed and 
green-robed houries surrounded him, obe- 
dient to his wishes ; sweet music filled 
his ears ; the richest viands were served 
up in the most costly vessels ; and the 
choicest wines sparkled in the golden 
cups. The fortunate youth believed 
himself really in the paradise of the 
prophet, and the language of his attend- 
ants confirmed the delusion. When he 
I had his fill of enjoyment, and nature was 
[yielding to exhaustion, the opiate was 



660 



BUCCANEERS. 



again administered, and the sleeper trans- 
ported back to the side of the chief, to 
whom he communicated what had passed, 
■who assured him of the truth and reaUty 
of all he had experienced, telling him 
such was the bliss reserved for the obe- 
dient servants of the Imaum, and enjoin- 
ing at the same time the strictest secrecy. 
Ever after, the rapturous vision possessed 
the imagination of the deluded enthusi- 
ast, and he panted for the hour when 
death, received in obeying the commands 
of his superiors, should dismiss him to 
the bowers of paradise. 

The power of Hassan soon began to 
display itself. By force or by treachery, 
the castles or hill-forts of Persia fell one 
after another into his hands. A bloody 
period ensued ; the doctors of the Ma- 
hometan law ex-communicated the adhe- 



rents of Hassan, and the sultan, Meiek 
Shah, directed his generals to reduce 
their fortresses; the daggers of the as- 
sassins were displayed against the swords 
of the orthodox Mahometans, and the first 
victim to Hassan's revenge was the great 
and good Nizara-ul-mulk, who fell by the 
dagger of a Fedavee. His death was fol- 
lowed by that of his master, not without 
strong suspicion of poison. "The gov- 
ernments were arrayed in open enmity 
against the order, and heads fell like an 
abundant harvest, beneath the two-fold 
sickle of assassination and the sword of 
justice." 

After a reign of thirty-five years, Has- 
san Sahab saw his power extended over 
a great portion of the Mahometan world, 
which continued under his successors till 
they were overthrown by the Tartars. 



BUCCANEERS, 



After the failure of the mines of His- 
paniola, which were never rich, and the 
conquest of the two extensive empires of 
Mexico and Peru, where the pi'ecious 
metals were found in the greatest profu- 
sion, that valuable island was neglected 
by the Spaniards. The greater part of 
its once flourishing cities were deserted 
by their inhabitants, and the few planters 
that remained sunk into the most enerva- 
ting indolence. The necessaries, how- 
ever, and even the luxuries of life, were 
there found in abundance. All the Euro- 
pean animals had multiplied exceedingly, 
but especially the horned cattle, which 
were become in a manner wild, and wan- 
dered about in large droves, without any 
regular owner. Allured by these con- 
A'eniences, certain French and English 
adventurers, since known by the name of 
Buccaneers or Freebooters, had taken 
possession of the small island of Tortuga, 
as early as the year 1632, and found little 
difficulty, under such favorable circum- 
stances, of establishing themselves on 
the northern coast of Hispaniola. They 
at first subsisted chiefly by the hunting of 
wild cattle. Part of the beef they aie 



fresh, part they dried, and the hides they 
sold to the masters of such vessels as 
came upon the coast, and who furnished 
them, in return, with clothes, liquors, 
fire-arms, powder, and shot.* But the 
wild cattle at length becoming scarce, 
the Buccaneers were under the necessity 
of turning their industry to other objects. 
The sober-minded men applied them- 
selves to the cultivation of the ground, 
which abundantly requited their toil, 
while those of a bold and restless dispo- 
sition associated themselves with pirates 
and outlaws of all nations, and formed 
the most terrible band of ravagers that 
ever infested the ocean. To these rava- 



* The dress of the Baccaneers consisted of a 
shirt dipped in the blood of the animals they had 
slain ; a pair of trowsers, dirtier than the shirt ; 
a leathern girdle, from which hung a short sabre, 
and some Dutch knives ; a hat without any rim, 
except a flap before, in order to enable them to 
pull it off; shoes made of raw hides, but no 
stockings. {Hist. Gen. des Voyages, torn. xv. 
liv. vii.) These barbarous men, the outcasts of 
civil society, were denominated Buccaneers, be- 
cause they dried with smoke, conformable to the 
custom of the savages, part of the flesh of the 
cattle they had killed, in places denominated 
buccans in the language of the natives. Id. ibid. 



BUCCANEERS. 



661 




Attack of the Buccaneers. 



gers, however, rendered famous by their 
courage and their crimes, France and 
England are indebted, in some measure, 
for the prosperity of their settlements in 
the West Indies. 

Nothing could appear less formidable 
than the first armaments of the piratical 
Buccaneers, who took the name of Bro- 
thers of the Coast. Having formed them- 
selves, like the hunters of wild cattle, 
into small societies, they made their ex- 
cursions in an open boat, which generally 
contained between twenty and thirty 
men, exposed to all the intemperature of 
the climate ; to the burning heat of the 
day, and the chilling damps of the night. 
The natural inconveniencies, connected 
with this mode of life, were augmented 
by those arising from their licentious 
disposition. 

A love of freedom, which duly regu- 
lated, cannot be too much cherished, ren- 
dered the Buccaneers averse against all 
those restraints, which civilized men 
usually impose on each other for their 
common happiness ; and as the authority 
which they had conferred on their cap- 
tain, was chiefly confined to giving orders 
in battle, they lived in the greatest disor- 
der. Like savages, having no appre- 



hension of want, nor taking any care to 
guard against famine by prudent econo- 
my, they were frequently exposed to all 
the extremities of hunger and thirst. But 
deriving, even from their distresses, a 
courage superior to every danger, the 
sight of a sail transported them to a de- 
gree of frenzy. They seldom deliberated 
on the mode of attack, but their custom 
was to board the ships as soon as possi- 
ble. The smallness of their own vessels, 
and their dexterity in managing them, 
preserved them from the fire of the ene- 
my. They presented only to the broad- 
side of a ship, their slender prows, filled 
with expert marksmen, who fired at the 
enemy's port-holes with such exactness, 
as to confound the most experienced 
gunners. And when they could fix their 
grappling tackle, the largest trading ves- 
sels were generally obliged to strike. 

Although the Buccaneers, when under 
the pressure of necessity, attacked the 
ships of every nation, those belonging to 
the subjects of Spain were more espe- 
cially marked out as the objects of their 
piracy. They thought that the cruelties, 
which the Spaniards had exercised on 
the natives of the New World, were a 
sufficient apology for any violence that 



662 



BUCCANEERS, 



could be committed against them. Ac- 
commodating their conscience to this 
belief, which, perhaps, unknown to them- 
selves, was rather dictated by the rich- 
ness of the Spanish vessels than by any 
real sense of religion or equity, they never 
embarked in an expedition without pub- 
licly praying to heaven for its success ; 
nor did they ever return loaded with booty, 
without solemnly returning thanks to God 
for their good fortune. 

This booty was originally carried to 
the island of Tortuga, the common ren- 
dezvous of the Buccaneers, and then 
their only place of safety. But afterward 
the French went to some of the ports of 
Hispaniola, where they had established 
themselves in defiance of the Spaniards, 
and the English to those of Jamaica, 
where they could dispose of their prizes 
to more advantage, and lay out their mon- 
ey more agreeably, either in business or 
pleasure. 

Before the distribution of the spoil, 
each adventurer held up his hand, and 
protested he had secreted nothing of 
what he had taken ; and if any one was 
convicted of perjury, a case that seldom 
occurred, he was punished in a manner 
truly exemplary, and worthy the imitation 
of better men. He was expelled the 
community, and left, as soon as an op- 
portunity ofljored,upon some desert island, 
as a wretch unworthy to live in society, 
even with the destroyers of their species ! 

After providing for the sick, the wound- 
ed, the maimed, and settling their several 
shares, the Buccaneers indulged them- 
selves in all kinds of licentiousness. 
Their debauches, which they carried to 
the greatest excess, were limited only by 
the want that such prodigality occasioned. 
If they were asked, what satisfaction 
they could find in dissipating so rapidly, 
what they had earned with so much jeop- 
ardy, they made this very ingenious reply: 
" Exposed as we are to a variety of per- 
ils, our life is totally different from that 
of other men. Why should we, who are 
alive to-day, and run the hazard of being 
dead to-morrow, think of hoarding ? stu- 
dious only of enjoying the present hour, 
we never think of that which is to come." 
This has ever been the language of men 
in such circumstances ; the desire of dis- 



sipating life, not solicitude for the pre- 
servation of existence, seems to increase 
in proportion to the danger of losing it. 

The ships that sailed from Europe to 
America seldom tempted the avidity of 
the first Buccaneers, as the merchandise 
they carried could not readily have been 
sold in the West Indies in those early 
times. But they eagerly watched the 
Spanish vessels on their return to Europe, 
when certain they were partly laden with 
treasure. They commonly followed the 
galleons and flota, employed in transport- 
ing the produce of the mines of Mexico 
and Peru, as far as the channel of Baha- 
ma ; and if, by any accident, a ship was 
separated from the fleet, they instantly 
beset her, and she seldom escaped them. 
They even ventured to attack several 
ships at once; and the Spaniards, who 
considered them as demons, and trembled 
at their approach, commonly surrendered, 
if they came to close quarters. 

A remarkable instance of this timidity 
on the one side, and temerity on the other, 
occurs in the history of Peter Legrand, a 
native of Dieppe, in Normandy ; who, 
with a small vessel, carrying no more 
than twenty-eight men, and four guns, 
had the boldness to attack the vice-admi- 
ral of the galleons. Resolved to conquer 
or die, and having exacted an oath to the 
same purpose from his crew, he ordered 
the carpenter to bore a hole in the side 
of his own vessel, that all hope of escape 
might be cut ofi". This was no sooner 
done than he boarded the Spanish ship, 
with a sword in one hand and a pistol in 
the other ; and bearing down all resis- 
tance, entered the great cabin, attended 
by a few of the most desperate of his as- 
sociates. He there found the admiral 
surrounded by his officers; presented a 
pistol to his breast, and ordered him to 
surrender. Meanwhile the rest of the 
Buccaneers took possession of the gun- 
room, and seized the arms. Struck with 
terror and amazement, the Spaniards de- 
manded quarter. Like examples are nu- 
merous in the history of the Buccaneers. 

The Spaniards, almost reduced to de- 
spair by finding themselves a continual 
prey to those ravagers, diminished the 
number of their ships, and the colonies 
gave up their connexions with each other 



BUCCANEERS. 



663 



These humiliating precautions, however, 
served but to increase the boldness of 
the Buccaneers. They had hitherto in- 
vaded the Spanish settlements only to 
procure provisions ; but no sooner did 
they find their captures decrease, than 
they determined to procure by land, that 
wealth which the sea denied them. They 
accordingly formed themselves into large 
bodies, and plundered many of the richest 
and strongest towns in the New World. 
Maracaybo, Campeachy, Vera Cruz, 
Porto Bello, and Carthagena, on this 
side of the continent, severely felt the 
effects of their fury ; and Quayaquil, 
Panama, and many other places on the 
coasts of the South Sea, were not more 
fortunate in their resistance, or treated 
with greater lenity. In a word, the Buc- 
caneers, the most extraordinary set of 
men that ever appeared upon the face of 
the globe, but whose duration was tran- 
sitory, subjected to their arms, without a 
regular system of government, without 
laws, without any permanent subordina- 
tion, and even without revenue, cities and 
castles which have baffled the utmost 
efforts of national force ; and if conquest, 
not plunder, had been their object, they 
might have made themselves masters of 
all Spanish America. 

Among the Buccaneers who first ac- 
quired distinction in this new mode of 
plundering, was Montbars, a gentleman 
of Languedoc. Having by chance, in 
his infancy, met with a circumstantial, 
and perhaps exaggerated account of the 
cruelties practised by the Spaniards in 
the conquest of the New World, he con- 
ceived a strong antipathy against a nation 
that had committed so many enormities. 
His heated imagination, which he loved 
to indulge, continually represented to him 
innumerable multitudes of innocent peo- 
ple, murdered by a brood of savage mon- 
sters nursed in the mountains of Castile. 
The unhappy victims, whose names were 
ever present to his memory, seemed to 
call upon him for vengeance ; he longed 
to imbrue his hands in Spanish blood, and 
to retaliate the cruelties of the Spaniards 
on the same shores where they had been 
perpetrated. He accordingly embarked 
on board a French ship bound to the 
West Indies, about the middle of the 



' last century, and joined the Buccaneers, 
I whose natural ferocity he inflamed. 
I Humanity in him became the source of 
' the most unfeeling barbarity. The Span- 
iards suffered so much from his fury, that 
' he acquired the name o{ the Exterminator. 
Michael de Basco and Francis Lolo- 
nois were also greatly renowned for their 
exploits, both by sea and land. Their 
most important, though not their most 
fortunate enterprise, was that of the Gulf 
of Venezuela, with eight vessels, and six 
hundred and sixty associates. This gulf 
runs a considerable way up into the coun- 
try, and communicates with the lake of 
Maracaybo, by a narrow strait. That 
strait is defended by a castle called la 
Barra, which the Buccaneers took, and 
nailed up the cannon, in 1667. They 
then passed the bar, and advanced to the 
city of Maracaybo, built on the western 
coast of the lake, at the distance of about 
ten leagues from its mouth. But,to their 
inexpressible disappointment, they found 
it utterly deserted and unfurnished ; the 
inhabitants, apprised of their danger, hav- 
ing removed to the other side of the lake 
with their most valuable eflects. 

If the Buccaneers had not spent a 
fortnight in riot and debauchery, they 
would have found at Gibraltar, a town 
near the extremity of the lake, every 
thing which the people of Maracaybo had 
carried off, in order to elude their rapaci- 
ty. On the contrary, by their imprudent 
delay, they met with fortifications newly 
erected, which they had the glory of re- 
ducing at the expense of much blood, and 
the mortification of finding another empty 
town. Exasperated at this second dis- 
appointment, the Buccaneers set fire to 
Gibraltar ; and Maracaybo would have 
shared the same fate, had it not been 
ransomed. Beside the bribe they re- 
ceived for their lenity, they took with 
them the bells, images, and all ihe orna- 
mental furniture of the churches ; intend- 
ing, as they said, to build a chapel in the 
I island of Torluga, and to consecrate that 
part of their spoils to sacred uses. Like 
other plunderers of more exalted charac- 
: ter, they had no idea of the absurdity of 
: offering to Heaven the fruits of robbery 
j and murder, procured in direct violation 
of its laws. 



664 



BUCCANEERS. 



But of all the Buccaneers, French or 
English, none was so uniformly success- 
ful, or executed so many great and daring 
enterprises, as Henry Morgan, a native 
of the principality of Wales. While de 
Basco, Lolonois, and their companions, 
were squandering at Tortuga the spoils 
they had acquired in the gulf of Vene- 
zuela, Morgan, in 1668, sailed from Ja- 
maica to attack Porto Bello ; and his 
measures were so well concerted, that 
soon after his landing, he surprised the 
centinels, and made himself master of the 
town, before the Spaniards could put 
themselves in a posture of defence. 

In hopes of reducing with the same 
facility the citadel, or chief castle, into 
which the citizens had conveyed their 
most valuable property, and all the plate 
belonging to the churches, Morgan be- 
thought himself of an expedient that dis- 
covers his knowledge of national charac- 
ters as well as of human nature in gene- 
ral. He compelled the priests, nuns, and 
other women, whom he had made prison- 
ers, to plant the scaling ladders against 
the walls of the fortress, from a persua- 
sion that the gallantry and superstition of 
the Spaniards would not suffer them to 
fire on the objects of their love and vene- 
ration. But he found himself deceived 
in this flattering conjecture. The Span- 
ish governor, who was a resolute soldier, 
used his utmost efforts to destroy every 
one that approached the works. Morgan 
and his English associates, however, 
carried the place by storm, in spite of all 
opposition; and found in it, besides a 
vast quantity of rich merchandise, bullion 
and specie equivalent to one hundred 
thousand pounds sterling. 

With this booty Morgan and his crew 
returned to Jamaica, where he immedi- 
ately planned a new enterprise. Under- 
standing that de Basco and Lolonois had 
been disappointed in the promised plun- 
der of Maracaybo, by their imprudent 
delay, he resolved, from emulation no 
less than avidity, to surprise that place. 
With this view, he collected fifteen A'es- 
sels, carrying nine hundred and sixty 
men. In 1669, these ravagers entered 
the gulf of Venezuela unobserved, silen- 
ced the fort that defends the passage to 
the lake of Maracaybo, and found the 



town, as formerly, totally deserted. But 
they were so fortunate as to discover the 
chief citizens, and the greater part of 
their wealth, in the neighboring woods. 
Not satisfied, however, with this booty, 
Morgan proceeded to Gibraltar, which 
he found in the same desolate condition ; 
and while he was attempting, by the 
most horrid cruelties, to extort from such 
of the inhabitants as had been seized, a 
discovery of their hidden treasures, he 
was informed of the arrival of three Span- 
ish men-of-war at the entrance of the lake. 

At this intelligence, which was con- 
firmed by a boat despatched to reconnoitre 
the enemy, the heart of the bravest Buc- 
caneer sunk within him. But although 
Morgan considered his condition as des- 
perate, his presence of mind did not for- 
sake him. Concealing his apprehensions, 
he sent a letter to Don Alonzo del Cam- 
po, the Spanish admiral, boldly demand- 
ing a ransom for the city of Maracaybo. 
The admiral's answer was resolute, and 
excluded all hope of working upon his 
fears. "I am come," said he, "to dis- 
pute your passage out of the lake ; and I 
have the means of doing it. Neverthe- 
less, if you will submit to surrender, with 
humility, all the booty and prisoners you 
have taken, I will suffer you to pass, and 
permit you to return to your own country, 
without trouble or molestation. But if 
you reject this offer, or hesitate to comply, 
I will order boats from Caracas, in which 
I will embark my troops ; and, sailing to 
Maracaybo, will put every man of you to 
the sword. This is my final determina- 
tion. Be prudent therefore, and do not 
abuse my bounty by an ungrateful return. 
I have with me," added he, " very good 
troops, who desire nothing more ardently 
than to revenge on you and your people, 
all the cruelties and depredations which 
you have committed upon the Spanish 
nation in America." 

The moment Morgan received this let- 
ter, he called together his followers ; and, 
after acquainting them with its contents, 
desired them to deliberate, whether they 
would give up all their plunder in order 
to secure their Hberty, or fight for it ? — • 
They unanimously answered, that they 
would rather lose the last drop of their 
blood, than resign a booty which had 



BUCCANEERS. 



665 



been purchased with so much peril. 
Morgan, however, sensible of his dan- 
gerous situation, endeavored to compro- 
mise the matter, but in vain. The Span- 
ish admiral continued to insist on his first 
conditions. When Morgan was made 
acquainted with this inflexibility, he 
coolly replied : " If Don Alonzo will not 
allow me to pass, I will find means to 
pass without his permission." He ac- 
cordingly made a division of the spoil, 
that each man might have his own pro- 
perly to defend; and having filled a ves- 
sel, which he had taken from the enemy, 
with preparations of gunpowder and other 
combustible materials, he gallantly pro- 
ceeded to the mouth of the lake ; burnt 
two of the Spanish ships, took one ; and 
by making a feint of disembarking men, 
in order to attack the fort by land, he 
diverted the attention of the garrison to 
that side, while he passed the bar with 
his whole fleet, on the other, without re- 
ceiving any damage. 

The success of Morgan, like that of 
all ambitious leaders, served only to stim- 
ulate him to yet greater undertakings. 
In 1 670, having disposed of his booty at 
Port Royal in Jamaica, he again put to sea 
with a larger fleet, and a more numerous 
body of adventurers ; and after reducing 
the island of St. Catharine, where he 
procured a supply of naval and military 
stores, he steered for the river Chagre, 
the only channel that could conduct him 
to Panama, the grand object of his arma- 
ment. At the mouth of this river, stood 
a strong castle, built upon a rock, and de- 
fended by a good garrison, which threat- 
ened to baflle all the eflTorts of the Buc- 
caneers ; when an arrow, shot from the 
bow of an Indian, lodged in the eye of 
one of those resolute men. "With won- 
derful firmness and presence of mind, he 
pulled the arrow from the wound ; and 
wrapping one of its ends in tow, put it 
into his musket, which was already load- 
ed, and discharged it into the fort, where 
the roofs of the houses were of straw, 
and the sides of wood, conformable to the 
custom of building in that country. The 
burning arrow fell on the roof of one of 
the houses, which immediately took fire ; 
a circumstance that threw the Spanirads 
into the utmost consternation, as they 
84 



were afraid, every moment, of perishing 
by the rapid approach of the flames, or 
the blowing up of the powder-magazine. 
After the death of the governor, who 
bravely perished with his sword in his 
hand, at the head of a few determined 
men, the place surrendered to the as- 
sailants. 

This chief obstacle being removed, 
Morgan and his associates, leaving the 
larger vessels under a guard, sailed up 
the Chagre in boats to Cruces, and thence 
proceeded by land to Panama. On the 
Savana, a spacious plain before the city, 
the Spaniards made several attemps to 
repulse the ferocious invaders, but with- 
out effect: the Buccaneers gained a de- 
cided superiority in every encounter. 
Foreseeing the overthrow of their milita- 
ry protectors, the unarmed inhabitants 
sought refuge in the woods ; so that 
Morgan took quiet possession of Panama, 
and deliberately pillaged it for some days. 

But Morgan met at Panama with what 
he valued no less than his rich booty. A 
fair captive inflamed his savage heart 
with love ; and, finding all his solicita- 
tions ineffectual, as neither his person 
nor character was calculated to inspire 
the object of his passion with favorable 
sentiments towards him, he resolved to 
second his assiduities with a seasonable 
mixture of force. " Stop, ruffian !" cried 
she, as she wildly sprung from his arras ; 
"stop! thinkest thou that thou canst 
ravish from me mine honor, as thou hast 
wrested from me my fortune and my 
liberty? No! be assured, that my soul 
shall sooner be separated from this body :" 
and she drew a poniard from her bosom, 
which she would have plunged into his 
heart, if he had not avoided the blow.* 

Enraged at such a return to his fond- 

*The Spanish ladies, however, as we learn 
from the freebooter Raveneau tie Luffan, were 
not all possessed of the same inflexible virtue. 
The Buccaneers had been represented to them 
as devils, as cannibals, and beings who were des- 
titute even of the human form. They accord- 
ingly trembled at the very name of those plun- 
derers. But, on a nearer approach, they found 
them to be men, and some of them handsome 
fellows. And in this, as in all cases, where they 
have been abused by false representations of our 
sex, the women flew into the opposite extreme, 
as soon as they were undeceived ; -and clasped in 
their amorous arms the murderers of their hus- 



666 



CELTS. 



ness, Morgan threw this virtuous beauty 
into a loathsome dungeon, and endeavor- 
ed to break her spirit by severities. But 
his followers becoming clamorous, at 
being kept so long in a state of inactivity 
by a caprice which they could not com- 
prehend, he was obliged to listen to their 
importunities, and give up his amorous 
pursuit. As a prelude to their return, 
the booty was divided ; and Morgan's 
own share, in the pillage of this expedi- 
tion, is said to have amounted to one 
hundred thousand pounds sterling. He 
carried all his vvealth to Jamaica, and 
never afterwards engaged in any pirati- 
cal enterprise. 

The defection of Morgan, and several 
other principal leaders, who sought and 
found an asylum in the bosom of that 
civil society, whose laws they had so 



atrociously violated, together with the 
total separation of the English and 
French Buccaneers, in consequence of 
the war between the two nations, which 
followed the Revolution in 1 688, broke the 
force of those powerful plunderers. In 
1690, the king of Spain being then in alli- 
ance with England, she repressed the pira- 
cies of her subjects in the West Indies. 
The French Buccaneers continued their 
depredations, and with no small success, 
till the peace of Ryswick in 1697; when 
all differences between France and Spain 
having been adjusted, a stop was every 
where put to hostilities, and not only the 
association, but the very name of this 
extraordinary set of men soon became 
extinct. They were insensibly lost 
among the other European inhabitants of 
the West Indies. 



CELTS. 



The Celts were an ancient people in- 
habiting, according to the earliest histori- 
cal notices, the western parts of Europe. 

It appears now to be generally admitted, 
that they were a peculiar people, distin- 
guished by many remarkable particulars 
from the Scythians or Goths, with whom 
they have been often confounded. The 
distinction, however, between the nations 
alhided to, has not been admitted without 
a full and elaborate discussion of the sub- 
ject. The points supposed to be estab- 
lished by Mr. Pinkerton and other learned 
critics, are the following : 1 . At a period, 
probably as early as the year 1400 A. C. 
the Scythians had pushed themselves 
from the vicinity of the river Araxis 
westwards and northwards, over a 
considerable part of Europe. 2. The 
Scythians were afterwards mentioned 
in history under the names of Getae, 
Gothi, and Germini ; but whether distin- 
guished by these names, or by the more 



bands and brothers. Charmed with the ardor 
of a band of adventurers, whose every passion 
was in excess, they did not part, without tears 
of agony, from the warm embrace of their pirati- 
cal paramours, to return into the cool paths of 
common life. Voy. des FliJMst. chap, iv, v. 



comprehensive appellation of Scythae, the 
people thus distinguished were one and 
the same. 3. With regard to the Celts, 
the earliest notices would lead us to place 
them abouttheyearSOOA.C.inthe neigh- 
borhood of the Pyrenees, whence they 
were driven by the Germans or the Goths 
on the east, and the Aquitani, probably an 
Iberian race, on the south, into that part 
of Gaul where they were found in the lime 
of Ca;sar. 4. That the inhabitants of 
the Highlands of Scotland, and the 
Welsh, together with some of the Irish 
tribes, are the remains now existing of 
the ancient Celts. 5. That when the 
Greek and Roman authors used the words 
Celtae and Galli, they often refer exclu- 
sively to the Belgic Gauls. 6. That 
though this is frequently the case, the 
distinction is sometimes accurately made 
between the Belgic Gauls and the Celtic; 
as in the introduction to the first book of 
Caesar's Commentaries, where the Belgae 
are represented as inhabiting one part of 
Gaul, the Aquitani another, and the 
Celtae a third. 

We may consider the distinction be- 
tween the Celts and the Goths as estab 



CELTS. 



667 



lished, 1st, By the difference of their 
person ; 2d, By the difference of their 
religious belief, and sacred observances; 
3d, By the difference of their political 
institutions; and, lastly, By the differ- 
ence of their language. In pointing out 
these differences, almost every thing in- 
teresting in the history of the Celts may 
be conveniently brought into view. 

The Celts were distinguished from the 
Scythians, Goths, or Germani, by their 
external appearance. They had not the 
light hair and blue eyes, which were re- 
garded in ancient times as an indication 
of a German origin ; nor had they the 
lofty stature and large limbs, which are 
still considered as characteristic of the 
German tribes. It was to their extraordi- 
nary appearance and ferocious aspect, as 
well as to their barbarous valor, that the 
Gauls (of Scythian or Gothic extraction) 
were indebted for their victories over the 
Romans ; and, before the strength and 
discipline of Rome could match the 
prowess of these fierce invaders, it was 
necessary to familiarize the legions with 
the tremendous looks and savage howl- 
ing of the Gaulish warriors. On the 
other hand, the Celts were a people of 
an inferior stature, swarthy in their com- 
plexion, with dark eyes, and hair short, 
coarse and black. In their external ap- 
pearance they seem to have resembled 
the Finns and Laplanders of modern 
times. History records but little of their 
victories and conquests ; and Mr. Pin- 
kerton, in frantic declamation, pronounces 
them to be radical savages, incapable of 
instruction or progress in society. 

But if the Celts were distinguished 
from the Goths by their external appear- 
ance, they were distinguished from them 
in a still greater degree, by their religious 
belief and their sacred observances. 
Among the Celts there existed a hierar- 
chy, regularly constituted and estab- 
lished : a class of men exercising the 
functions of the priesthood, and extend- 
ing their authority over every department 
of civil life ; clearly marked out, and 
separated from the rest of the community, 
and enjoying many and exclusive privi- 
leges. Our readers will perceive, that 
we allude to the Druids. It is univer- 
sally acknowledged, that Druidism was 



peculiar to the Celts, and that nothing 
resembling that extraordinary system was 
to be found among the Gothic or Teutonic 
tribes. This difference is striking and 
fundamental. And the fact, that the 
Germans had no Druids, is mentioned by 
Caesar as a circumstance completely dis- 
criminative of the Celtic and Gothic 
nations. It has been affirmed, that the 
Druids were not unacquainted with the 
great and primary truth of the unity of 
the divine nature. But if this was the 
case, and if the notion alluded to formed 
a part of their secret creed, or what 
the Greeks would have called their 
isoteric doctrine, we have sufficient au- 
thority for maintaining, that they counte- 
nanced, at the same time, the belief and 
the worship of many gods, as Jupiter, 
Mars, Apollo, Mercury, and Minerva, or 
beings of heavenly origin and power, 
whose attributes and office corresponded 
with those of the principal divinities of 
Rome. They held likewise the doctrine 
of Metempsychosis, or the transmigra- 
tion of souls. Of a general receptacle 
of spirits, enjoying various degrees of 
happiness, or doomed to various measures 
of suffering, they appear to have had no 
idea. Their notion seems to have been, 
that the soul of man is destined to occupy 
various bodies in succession ; and that 
the alternate transference and residence 
of the thinking part were to be continued 
for an indefinite length of time, beyond 
which the inquiry was not pushed. In 
addition to all this, it must be stated, that 
the Druids were philosophers. They 
had raised their understandings above the 
first wants and enjoyments of our species. 
They had attempted to pierce into the re- 
cesses of nature. Their investigations re- 
lated to the constitution of the physical 
world, the motion of the heavenly bodies, 
the size and figure of the earth, and the 
power and purposes of the immortal 
gods. Schools of philosophy were es- 
tablished among them. What they knew, 
they taught the youth committed to their 
care. These were generally the sons of 
nobles, and persons of distinction. Some 
of the pupils spent no fewer than twenty 
years under the tuition of the Druidical 
college. It was a principal part of their 
education, to treasure up in the memory 



668 



CELTS. 



a very great number of verses, in which 
the mysteries of science and of religion 
were unfolded ; for these ancient mas- 
ters of Celtic wisdom, though acquainted 
with alphabetical characters, made no 
use of them in the schools over which 
they presided. Into the schools alluded 
to, the vulgar were not permitted to enter. 
It seems to be an acknowledged princi- 
ple of the Druidical system, to keep the 
people in perpetual ignorance ; and we 
shall immediately see, that it was a part 
of their system, to keep them in a debasing 
and pitiable state of political subjection. 

In their political institutions likewise, 
a considerable difference appears to have 
existed between the Gothic and Celtic 
tribes. Among these tribes, the state of 
the people, regarded as distinct from that 
of the privileged orders, seems to have 
varied in a most extraordinary degree. In 
the one great class of human beings, the 
people were free, and valued themselves 
upon their liberty ; in the other, they 
were doomed to obey, and satisfied with 
subjection. Among the Goths and Ger- 
mans, every man was a soldier, consult- 
ed on occasions of the highest political 
importance, and listened to with that at- 
tention to which a free man is entitled. 
Among the Celts, every man who could 
not establish his claim to be ranked with 
the Druids or the knights, was a slave ; 
his comfort or misery, his life or his 
death, depended almost exclusively upon 
the will of his master. 

Among the Gothic nations, the com- 
mencement of what has been called the 
feudal system, may easily be traced. 
The chief men were possessed of autho- 
rity and influence ; but their authority was 
exercised within considerable limits, and 
their influence subjected to considerable 
restraint. In matters of inferior concern, 
the decision of the chief was final, but 
all affairs of high interest were discussed 
and determined by the people at large. 
It is to the power of the chiefs thus re- 
strained, and to the mode of civil govern- 
ment connected with it, that Mr. Pinker- 
ton has given the name of the feudal 
system in its purity. And according to 
the opinion of that learned gentleman, 
this feudal system in its purity is care- 
fully to be distinguiahed from the latter 



feudal system, or that system in its cor- 
rupted state. Among the Celts, on the 
other hand, while the chiefs commanded 
the armies, and were in other respects 
not destitute of power, the supreme judi- 
cial and even legislative authority ap- 
pears to have been engrossed, almost 
entirely by the other privileged order, that 
of the Druids. The Druids judged in all 
controversies, whether public or private, 
whether of a civil or of a religious nature. 
They ordained and inflicted punishments. 
If any one refused to abide by their de- 
cision, he was instantly excluded from 
the sacred observances ; he became the 
subject of a most severe excommunica- 
tion; he was held as accursed; he was 
avoided as a person on whom the mark 
of the divine displeasure had been set ; he 
lost all claim to justice, and all title to 
protection. In one respect, however, 
the two cases, that of the Goths and the 
Celts, considered in a political point of 
view, may justly be said to agree. In 
both the power of the chief was limited; 
but among the Gothic tribes, the check 
proceeded from the people, the voice of 
freemen was raised aloud against oppres- 
sion ; while among the Celts the power 
of the chief seems to have been nearly 
absorbed in that of the Druids, and the 
voice of the people, if heard at all, was 
noticed, only as a symptom of rebellious 
insolence, and marked only to be punished. 
The last point of difference between 
the Celts and the Goths, is their language. 
It is not to be denied, however, that in 
ascertaining this point of difference, con- 
siderable obstacles present themselves. 
It is not easy to procure correct speci- 
mens of any ancient language, and even 
when correct specimens have been ob- 
tained, it is not easy to determine 
whether the language be pure. With 
the exception of tribes debarred by phy- 
sical circumstances, there is, perhaps, 
no instance upon record, of a people 
living for a very great length of time in 
utter seclusion from the rest of the world, 
retaining their original language, in all 
its purity, and their manners in all their 
characteristic features. Intercourse must 
always take place, in a greater or less 
degree, among contiguous tribes. Their 
very hostilities lead to intercourse ; and 



CRUSADES. 



669 



wherever intercourse is supposed, charac- 
teristic features, either of language or of 
manners, will gradually pass away. Be- 
sides, if there be any truth in the opin- 
ion of Sir William Jones, that the Celts 
and Goths, though differing exceedingly 
from one another at the periods to which 
the Greek and Roman historians refer, 
were nevertheless, originally, or with re- 
gard to their present stock, the same 
people, we must expect to find the same 
elementary words in the speech of both 



nations. However diversified in its gen- 
eral appearance, the substratum of their 
language will be the same ; traces of the 
native tongue will be discoverable in 
both ; just as in the various languages of 
Europe which have been derived from 
the Latin, sufficient indications of a com- 
mon origin may still be perceived. In 
their state of comparative advancement, 
however, the language of the Celts ap- 
pears to differ very obviously from that 
of the Goths. 



CRUSADES 



■ Croisade, or Crusade, may be applied 
to any war undertaken on pretence of de- 
fending the cause of religion, but has been 
chiefly used for the expeditions of the 
Christians against the infidels for the 
conquest of Palestine. | 

These expeditions lommenced A. D. 
1096. The foundation of them was a 
superstitious veneration for those places 
where our Saviour performed his mira- 
cles, and accomplished the work of man's 
redemption. Jerusalem had been taken 
and Palestine conquered by Omar. This 
proved a considerable interruption to the 
pilgrims, who flocked from all quarters to 
perform their devotions at the holy sepul- 
chre. They had, however, still been al- 
lowed this liberty, on paying a small tri- 
bute to the Saracen caliphs, who were 
not much inclined to molest them. But, 
in 1064, this city changed its masters. 
The Turks took it from the Saracens ; 
and being much more fierce and barba- 
rous, the pilgrims now found they could 
no longer perform their devotions with the 
same safety. An opinion was about this 
time also prevalent in Europe, which made 
these pilgrimages much more frequent 
than formerly : it was imagined, that the 
1000 years mentioned in Rev. xx. were 
fulfilled ; that Christ was soon to make 
his appearance in Palestine to judge the 
world ; and consequently that journeys to 
that country were in the highest degree 
meritorious, and even absolutely neces- 
sary. The multitudes of pilgrims who 



now flocked to Palestine meeting with a 
very rough reception from the Turks, 
filled all Europe with complaints against 
those infidels, who profaned the holy city, 
and derided the sacred mysteries of Chris- 
tianity even in the place where they were 
fulfilled. Pope Gregory VII had formed 
a design of uniting all the princes of Chris- 
tendom against the Mahometans ; but his 
exorbitant encroachments upon the civil 
power of princes had created him so 
many enemies, and rendered his schemes 
so suspicious, that he was not able to 
make great progress in his undertaking. 
The work was reserved for a meaner in- 
strument. Peter, commonly called the 
hermit, a native of Amiens in Picardy, 
had made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem ; 
and being deeply affected with the dan- 
gers to which that act of piety now exposed 
the pilgrims, as well as with the oppres- 
sion under which the eastern Christians 
now labored, formed the bold, and, in all 
appearance, impracticable design of lead- 
ing into Asia, from the farthest extremi- 
ties of the West, armies sufficient to sub- 
due those potent and warlike nations that 
now held the holy land in slavery. He 
proposed his scheme to pope Martin II, 
who, prudently resolved not to interpose 
his authority till he saw a probability of 
success, summoned at Placentia a coun- 
cil of 4,000 ecclesiastics and 30,000 secu- 
lars. As no hall could be found large 
enough to contain such a multitude, the 
assembly was held in a plain. Here the 



670 



CRUSADES. 




Peter the hermit addressins; the Cnisaders. 



pope himself as well as Peter, harangued 
the people, representing the dismal situa- 
tion of their brethren in the East, and the 
indignity offered to the Christian name in 
allowing the holy city to remain in the 
hands of the infidels. These speeches 
were so agreeable to those who heard 
them, that the whole multitude suddenly 
and violently declared for the war, and 
solemnly devoted themselves to perform 
this service, which they believed to be 
meritorious in the sight of God. But 
though Italy seemed to have embraced 
the design with ardor, Martin thought it 
necessary, in order to obtain perfect suc- 
cess, to engage the greater and more war- 
like nations in the same enterprise. Hav- 
ing, therefore, exhorted Peter to visit the 
chief cities and sovereigns of Christen- 
dom, he summoned another council at 
Clermont in Auvergne. The fame of this 
great and pious design being now uni- 
versally diffused, procured the attendance 
of the greatest prelates, nobles, and prin- 
ces ; and when the pope and the hermit 
renewed their pathetic exhortations, the 
whole assembly, as if impelled by imme- 
diate inspiration, exclaimed with one 
voice, " It is the will of God !" These 
words were deemed so much the effect 



of a divine impulse, that they were em- 
ployed as the signal of rendezvous and 
battle in all future exploits of these ad- 
venturers. Men of all ranks now flew to 
arms with the utmost ardor, and a cross 
was affixed to their right shoulder by all 
who enlisted in this holy enterprise. At 
this time Europe was sunk in the most 
profound ignorance and superstition. The 
ecclesiastics had gained the greatest as- 
cendant over the human mind ; and the 
people who committed the most horrid 
crimes and disorders, knew of no other 
expiation than the observances imposed 
on them by their spiritual pastors. But 
amidst the abject superstition which now 
prevailed, the military spirit had also uni 
versally diffused itself; and, though not 
supported by art or discipline, was be- 
come the general passion of the nations 
governed by the feudal law. All the 
great lords possessed the right of peace and 
war. They were engaged in continual 
hostilities with one another : the open 
country was become a scene of outrage 
and disorder ; the chies, still mean and 
poor, were neither guarded by walls nor 
protected by privileges. Every man was 
obliged to depend for safety on his own 
force, or his private alUances ; and valor 



CRUSADES. 



671 



was the only excellence which was held 
in esteem, or gave one man the pre-emi- 
nence above another. When all the par- 
ticular superstitions, therefore, were here 
united in one great object, the ardor for 
private hostilities took the same direction ; 
" and all Europe," as the princess Anne 
Comnena expresses it, " torn from its 
foundations, seemed ready to precipitate 
itself in one united body upon Asia." 

All ranks of men now deeming the 
crusades the only road to heaven, were 
impatient to open the way with their 
swords to the holy city. Nobles, arti- 
sans, peasants, even priests, enrolled 
their names ; and to decline this service 
was branded with the reproach of impie- 
ty or cowardice. The nobles were moved 
by the romantic spirit of the age, to hope 
for opulent establishments in the East, 
the chief seat of arts and commerce at 
that time. In pursuit of these chimerical 
projects, they sold at low prices their an- 
cient castles and inheritances, which had 
now lost all value in their eyes. The 
infirm and aged contributed to the expe- 
dition by presents and money, and many 
of them attended it in person ; being de- 
termined, if possible, to breathe their last 
in sight of that city where their Saviour 
died for them. Even women, concealing 
their sex under the disguise of armor, at- 
tended the camp ; and often forgot their 
duty still more, by prostituting themselves 
to the army. The greatest criminals were 
forward in a service which they consid- 
ered as an expiation for all crimes ; and 
the most enormous disorders were during 
the course of these expeditions commit- 
ted by men inured to wickedness, en- 
couraged by example, and impelled by 
necessity. The adventurers were at last 
so numerous, that their sagacious leaders 
became apprehensive lest the greatness 
of the armament would be the cause of 
its own disappointment. For this reason 
they permitted an undisciplined multi- 
tude, computed at 300,000 men, to go be- 
fore them under the command of Peter 
the hermit, and Gautier or Walter, sur- 
named the moneyless, from his being a 
soldier of fortune. These took the road 
towards Constantinople through Hungary 
and Bulgaria ; and trusting that heaven, 
by supejuatural assistance would supply 



all their necessities, they made no provi- 
sion for subsistence in their march. They 
soon found themselves obliged to obtain 
byplunder what they vainly expected from 
miracles ; and the enraged inhabitants of 
the countries through which they passed 
attacked the disorderly multitude, and 
slaughtered them without resistance. 
The more disciplined armies followed 
after ; and, passing the straits of Constan- 
tinople, were mustered in the plains of 
Asia, and amounted in the whole to 
700,000 men. The princes engaged in 
this first crusade were, Hugo, count of 
Vermandois, brother to Philip I, king of 
France ; Robert, duke of Normandy ; Ro- 
bert, earl of Flanders ; Raimond, earl of 
Toulouse and St. Giles ; the celebrated 
Godfrey of Bouillon, duke of Lorrain, 
with his brothers Baldwin and Eustace ; 
Stephen, earl of Chartres and Blois ; Hu- 
go, count of St. Paul ; with many other 
lords. The general rendezvous was at 
Constantinople. In this expedition, God- 
frey besieged and took the city of Nice. 
Jerusalem was taken by the confederated 
army, and Godfrey chosen king. The 
Christians gained the famous battle of 
Ascalon against the Sultan of Egypt, 
which put an end to the first crusade, but 
not to the spirit of crusading. The rage 
continued for near two centuries. The 
second crusade, in 1144, was headed by 
the emperor Conrad III, and Lewis VII, 
king of France. The emperor's army 
was either destroyed by the enemy, or 
perished through the treachery of Manu- 
el, the Greek emperor ; and the second 
army, through the unfaithfulness of the 
Christians of Syria, was forced to break 
up the siege of Damascus. The third 
ciusade, in 1188, immediately followed 
the taking of Jerusalem by Saladin, the 
Sultan of Egypt. The princes engaged 
in this expedition were, the emperor 
Frederic Barbarossa ; Frederic, duke of 
Suabia, his second son ; Leopold duke of 
Austria ; Berthold, duke of Moravia ; 
Herman, marquis of Baden ; the counts 
of Nassau, Thuringia, Missen, and Hol- 
land ; and above sixty other princes of 
the empire ; with the bishops of Besan- 
con, Cambray, Munster, Osnaburgh, Mis- 
sen, Passau, Visburgh, and several others. 
In this expedition the emperor Frederic 



672 



CRUSADES, 



defeated the Sultan of Iconium : his son 
Frederic, joined by Guy Lusignon, king 
of Jerusalem, in vain endeavored to take 
Acre Ptolemais. During these transac- 
tions, Philip Augustus, king of France, 
and Richard I, king of England, joined 
the crusade : by which means the Chris- 
tian army consisted of 300,000 fighting 
men ; but great disputes happening be- 
tween the kings of France and England, 
the former quitted the holy land, and Ri- 
chard concluded a peace with Saladin. 
The fourth crusade was undertaken in 
1195, by the emperor Henry VI, after 
Saladin's death. In this expedition the 
Christians gained several battles against 
the infidels, took a great many towns, and 
were in the way of -success, when the 
death of the emperor obliged them to 
quit the holy land, and return into Ger- 
many. The fifth crusade was publish- 
ed by Pope Innocent III, in 1198. Those 
engaged in it made fruitless efforts for 
the recovery of the holy land : for though 
John de Neule, who commanded the fleet 
equipped in Flanders, arrived at Ptole- 
mais a little after Simon of Montfort, Re- 
nard of Dampierre, and others, yet the 
plague destroying many of them, and the 
rest either returning, or engaging in the 
petty quarrels of the Christian princes, 
there was nothing done ; so that the Sul- 
tan of Aleppo easily defeated their troops 
in 1204. The sixth crusade began in 
1228 ; in which the Christians took the 
town of Damietta, but were forced to sur- 
render it again. In 1229, the emperor 
Frederic made peace with the Sultan for 
ten years. About 1240, Richard, earl of 
Cornwall, brother to Henry III, Idng of 
England, arrived at Palestine, at the 
head of the English crusade ; but finding 
it most advantageous to conclude a peace, 
he re-embarked, and steered towards 
Italy. In 1244, the Karasmians being 
driven out of Turkey by the Tartars, 
broke into Palestine, and gave the Chris- 
tians a general defeat near Gaza. The 
seventh crusade was headed, in 1249, 
by St. Lewis, who took the town of 
Damietta; but a sickness happening in 
the Christian army, the king endeavored 
a retreat ; in which being pursued by the 
infidels, most of his army were miserably 
butchered, and himself and the nobility 



taken prisoners. A truce was agreed 
upon for ten years, and the king and lords 
set at liberty. The eighth crusade, in 
1279, was headed by the same prince, 
who made himself master of the port and 
castle of Carthage in Africa ; but dying 
a short time after, he left his army in a 
very ill condition. Soon after, the king 
of Sicily coming up with a good fleet, 
and joining Philip the bold, son and suc- 
cessor of Lewis, the king of Tunis, after 
several engagements with the Christians 
in which he was always worsted, desired 
peace, which was granted upon condi- 
tions advantageous to the Christians ; af- 
ter which both princes embarked to their 
own kingdoms. Prince Edward, of Eng- 
land, who arrived at Tunis at the time 
of this treaty, sailed towards Ptolemais, 
where he landed a small body of 300 
English and French, and hindered Ben- 
docher from laying siege to Ptolemais ; 
but being obliged to return to take pos- 
session of the crown of England, this 
crusade ended without contributing any 
thing to the recovery of the holy land. 
In 1291, the town of Acre or Ptolemais 
was taken and plundered by the Sultan of 
Egypt, and the Christians quite driven 
out of Syria. There has been no cru- 
sade since that period, though several 
popes have attempted to stir up the Chris- 
tians to such an undertaking ; particular- 
ly Nicholas IV, in 1292, and Clement V, 
in 1311. 

Though these crusades were effects 
of the most absurd superstition, they 
tended greatly to promote the good of 
Europe. Multitudes, indeed, were de- 
stroyed. M. Voltaire computes the peo- 
ple who perished in the difl^erent expe- 
ditions at upwards of two millions. Many 
there were, however, who returned ; and 
these having conversed so long with peo- 
ple who lived in a much more magnifi- 
cent way than themselves, began to en- 
tertain some taste for a refined and pol- 
ished way of life. Thus the barbarism 
in which Europe had been so long im- 
mersed began to wear off" soon after. The 
princes also who remained at home, 
found means to avail themselves of the 
frenzy of the people. By the absence of 
such numbers of restless and martial ad- 
venturers, peace was established in their 



FRANKS. 



673 



dominions. They also took the opportu- 
nity of annexing to their crowns many 
considerable fiefs, either by purchase, or 
the extinction of the heirs ; and thus the 
mischiefs which must always attend feu- 
dal governments were considerably les- 
sened. With regard to the bad success 
of the crusaders, it was scarcely possi- 
ble that any other thing could happen to 
them. The emperors of Constantinople, 
instead of assisting, did all in their power 
to disconcert their schemes : they were 
jealous, and not without reason, of such 
an inundation of barbarians. Yet, had 
they considered their true interest, they 
would rather have assisted them, or at 
least stood neuter, than enter into alli- 
ances with the Turks. They followed 
the latter method, however, and were of- 
ten of very great disservice to the west- 
ern adventurers, which at last occasioned 
the loss of their city. But the worst ene- 
mies the crusaders had were their own 
internal feuds and dissensions. They 
neither could agree while marching to- 
gether in armies with a view to conquest, 
nor could they unite their conquests under 
one government after they had made 
them. They set up three small states, 
one at Jerusalem, another at Antioch, and 
another at Edessa. These states, instead 
of assisting, made war upon each other, 
and on the Greek emperors ; and thus 
became an easy prey to the common ene- 
my. The horrid cruelties they committed, 
too, must have inspired the Turks with 
the most invincible hatred against them, 
and made them resist with the greatest 
obstinacy. They were such as could have 
been committed only by barbarians in- 



flamed with the most bigoted enthusiasm. 
When Jerusalem was taken, not only the 
nimierous garrisons were put to the sword, 
but the inhabitants were massacred with- 
out mercy and without distinction. No 
age nor sex was spared, not even suck- 
ing children. According to Voltaire, 
some Christians, who had been suffered 
by the Turks to live in that city, led the 
conquerors into the most private caves, 
where women had concealed themselves 
with their children, and not one of them 
was suffered to escape. What eminently 
shows the enthusiasm, by which these 
conquerors were animated, is, their beha- 
vior after this terrible slaughter. They 
marched over heaps of dead bodies to- 
wards the holy sepulchre ; and while their 
hands were polluted with the blood of so 
many innocent persons, sung anthems to 
the common Saviour of Mankind ! Nay, so 
far did their pious enthusiasm overcome 
their fury, that these ferocious conquerors 
now burst into tears. If the absurdity and 
wickedness of their conduct can be ex- 
ceeded by any thing, it must be by what 
follows; In 1204, the frenzy of crusa- 
ding seized the children, who are ever 
ready to imitate what they see their pa- 
rents engaged in. Their childish folly 
was encouraged by the monks and- 
schoolmasters ; and thousands of those 
innocents were conducted from the houses 
of their parents on the superstitious inter 
pretation of these words : " Out of the 
mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou 
perfected praise." Their base conduc- 
tors sold a part ol them to the Turks, 
and the rest perished miserably. — Bucks' 
Theol. Dictionary. 



FRANKS 



Various opinions have been entertain- 
ed by historians concerning this people ; 
but, as a repetition of these would be 
equally unimportant to our work, and un- 
interesting to the reader, we shall only 
observe that Bucherius, whose conjec- 
tures seem the most probable, describes 
them as a motley multitude of several 
ancient nations, dwelling beyond the 
85 



Rhine, who, having entered into a con- 
federacy against the Romans, for th-e 
common safety, assumed the name 
of Franks ; which signified, in their 
language, as it still does in ours,/ri?g. It 
is also certain, that many ancient nations 
are comprised, in ancient history, under 
this general denomination. 

Considered in this point of view, the 



674 



FRANKS. 



Franks inhabited, at a very early period, 
a tract of country which comprehends 
the present provinces of Westphalia, 
Hesse, and some adjacent states; and, 
in process of time, they extended them- 
selves along the Rhine as far as the efflux 
of that river and the ocean. 

With regard to their manners and 
character, Vopiscus has described them 
as a people addicted to treachery, and 
unmindful of the most solemn engage- 
ments ; and Salvianus, blending their 
virtues and vices, observes that they 
were extremely hospitable to strangers, 
but much addicted to lying. They seem 
to have been always troublesome neigh- 
bors ; for it was a common observation 
of Egonhardus, chancellor to Charles 
the Great, that he would choose a Frank 
for a friend, but not for a neighbor. 

The first transaction of this people 
noticed in history is their irruption into 
Gaul, in the time of Aurelian, who killed 
seven hundred of their troops, sold three 
hundred, whom he had taken captives, 
into slavery, and compelled the rest to 
retire, with the loss of all their booty. 

In the fourth year of Valerian's reign 
they received another signal defeat from 
Gallienus, but soon after returned with 
such a powerful body of auxiliaries, that 
the Romans deemed it expedient to lay 
aside hostilities, and court their alliance. 
Accordingly, a body of Franks were per- 
suaded to serve, in the Roman army, 
against the Goths ; and one of their 
chieftains was entrusted with the defence 
of the frontier of the empire. 

About eight years after this event, the 
Franks committed many depredations in 
Gaul, and even penetrated into Spain, 
which they held in subjection for the 
space of twelve years. Some of them 
are said to have crossed over into Africa, 
with a design to enrich themselves with 
the spoils of that wealthy country ; but 
the issue of that undertaking is passed 
over in silence. 

On the demise of the emperor Aure- 
lian, the Franks, in conjunction with the 
Vandals and Burgundians, broke into 
Gaul, and, having reduced seventy of the 
principal cities in the space of two years, 
congratulated themselves on their im- 
portant acquisition ; but, on the approach 



of Probus, they were compelled to with- 
draw all their forces, and were soon after 
reduced to the necessity of suing for 
peace on disadvantageous terms. 

Notwithstanding this repulse, the 
Franks renewed their predatory incur- 
sions into various parts of the Roman 
territories, and committed such daring 
outrages, that Dioclesian was compelled 
to send a powerful armament against 
them ; and Maximian deemed it advisa- 
ble to chastise their insolence by carry- 
ing the war into their own country. 
This expedient was crowned with suc- 
cess ; for the Franks were so violently 
alarmed at this unexpected invasion, that 
the greatest part of them threw down 
their arms, and two of their princes, Atec 
and Genobald, submissively entreated the 
emperor to confirm them in their respec- 
tive kingdoms. A few years after this 
transaction the Franks made an irruption 
into Batavia, and that part of Flanders 
which is watered by the river Escaut ; 
but, Constantius Chlorus, having led a 
numerous army to the relief of those 
countries, they were obliged to surrender 
at discretion, and many of their families 
were transplanted into Gaul, where they 
were compelled to till the lands which 
they themselves had wasted ; to serve, 
when required, under the Roman ban- 
ners ; and to pay the customary tributes, 
as subjects of the empire. 

During the reign of Constantino, the 
Franks made several incursions into 
Gaul ; but all their exertions were ren- 
dered abortive by the vigilance of the 
emperor, and many of their chieftains 
were punished with exemplary rigor. 

About the year 355, the Franks, hav- 
ing formed an .alliance with the Saxons 
and Alemans, pillaged upwards of forty 
cities on the banks of ihe Rhine ; deso- 
lated the adjacent provinces ; and carried 
off an incredible number of captives : 
but, on the approach of Julian, who had 
been recently invested with the govern- 
ment of Gaul, they were overthrown 
with great slaughter. 

The next considerable irruption of this 
warlike race occurred about three years 
after the death of Gratian, when they 
are said to have overrun all Belgic Gaul, 
pillaged the inhabitants without mercy, 



GAULS. 



675 



and burnt a great number of villages. 
Hereupon Quintinus attacked their troops 
with extraordinary fury, and compelled 
them to retire with the utmost precipita- 
tion ; but having imprudently followed 
them into the interior of their own coun- 
try, his troops were exposed to inexpres- 
sible hardships, and most of them cut to 
pieces. 

Pharasmond, the son of Marcomir, is 
supposed to have reigned over the Franks 
from the year 417 to 428. He appears 
to have been one of the most powerful 
princes among them ; but we are not ex- 
pressly told whether he had any author- 
ity over the rest. The same year in 
which he died, Aetius is said to have 
defeated the Franks in Gaul with great 
slaughter, and to have chased them entire- 
ly out of that province. 

Clodio, the son and successor of Pha- 
rasmond, has been characterized by 
Gregory of Tours as an illustrious and 
patriotic prince. However, ancient his- 
torians have recorded but little respect- 
ing his reign, except that he extended 
his conquests as far as the Somme ; de- 
stroyed the city of Treves ; and made 
himself master of Cologne, while the 
principal inhabitants were feasting and 
revelling without the least apprehension 
of danger. 

Upon the death of Clodio, which 
happened in the twentieth year of his 



reign, Merovaeus assumed the sovereignty, 
and made some successful incursions into 
the present provinces of Mentz and 
Rheims. This prince is said, by Rorico, 
to have been regarded by his subjects 
with a truly fdial affection ; and, in a 
genealogical table of French kings pre- 
fixed to a manuscript life of Charles the 
Great, in the library at Brussels, he is 
represented as the head of the first race. 
Merovaeus was succeeded by his son 
Childeric, who, in the very commence- 
ment of his reign, abandoned himself to 
all manner of licentiousness, and loaded 
his subjects with such exorbitant taxes, 
that they soon drove him from the throne, 
but afterwards recalled him. It appears, 
however, that he inherited the martial 
disposition of his ancestors, and was ex- 
tremely desirous of aggrandizing his 
country ; for he extended his conquests 
as far as the Loire ; reduced the cities 
of Paris and Angers, and made himself 
master of Orleans, after having defeated 
Odoacer, who came with a body of Sax- 
ons to its relief. He died at Tornacum, 
now Tournay, where his remains were 
discovered, in 1653, with many gold 
coins of the Roman emperors, the royal 
signet, and several other curious articles. 
Childeric was succeeded by his son 
Clovis, or Clodovseus, about the year 
482. For the particulars of his reign, 
{see France.) 



GAULS 



The Gauls, according to ancient his- 
torians, appear to have been either the 
immediate descendants of the Celtes, or 
the same people under a more modern 
name, which was probably given them 
by their neighbors ; whilst they retained 
the original one of Gomerai, or descend- 
ants of Gomer. The name, therefore, 
of Gaul or Gallia is not only foreign, but 
of a more recent date, as are likewise 
the other appellatives by which the Ro- 
man authors distinguish one part of their 
country from another ; as Cisalpina or 
Citerior, Transalpina or Ulterior, and 
Subalpina : for the inhabitants were for- 



merly better known by the name of Cel- 
tes, and the country, upon the whole, by 
that of Celto-Gallia. Julius Caesar, after- 
wards, distinguished the whole country 
under the names of Belgia, Aquitania, 
and Gallia Propria ; and this last was 
subdivided into Comata, Brachata, and 
Togata. 

The religion of the Gauls strictly re- 
sembled that of the ancient Celtes (which 
has been already described) till the time 
of their subjugation to the Romans : but 
in the time of Augustus a considerable 
change took place ; and, after a few sub- 
sequent reigns, they became so enam- 



676 



GAULS. 



cured with the pageantry of polytheism, 
that they erected a prodigious number of 
statues, altars and temples ; and even paid 
divine honors to lakes, rivers, marshes, 
and fountains. 

The Gauls, although bearing the same 
name, and using the same language and 
customs, appear to have been subject to 
diflerent governments ; some of which 
were monarchical, others aristocratical, 
and others partaking partly of aristocracy 
and partly of democracy. 

Their language is universally allovi^ed 
to have been the old Celtic or Gomeri- 
an, which is still preserved, at least in 
a great measure, in many parts of Europe, 
particularly in Biscay, Brittany, Cornwall, 
Ireland, the Hebrides, Highlands of Scot- 
land, and North Wales. They do not 
appear to have had, originally, any cha- 
racters of their own, but, in process of 
time, adopted the Greek letters, for the 
purpose of facilitating their commerce, 
which seems to have been very consi- 
derable, both from the veneration which 
they expressed toward Mercury, as the 
god of traffic, and from a great number 
of ancient inscriptions dedicated, by the 
Gaulish merchants, to their deities 

With respect to their arts, next to the 
military, which, though their especial fa- 
vorite, was but indifferently cultivated, 
eloquence was that wherein they prided 
themselves most, and which seemed 
most natural to them. Their youth were 
commonly instructed out of those poems 
which were composed by the bards and 
druids ; heroic verses were either sung 
or recited on all public occasions ; and 
they represented Mercury, the god of 
eloquence, with the symbols of Her- 
cules, to show what power that art had 
over them above all others. 

Their military dicipline cannot now 
be accurately described ; but, from the 
circumstances of their falling in such 
vast multitudes upon the enemy, without 
either taking the advantage of ground, 
or dividing their armies as occasion re- 
quired, it appears to have been very imper- 
fect. Their chief talent consisted in pour- 
ing in their troops with incredible speed 
and fury ; in surmounting all obstacles 
that fell in their way ; and in maintain- 
ing the combat with an intrepidity almost 



peculiar to themselves : but when all 
these eftbrts failed, they either despatch- 
ed themselves, or else prevailed upon 
their friends to kill them. Their only 
weapons were bows and arrows, or 
swords and lances, with which they per- 
formed such astonishing feats as ren- 
dered them, for a considerable time, the 
objects of terror to all their enemies. 
They were utter strangers to the war- 
like machines used by other nations in 
sieges ; and held the cuirass, helmet, and 
other defensive armor, in the utmost 
contempt. However, much of their suc- 
cess has been justly attributed to their 
surprising dexterity in the management 
of their cavalry and armed chariots. 

The Gauls, like all other northern na- 
tions, were nmch addicted to the plea- 
sures of the chase ; and a solemn feast 
was annually celebrated by their profess- 
ed huntsmen, in honor of the goddess 
Diana, to whom they presented, among 
other offerings, a purse containing a cer- 
tain sum for every animal they had taken 
in the course of the year. They were 
also celebrated for their expertness in 
swimming and fowling ; and horse and 
chariot races, tilts and tournaments, con- 
stituted their other favorite amusements. 

Their customary dress consisted of a 
light vest and breeches ; they wore their 
hair long, had collars about their necks, 
and bracelets on their arms. The Druids 
were always clothed in white when they 
officiated in their religious capacity, and 
the freemen appeared, on all public oc- 
casions, with their arms. 

Of their marriages nothing satisfactory 
has been recorded. It appears, however, 
that polygamy was unlawful, and that the 
men possessed the power of life and 
death over their wives. The women 
were equally conspicuous with the war- 
riors themselves, on account of their 
contempt of danger and death ; and al- 
ways exerted themselves in a most extra- 
ordinary manner to prevent their men 
from giving ground to the enemy. 

The vices that have been generally 
attributed to the Gauls are those of ebri- 
ety, indolence, and ferocity ; each of 
which they certainly inherited from their 
predecessors : but their social virtues 
were, by the confession of their enemies, 



GAULS. 



677 



more remarkable ; among which we must 
particularize their justice, fidelity, and 
hospitable behavior to strangers. 

The earliest and most considerable 
irruption recorded of this people is that 
which they made into Italy, 622 B. C, 
under their celebrated general, Bello- 
vesus, who, crossing the Rhone and the 
Alps, defeated the Hetrurians in the vi- 
cinage of the Tasino, and took possession 
of that part of the country since distin- 
guished by the names of Piedmont and 
Lombardy. 

The Ccenomani, who dwelt between 
the rivers Seine and Loire, made the 
second grand expedition under their lead- 
er, Elitonis, and formed new settlements 
among the Brescians, Cremonese, Man- 
tuans, Venetians, and Carniola. 

The third was undertaken by the Ana- 
nes and Laeves ; the former of whom set- 
tled in Piacentia, on one side of the Po ; 
and the latter in Novara, on the opposite 
bank. 

In a fourth, the Boii and Lingones, 
having crossed the Pennine Alps, took 
up their residence on the south side of the 
Po, between Bologna and Ravenna. 

The fifth was made, about two hundred 
years after that of Bellovesus, by the 
Senones, who were invited into Italy by 
an Hetrurian noble, and fixed themselves 
in Umbria. The incursion of this people, 
under Brennus, into Italy, has been noted 
in its place. 

The next expedition proved peculiarly 
unfortunate ; for the Gauls who had pre- 
viously settled in Italy invited their coun- 
trymen to assist them against the Ro- 
mans ; but these arrived in such prodi- 
gious numbers, that they became more 
dreadful than the Romans ; so that they 
made no scruple to turn their arms against 
them, and put their whole army to flight. 
The Romans were greatly alarmed at the 
news of these proceedings, and, to frus- 
trate the success of so numerous an 
enemy, they perpetrated the horrid super- 
stition of burying a Greek and a Gaulish 
man and woman alive, in the ox-market : 
but they did not rely so implicitly on this 
barbarous sacrifice as to neglect their war- 
like preparations, when they received in- 
telligence that the Gesata;, another brave 
Gaulish nation, were invited to the as- 



sistance of their Italian countrymen. The 
approach of this fierce and warlike peo- 
ple spread the utmost terror and con- 
fusion through the Roman territories. 
However, a formidable army was raised 
for the defence of the country, and the 
ferocious invaders were overthrown with 
a prodigious loss ; forty-thousand being 
killed on the field of battle, and ten 
thousand taken prisoners. 

About the year of the world 3725, the 
Gauls, finding themselves overstocked 
at home, sent out three large colonies to 
seek new habitations. Brennus, the chief 
adviser of this expedition, headed one 
of the Gaulish armies ; Cerethrius march- 
ed with the second into Thrace ; and 
Belgius led the third into lUyricum and 
Macedonia. Brennus made an incursion 
into Pannonia, or Hungary ; but finding 
the country inferior to his expectations, 
and hearing that Belgius, after acquiring 
an immense plunder, was utterly defeated, 
he hastened to Illyricum, under pretence 
of revenging his colleague. The army 
with which he entered that province con- 
sisted of one hundred and fifty thousand 
foot, and fifteen thousand horse ; but, in 
consequence of a revolt among some of 
the officers, twenty thousand men march- 
ed into Thrace, and, with the assist- 
ance of Cerethrius, seized on Byzantium 
and the western coasts of Propontis. 

In consequence of this defection, Bren- 
nus sent for fresh supplies from Gaul, 
and enlisted some Illyrians, with whom 
he marched toward Delphi, designing to 
plunder that opulent city and temple ; 
but he suffered a dreadful repulse from 
a thunder storm and an earthquake, which 
destroyed a considerable number of his 
men ; and the Greek forces, pouring in 
from all parts, completed his overthrow. 
In this exigency Brennus assembled his 
chiefs, and, after advising them to slay 
all their wounded comrades, and to make 
as good a retreat as they could, he put 
an end to his own existence. Such of 
the soldiers as had escaped the enemy 
endeavored to retire, pursuant to their 
leader's direction ; but none of them ever 
returned to their own country. 

Meanwhile the colonies under Leo- 
norius marched to the Hellespont, and 
made themselves masters of Lysimachia 



678 



GAULS. 



and the Thracian Chersonesus, whence 
they crossed over into Asia, and establish- 
ed Nicomedes in his paternal kingdom. 
For this important service Nicomedes 
assigned them that part of Lesser Asia, 
■which was afterward called Gallo-Graecia 
and Galatia. In process of time, these 
settlers, being confined in their territories, 
sent several colonies and auxiliary armies 
abroad, which greatly annoyed all their 
neighbors ; but they were at length sup- 
pressed by the pro-consul of Asia, and 
compelled to live peacebly within their 
own boundaries. 

The Romans were so seriously alarm- 
ed at the strength and number of the 
Gaulish nation, that they deemed it in- 
dispensably requisite to humble their 
pride, by leading armies into their coun- 
try. After several trifling attempts, Q. 
Marcius, to whose lot this province had 
fallen by the death of his colleague in 
Numidia, opened a passage between the 
Alps and the Pyrenees ; planted a co- 
lony in the country of the Volcae Tecto- 
sagi ; and founded the city of Narbo 
Marcius, which soon became the capital 
of the province. For these important 
services he was honored with a triumph 
at Rome. His successor, Scaurus, sub- 
dued the Garni and Gentisci, two Gaulish 
nations of extraordinary bravery, and 
made some excellent roads to facilitate 
the progress of his Italian troops, for 
which he also was remunerated with 
triumphal honors. 

The Cimbri and Teutones, alarmed at 
these repeated incursions, took up arms 
against the Romans, and gave them se- 
veral overthrows, in one of which the 
general, Popilius, was compelled to sub- 
mit to the ignominious ceremony of pass- 
ing under the yoke. The Cimbri, in 
particular, had retaken some parts of 
Gaul, and especially the famous city of 
Thoulouse, where they consecrated an 
immense treasure to the amount of one 
hundred thousand pounds weight of gold, 
and the same of silver. Hereupon, Cse- 
pio marched his army to retake it, and 
the inhabitants threw open their gates ; 
nevertheless, he gave the city up to be 
plundered, and carried off all the sacred 
treasures. However, the Gauls were so 
exasperated at this outrage, that they 



attacked the invaders with irresistible 
fury, slaughtered near a hundred and forty 
thousand men, and pursued the remainder 
so closely, that only ten of the whole 
army escaped with their two Generals. 
The triumphant barbarians, having thrown 
all the silver and gold into the Rhine, 
drowned all the horses, and murdered all 
the prisoners which they had taken ; held 
a general council whether to march im- 
mediately into Italy, or to reduce those 
provinces which the Romans still pos- 
sessed in Gaul ; they agreed, however, 
to consult Emilius Scaurus, whom they 
had taken captive in a former engage- 
ment, and who strove to deter them from 
entering the territories of his republic ; 
but his bold speech was rewarded with 
death by Boiorix, king of the Cimbri. 

The Roman senate, dreading a fresh 
irruption of these warlike barbarians, re- 
called Marius from Numidia ; and, hav- 
ing remunerated his late services with a 
triumph, appointed him General against 
the enemy, and Sylla to serve under him. 
They accordingly departed, and gained 
such important advantages, that the Gauls 
became dispirited, and remained with- 
in their own borders, till Orgetorix per- 
suaded his coimtrymen, the Helvetii, to 
burn their villages, and to go in quest of 
new conquests. 

At this juncture the whole country of 
Gaul fell to the lot of Julius Caesar, and 
that illustrious Roman exerted himself 
in so extraordinary a manner, that the 
Helvetii were defeated with dreadful 
slaughter ; the Belgae, the Nervii, and 
the Veneti, who had taken up arms for 
their common preservation, were suc- 
cessively overthrown ; the valiant Ver- 
cingetorix was compelled to surrender 
at discretion ; and the reduction of Uxel- 
lodunum completed the conquest of Gaul, 
from the Alps and Pyrenean mountains 
to the Rhine : all which extensive tract 
was now provinciated and governed by a 
praetor sent thither from Rome. 

Shortly after this period Gaul was di- 
vided into sixteen provinces ; each of 
which groaned, more or less, under the 
Roman tyranny, according to the disposi- 
tion of the emperors or praters who ruled 
over them. However, we do not read 
of any revolt among the inhabitants till 



GOTHS. 



679 



the reign of Nero, when the brave Julius 
Vindex, then Governor of CeUic Gaul, 
resolved to deliver his country from sla- 
very, and the empire from so sanguinary 
a tyrant. This design was no sooner 
made public, than the discontented Gauls 
flocked to him from all quarters, and 
quickly formed an army of a hundred 
thousand men ; but they were totally 
defeated by Rufus Virginius, and their 
unfortunate leader terminated his exist- 
ence by an act of suicide. In the reign 
of Galba they were heavily oppressed 
and loaded with taxes, but durst not make 
any resistance. Adrian visited their coun- 
try in his progress through the empire ; 
built several magnificent edifices ; and 
left, wherever he passed, some tokens 
of his munificence. Gaul was again 



made the theatre of war in . the remark- 
able conflict between Posthumius and 
Gallienus, the former of whom had been 
acknowledged Emperor, for some im- 
portant services which he had rendered 
to the natives ; but was afterwards mur- 
dered by his own soldiers. Shortly after 
this occurrence, Aurelian marched against 
the rebellious Gauls, (who had invested 
Tetricus with the imperial dignity) and 
reduced them to obedience. Under Con- 
stantine their country was divided into 
seventeen provinces, six of which were 
styled consular, and the rest under certain 
presidents who resided in their respect- 
ive capitals. Such was the state and go- 
vernment of Gaul previous to the incur- 
sions of the Goths, the Franks, the Bur- 
gundians, and some other nations. 



GOTHS. 



These warlike people are said to have 
come, originally, from Scandinavia ; but 
the time when they first settled in that 
district is very uncertain. The Danes, 
however, readily acknowledged that their 
country was first peopled by the Goths 
of Scandinavia ; that to them they owe 
their origin ; and that Dan, king of the 
Goths, was the founder of their kingdom. 
And the peopling of the Chersonesus, 
of the islands in the Baltic sea, and the 
adjacent places on the continent, are 
called, by northern writers, the first mi- 
gration of the Goths or Getes. 

Their second migration happened sev- 
eral ages after, under the conduct of Be- 
rig, who seized on the country of the 
Ulmerugians, now Pomerania, and even 
compelled the neighboring Vandals to 
share their possessions with his follow- 
ers. From Pomerania a numerous col- 
ony was sent into Scythia ; and in pro- 
cess of time, they returned into Germa- 
ny, under the command of Woden, a he- 
ro of great celebrity.' 

With respect to the customs, manners, 
and character of the Goths, they appear 
to have been famed, even in the earliest 
ages, for their hospitality and kindness to 



strangers. They encouraged the study 
of philosophy above all other barbarous 
nations : and Horace has bestowed some 
warm encomiums on the virtue of their 
women. Polygamy, however, was uni- 
versally countenanced among them ; and 
their martial disposition induced them to 
commit many unwarrantable depreda- 
tions on the territories of their neighbors. 
Apollinaris Sidonius has described them 
as wearing high shoes, made of untanned 
hides, green cassocks, with red border, 
and garments of various colors, scarcely 
reaching to the knees ; their principal 
weapons consisted of bearded lances, 
and missile hatchets. Their govern- 
ment was monarchical ; and their reli- 
gion similar to that of the other northern 
nations whose histories have been already 
related. 

The Romans appear to have dreaded 
the power of this nation at a very early 
period ; for, even in the reign of Alex- 
ander, which began in 222, considerable 
sums were annually paid out of the treas- 
ury to prevent them from making irrup- 
tions into the empire. And, on the de- 
mise of Maximin, they broke into the 
province of Mcesia ; destroyed the city 



680 



GOTHS. 



of Istria on the southern mouth of the 
Danube ; and retired, unmolested, to their 
own couniry. 

About the year of the Christian era 
245, Ostrogotha led a numerous body of 
forces into Moisia, and compelled the in- 
habitants to compound with him, in or- 
der to avoid the calamities that were usu- 
ally attendant on his progress. And 
Cnvia, the successor of Ostrogotha, hav- 
ing made himself master of Philippolis on 
the Hebrus, ravaged the greatest part of 
Thrace and Macedon ; defeated the Ro- 
mans in a pitched battle ; slew the em- 
peror Decius and his son ; and obtained 
the promise of an annual pension, on 
condition of remaining, for the future, 
within his own boundaries. 

Seventeen years after this event the 
Goths made an unexpected irruption into 
Thrace ; reduced the province of Mace- 
don ; and attempted to penetrate into 
Achaia ; but Marcianus, having attacked 
them by surprise, gave them a signal 
overthrow ; and compelled them to elude 
a general slaughter by flight. About 
the same time another tribe of this na- 
tion crossed the Hellespont ; plundered 
the temple of Diana at Ephesus ; burnt 
the poor remains of ancient Troy ; and 
returned home loaded with plunder. 

On the accession of the emperor Clau- 
dius, the Goths, with several other bar- 
barous nations, resolved to invade the 
empire both by sea and land. Accord- 
ingly they embarked with a numerous 
body of forces in two thousand vessels, 
and, landing in the Lesser Scythia, laid 
siege, at the same time, to the city of 
Tomi in that province, and to Marciano- 
polis in Moesia ; but, finding a vigorous 
resistance at both places, they re-em- 
barked on the Euxine sea, and sailed to 
the straits of the Bosphorus, where their 
fleet suffered materially from the rapidity 
of the current and stress of weather ; 
and their tropps were bravely repulsed by 
the inhabitants of Byzantium. Hereupon 
they entered the ^gean sea, in order to 
refit their vessels near Mount Athos, in 
Macedon ; and afterwards laid siege to 
the cities of Cassandria and Thessalon- 
ica. But, whilst they were busied in 
ravaging the country, and forming new 
schemes for the aggrandizement of their 



own military fame, a pestilential distem- 
per swept off" a prodigious nnmber of 
their mariners, and most of their land 
forces were overthrown by the emperor 
Claudius, who, on this occasion, assumed 
the surname of Gothicus. 

Notwithstanding these disasters, the 
Goths made an irruption into Pannonia, 
about the year 270, and committed many 
alarming outrages ; but Aurelian, who 
had just assumed the purple, marched 
against them at the head of a powerful 
army ; and, by that measure, induced 
them to sue for peace. However, they 
soon renewed their incursions, and exas- 
perated Aurelian so highly, that he not 
only drove them beyond the boundaries 
of Thrace, but even passed the Danube, 
and defeated Cannaband, a Gothic prince, 
with dreadful slaughter. 

The Goths appear to have made a 
settlement, about the year 274, in Dacia 
and the Danube ; and to have afterwards 
invaded the provinces of Pontus, Cappa- 
docia, Galatia, and Bithynia ; but Taci- 
tus prevailed on many of them, by a pe- 
cuniary compliment, to abandon these 
territories ; and the rest were driven en- 
tirely out of the empire. In 278, the 
Goths concluded a treaty of peace with 
the emperor Probus ; and in 289, they 
suff'ered so complete an overthrow by 
Dioclesian, that one of their tribes was 
entirely cut off", and the province of Da- 
cia beyond the Danube re-annexed to 
the Roman empire. For this victory 
Dioclesian assumed the name of Sarma- 
ticus, as appears from the inscriptions on 
several antique coins. 

In the fifteenth year of Constantino's 
reign, the Goths, who had for some time, 
been engaged in a sanguinary war with 
the Vandals and Burgundians, made a 
fresh irruption into the Roman territories : 
but Constantino, having marched against 
them with all possible expedition, defeat- 
ed them in several engagements ; took 
an incredible number of captives, and 
reduced them to such extremities, that 
they not only sued for a cessation of hos- 
tilities, but also consented to assist the 
victor, with a numerous body of troops, 
against Licinius. 

Upon the accession of Valens to the 
imperial dignity, this turbulent race broke 



GOTHS. 



681 



into the boundaries of Thrace, and com- 
mitted their usual depredations ; but, on 
the receipt of a handsome gratification 
from the emperor, they returned peacea- 
bly to their own country. However, 
they soon repeated their outrages ; and 
by espousing the cause of the usurper 
Procopius, involved themselves in a 
dangerous war with Valens, who having 
passed the Danube with a select body of 
forces, ravaged the greatest part of their 
country with fire and sword ; cut off a 
prodigious number of their men in differ- 
ent encounters ; and, at length, defeated 
their king, Athanaric, at the head of his 
army. Hereupon the barbarians sued 
for peace : and Valens returned with his 
victorious troops to Constantinople. 

Shortly after this event the Goths, 
being driven from their ancient territories 
by the more savage Hunns, fled in such 
prodigious numbers, to take shelter among 
the Romans, that Valens admitted two 
hundred thousand of them into Thrace, 
upon their promising to live peaceably 
in that province, and to serve, when re- 
quired, in the Roman army ; but the offi- 
cers who were appointed to supply them 
with provisions exercised so unjust a 
severity, that the barbarians immediately 
rose in arms, and commenced a sangui- 
nary war with their oppressors, which 
continued with various success till The- 
odosius I, granted them certain lands in 
Thrace and Moesia ; indulged them with 
an exemption from all taxes ; and kindly 
undertook to redress all their grievances. 
During this reign the unfortunate Athan- 
aric took refuge in the imperial palace 
at Constantinople, and was treated with 
unparalleled generosity by the emperor ; 
but he was so violently afflicted with the 
loss of his dominions, that he died about 
a fortnight after his arrival. 

About the year 395, a numerous army 
of Goths, being stirred up by Rufinus, 
penetrated into the provinces of Panno- 
nia, Macedon, and Thessaly, and com- 
mitted the most cruel depredations upon 
the inhabitants. They afterwards passed 
the straits of Thermopylae without oppo- 
sition, and proceeded under the conduct 
of their celebrated chief Alaric, to the 
very gates of Constantinople. Upon the 
first report of these daring outrages, 
86 



Stilicho hastened from Gaul to repel the 
Barbarians ; but his intentions were all 
frustrated ; for Arcadius having conclu- 
ded a peace with the enemy, appointed 
Alaric to the command of the troops in 
East Illyricum ; and Stilicho, by the 
malice and cupidity of his treacherous 
accusers, was stripped of all his honors, 
declared a pubhc enemy and reduced 
to poverty. 

The Goths remained tolerably peace- 
able for about three years ; but at the ex- 
piration of that time they resolved to en- 
rich themselves with the spoils of the 
empire, and accordingly conferred the 
regal title on Alaric, who, notwithstand- 
ing his employment under Arcadius, 
readily took the field against the Romans, 
and, after ravaging the fairest parts of 
Italy, made himself master even of 
Rome itself, which he abandoned to the 
plunder of his rapacious followers. From 
Rome the victorious Barbarian passed 
through the provinces of Campania, Lu- 
cania, Samnium, and Apulia, with a de- 
sign to pass over to Sicily, and thence into 
Africa, but on his arrival at Rhegium he 
was seized with a fit of illness, which 
terminated both his conquests and life in 
the space of a few days. 

Ataulphus, the successor of Alaric, 
invaded Gaul in the commencement of 
his reign, and afterwards married Placi- 
dia, the sister of Honorius, who had 
been taken captive in the late expedition 
against Rome. After the solemnization 
of his nuptials with this princess, Ataul- 
phus seemed extremely desirous of con- 
cluding a peace with Honorius, and of 
turning his arms against the Vandals, 
Franks, and other barbarous nations, who 
had broken into Gaul ; but these designs 
were frustrated by the intrigues of Con- 
stantius ; and the king of the Goths, be- 
ing compelled to retire into Spain, was 
soon afterwards taken off by assassina- 
tion. His successor, Sigeric, shared a 
similar fate about six days after his elec- 
tion to the sovereignty. 

Vallia, the next king of the Goths, 
having concluded a treaty of peace with 
the Romans, waged war with the Alans 
and Silingians in Spain, and, after de- 
feating them in several battles, obliged 
them to flee for protection into Galicia 



682 



GOTHS. 



For this important service, Vallia was al- 
lowed to form a settlement in Aquitania, 
where he died after a reign of three years. 

Theodoric had no sooner obtained the 
sovereignty than he broke the alliance 
which his predecessor had made with the 
Romans, and made himself master of 
some important places in Gaul ; but at 
the approach of ^tius he abandoned the 
enterprise, and was, soon after, obliged 
to sue for a renewal of the peace which 
he himself had so lately violated. How- 
ever, about ten years after this transac- 
tion, Theodoric broke again with the 
Romans, and, having reduced several 
towns, at length laid siege to Narbonne ; 
but his designs were all frustrated by the 
vigilance of the enemy, and, after some 
time, the warlike Goth renewed his alli- 
ance with the Romans, in whose defence 
he afterwards fought with extraordinary 
bravery against the Hunns, and lost his 
life at the famous battle of Chalons. 

Thorismond, the successor of Theodo- 
ric, evinced the utmost impatience to 
revenge his father's death, and according- 
ly, having engaged Attila, king of the 
Hunns, with a formidable army, drove 
that invader from Gaul with equal loss 
and ignominy. However, the conduct 
of Thorismond gave such umbrage to 
his subjects that he was soon taken off 
by assassination. 

Theodoric II, has been described, by 
Sidonius, as a prince of superior abilities 
and great accomplishments, but a mere 
hypocrite with respect to religion. In 
the commencement of his reign he form- 
ed an alliance with the Romans, and as- 
sisted them, with a chosen body of troops, 
against the Bagaudae. He, afterwards, 
caused Avitus to be proclaimed emperor 
at Thoulouse ; recovered several provin- 
ces from the turbulent Suevians ; and 
reduced several important places in Lusi- 
tania. Emboldened by these successes, 
he renounced the emperor's friendship, 
and soon made himself master of the 
greatest part of Spain, together with 
some places in Gaul, which had hitherto 
belonged to the Romans ; but his ambi- 
tious projects were at length terminated 
by his brother Euric, who caused him to 



be murdered in the thirteenth y^ar of his 
reign. 

Euric having, by this nefarious action, 
established himself in the sovereignty, 
resolved to carry on the war with vigor. 
Accordingly he committed great depreda- 
tions in Lusitania ; made himself master 
of Pampelona, Saragossa, Coimbra, and 
Tarraco ; and eventually chased the Ro- 
mans from Spain, after they had held 
that country in subjection for the space 
of seven hundred years. He afterwards 
led his victorious forces into Gaul, and 
compelled the Romans to purchase a 
shameful peace by delivering up the pro- 
vince of Auvergne. The other places in 
Gaul which had submitted to Odoacer 
were afterwards yielded to Euric, whose 
dominions, by this addition, extended 
from the Loire to the Alps ; but whilst 
this ambitious prince was projecting new 
conquests, his career was suddenly stop- 
ped by death, in the nineteenth year of 
his reign. He had ascended the throne 
by an act of fratricide, and governed his 
subjects with unrelenting severity. War 
and bloodshed were his chief objects of 
delight ; and the success which usually 
attended his campaigns rendered him ex- 
tremely formidable to all the neighboring 
nations.- He was, however, a man of 
uncommon penetration, and is said to 
have been the first who gave the Goths a 
code of written laws. 

He left one son, named Alaric, who 
succeeded him, and a daughter, who was 
married to a barbarian prince named 
Sigismer. From the description which 
Sidonius has given of that prince, Vale- 
sius supposed him to have been a Frank 
by birth, and that Euric gave him his 
daughter in marriage with a view of con- 
ciliating the friendship of the Franks, 
who began, about this period, to be very 
powerful in Gaul ; but, if this were the 
case, Eurics' hopes were extremely ill 
grounded, for the Franks unanimously 
rose in arms against his descendants, and 
put a final period to their dominion in 
Gaul. 

Upon this overthrow the Goths retired 
into Spain, and fixed their royal seat at 
Toledo, {see Spain.) 



HUNNS. 



683 



HUNNS, 



The posterity of the Albanians, hav- 
ing migrated from their native country, 
estabhshed themselves in that part of 
Asiatic Sarmatia which bordered on the 
Palus Maeotis and the Tanais, the ancient 
boundary between Europe and Asia. 
They appear to have been divided into 
several tribes, but were all comprised 
under the general name of Ugri,* which 
was afterward changed into that of 
Hunni. 

The Sarmatian or Scythian Hunns 
are described, by the best historians, as 
a hardy, warlike, and ferocious people, 
who subsisted entirely on roots or raw 
meat ; lived, constantly exposed to the 
air, in the woods, or among the excava- 
tions of the mountains ; were accustomed 
even to eat and sleep on horseback ; and 
professed the utmost contempt for rai- 
ment, houses, and other conveniences of 
life. They were equally destitute of re- 
ligious and civil institutions, and aban- 
doned themselves without restraint to the 
gratification of their unruly passions. 
Hence we find them making frequent in- 
cursions into the Roman empire in defi- 
ance of the most solemn oaths, and even 
occasionally turning their arms against 
their own countrymen for a pecuniary 
reward. They are said to have mangled 
the cheeks of their male infants, in order 
to strike terror into the enemy by their 
distorted countenances ; and in war they 
usually rushed towards the foe with 
hideous shouts ; but, if their first attack 
were vigorously resisted, their fury soon 
abated, and they fled in the utmost con- 
fusion. 

Their first excursion in quest of new 
settlements appears to have been made 
about the year of the Christian era 376, 
when they passed the Palus Mseotis ; 
made a dreadful slaughter among the 
Alans, Ostrogoths, and Visigoths ; and 
took possession of that vast tract of coun- 



* The word Ugre, whence Ugri is derived, 
signifies, in the Sclavonic language, aquatic, or 
living in the water — a name well adapted to a 
nation residing in the marshy places which bor- 
dered on the Palus Maeotis and the Tanais. 



try which extends from the Tanais to the 
Danube. 

About the year 383 the Nephthalite or 
White Hunns, broke into the Roman ter- 
ritories ; overran Mesopotamia ; and even 
laid siege to the city of Edessa ; but they 
were bravely repulsed by the garrison, 
and compelled, after some time, to aban- 
don their daring enterprize. 

This tribe inhabited a rich tract of 
country, at a considerable distance from 
the Sarmatian Hunns, with whom they 
had no affinity nor intercourse. They 
lived according to their own laws ; dealt 
equitably with each other ; and seldom 
made inroads, unless provoked, into the 
territories of their neighbors. 

The Sarmatian Hunns, emboldened by 
their success against the Alans, Goths, 
and other barbarous nations, crossed the 
Danube in 391, and committed the most 
dreadful outrages in Thrace and Maesia ; 
Stilicho overthrew them in a pitched 
battle, and surrounded them so complete- 
ly in a narrow valley, that they must 
either have surrendered at discretion or 
perished with himger, had not Claudian 
generously offered to conclude a treaty 
of peace. 

Four years after this event, the Hunns 
made an unexpected irruption into the 
eastern provinces, and penetrated even 
to the walls of Antioch ; marking their 
progress with such enormous cruelties 
and depredations, that St. Jerome says, 
" All the East trembled at the approach 
of an enemy, who, equally destitute of 
religion and hum'nity, roved without con- 
trol wherever they pleased, massacreing 
those who had scarce begun to live, and 
who smiled, unconscious of danger, at the 
very weapons that were lifted to destroy 
them." Indeed the barbarians appear to 
have spared neither age, sex, nor con- 
dition, in this expedition ; but to have 
filled all places with slaughter and deso- 
lation. 

From this period they seem to have 
remained quiet till the year 404, when 
crossing the Danube in prodigious multi- 
tudes, they ravaged the province of 



684 



HUNNS. 



Thrace, penetrated into East lUyricum, 
and returned home loaded with phmder. 
During the minority of Theodosius II, 
llldin. King of the Hunns, entered Thrace, 
at the head of a formidable army ; but 
the gallant resistance of the Romans, and 
the defection of his own officers, com- 
pelled him to repass the Danube with 
the utmost precipitation. On this occa- 
sion the Scyri, a northern nation in alli- 
ance with Uldin, received an overthrow, 
by which they were almost utterly extir- 
pated. 

On the demise of Honorius, in 423, 
sixty thousand Hunns were led by ^tius 
to the assistance of John, who had as- 
sumed the imperial purple ; and an obsti- 
nate battle was fought with the troops of 
Assar ; but ^tius, being informed of the 
usurper's death, thought proper to submit 
to Theodosius, and accordingly persuad- 
ed the barbarians to return home. To- 
ward the close of the same year Thrace 
was overrun and pillaged by one of the 
northern tribes under the command of 
Rougas ; but this marauder being killed 
by lightning, and many of his men swept 
off by a pestilence, the survivors retreated 
with precipitation to their own country. 

In the year 435 a numerous body of 
Hunns joined iEtius against the Burgun- 
dians, of whom they slaughtered twenty 
thousand. However, they soon expe- 
rienced a reverse of fortune in this ex- 
pedition ; for the Burgundians, having 
watched a favorable opportunity, fell upon 
them with resistless fury, cut ten thou- 
sand of their men to pieces, and obliged 
the rest to save themselves by flight. 

Attila, king of the Hunns, having, with 
the assistance of his brother Bleda, sub- 
jugated most of the norlliern nations, con- 
ceived the daring design of seizing the 
Roman empire. Accordingly, having 
passed the Danube at the head of a pow- 
erful army, he made himself master of 
several cities and fortresses ; ravaged 
the country, wherever he passed, with 
fire and sword ; and overwhelmed the 
Romans with such consternation, that 
Theodosius was reduced to the neces- 
sity of concluding a peace upon very dis- 
advantageous terms. 

About the year 451 Attila entered Gaul 
at the head of a numerous army, declar' 



ing that he had no design inimical to the 
welfare of the Romans, but that he only 
wished to traverse Gaul, and pass the 
Loire at Orleans, in order to fall upon 
the Visigoths in Guienne and Languedoc. 
Hereupon the credulous Romans laid 
aside their apprehensions, and several 
cities opened their gates ; but the artful 
invader had no sooner penetrated into 
the country than he threw off the mask, 
and committed the most horrid depreda- 
tions. At Mentz, in particular, he per- 
mitted the most infamous cruelties to be 
exercised on the inhabitants ; massacred 
the priests even before their altars ; and 
reduced the greatest part of the city to 
ashes. He next took possession of Or- 
leans ; but was driven thence with great 
slaughter, and, after a bloody engage- 
ment in the plains of Chalons, he retired 
to the banks of the Rhine. As the other 
principal exploits of this warlike barba- 
rian have been already noticed in the 
history of Rome, it is only requisite to 
add, that his reign was at length termi- 
nated by the breaking of a blood vessel, 
and his funeral obsequies were perform- 
ed with great solemnity. 

Ellac, the son and successor of Attila, 
is described as a person of great bravery 
and resolution, well versed in the arts of 
war, and, consequently, capable of re- 
taining his father's numerous conquests ; 
but, whilst his brothers were clamoring 
for a division of the sovereignty, the 
Gepidae broke out into an open revolt, 
and marched a body of forces to the 
banks of the Netad, in Pannonia, where 
upwards of thirty thousand Hunns were 
put to the sword, and Ellac himself was 
cut off in the very commencement of his 
reign. 

The surviving Hunns were so disheart- 
ened by this defeat, and the subsequent 
revolt of several other nations, that they 
immediately retired toward the Euxine 
sea and the mouths of the Danube, leav- 
ing the Gepidae in possession of all an- 
cient Dacia. About eight years after 
this occurrence, Dinzio, one of Attila's 
sons, made an irruption into the territo- 
ries of the Goths, and invested the city 
of Basiana, which was situated between 
the Save and the Draw ; but his de- 
sign was soon frustrated, and himself 



HUNNS. 



685 



compelled to retreat with considerable 
loss. 

In the year of the Christian era 466, 
a numerous army of Hunns passed the 
Danube, in the depth of winter, and com- 
mitted some dreadful ravages in the pro- 
vince of Dacia ; but Anthemius, march- 
ing against them with a select body of 
troops, they were defeated in a pitched 
battle, and compelled to abandon their 
enterprize. Dengizic, one of Atilla's 
sons, attempted to retrieve this misfortune 
by assembling a greater body of forces ; 
but his designs were rendered abortive 
by the vigilance of Arnagastus, who 
guarded the banks of the Danube, and his 
head was sent by the victor to Constan- 
tinople, where it was carried through the 
streets on the point of a spear. 

Overwhelmed with confusion by these 
repeated overthrows, and dispirited by 
the loss of their most valiant chiefs, the 
Hunns continued quiet for the space of 
sixty years ; but, on the accession of 
Justinian, two of their kings, Styrax and 
Clones, penetrated the Roman territories, 
at the head of two formidable armies. 
At this juncture, however, Boarox, queen 
of the Sabirite Hunns, led an army of 
one hundred thousand men to the assis- 
tance of the emperor ; gave the invaders 
a signal overthrow ; and sent Styrax 
himself in chains to Constantinople. 

In the thirteenth year of Justinian's 
reign, the Cuturgurian Hunns, crossing 
the Danube in prodigious multitudes, 
ravaged the greatest part of Thrace, 
Greece, lUyricum, and all the provinces 
from the Ionian sea to the very suburbs 
of Constantinople ; and, having passed 
the Hellespont, committed many enor- 
mous acts of cruelty in Asia, and return- 
ed home with an immense booty, and one 
hundred and twenty thousand captives. 
To prevent a repetition of these expedi- 
tions, Justinian allowed the Cuturgurians 
some lands in the province of Thrace, 
and agreed to pay them an annual pen- 



sion, upon condition that they should 
serve, when required, under the Roman 
banners ; but as this scheme proved in- 
adequate to the preservation of the em- 
pire, a quarrel was artfully fomented be- 
tween the Cuturgurian and Uturgurian 
Hunns, which divided the attention of 
the former, and finally terminated in the 
destruction of both. 

Venantius Fortunatus asserts, that, 
about the year 560, a numerous body of 
Hunns took their route through Germany, 
with a design to cross the Rhine, and 
form a settlement in Gaul ; but Sigebert, 
king of the Franks, arrested their pro- 
gress on the baaks of the Elbe, and 
gained a complete victory, many thou- 
sands of the barbarians being killed, and 
the residue compelled to retire into Pan- 
nonia. 

From this period no farther notice is 
taken of the Hunns till the reign of Charles 
the Great, when they were possessed of 
Dacia Mcesia, and both the Pannonias. 
Two of their princes, Caganus and Ju- 
gimus, formed an amicable alliance with 
Charles in the year 776. But their sub- 
sequent treachery, in sending succors to 
Tassilo, duke of Bavaria, and a dispute 
which arose respecting their boundaries, 
gave such umbrage to their illustrious 
ally, that he not only renounced their 
friendship, but ravaged their country with 
fire and sword, for the space of eight 
years, till he had almost extirpated their 
name and nation. Some authors, indeed, 
are of opinion that the whole race was 
entirely destroyed ; and that the country 
was afterwards peopled by the surround- 
ing nations, to whom the present Hunga- 
rians owe their origin. However, it is 
certain that the Hunns were finally sub- 
dued, by Charles the Great, about the 
year 794, and that Henry, duke of Friuli, 
took their royal palace, and stripped it 
of immense treasures — a considerable 
part of which was sent, by the emperor's 
order, to Rome. 



686 



JEWS. 



JEWS. 



Jews, a name derived from the patri- 
arch Judah, and given to the descendants 
of Abraham by his eldest son Isaac. We 
shall here present the reader with as 
comprehensive a view of this singular 
people as we can. 

1. Jews^ history of the. — The Al- 
mighty promised Abraham that he would 
render his seed extremely numerous : 
this promise began to be fulfilled in Ja- 
cob's twelve sons. In about two hundred 
and fifteen years they increased in 
Egypt from seventeen to between two 
and three millions, men, women, and 
children. While Joseph lived, they were 
kindly used by the Egyptian monarchs ; 
but soon after, from a suspicion that they 
would become too strong for the natives, 
they were condemned to slavery ; but 
the more they were oppressed, the more 
they grew. The midwifes, and others, 
were therefore ordered to murder every 
male infant at the time of its birth ; but 
they, shifting the horrible task, every 
body was then ordered to destroy the 
male children wherever they found them. 
After they had been thus oppressed for 
about one hundred years, and on the very 
day that finished the four hundred and 
thirtieth year from God's first promise of 
a seed to Abraham, and about four hun- 
dred years after the birth of Isaac, God, 
by terrible plagues on the Egyptians, 
obliged them to liberate the Hebrews un- 
der the direction of Moses and Aaron. 
Pharoah pursued them with a mighty 
army ; but the Lord opened a passage 
for them through the Red Sea ; and the 
Egyptians in attempting to follow them, 
were drowned. After this, we find them 
in a dry and barren desert, without any 
provision for their journey ; but God sup- 
plied them with water from a rock, and 
inanna and quails from heaven. A little 
after, they routed the Amalekites, who 
fell on their rear. In the wilderness, 
God delivered them the law, and con- 
firmed the authority of Moses. Three 
thousand of them were cut off for wor- 
shipping the golden calf; and for loath- 
ing the manna, they were punished with 



a month's eating of flesh, till a plague 
brake out among them ; and for their rash 
belief of the ten wicked spies, and their 
contempt of the prromised land, God had 
entirely destroyed them, had not Moses's 
prayers prevented. They were condemn- 
ed, however, to wander in the desert till 
the end of forty years, till that whole 
generation, except Caleb and Joshua, 
should be cut off by death. Here they 
were often punished for their rebellion, 
idolatry, whoredom, &c. God's marvel- 
lous favors, however, were still continu- 
ed in conducting and supplying them 
with meat ; and the streams issuing from 
the rock Meribah, followed their camp 
about thirty-nine years, and their clothes 
never waxed old. On their entrance into 
Canaan, God ordered them to cut off eve- 
ry idolatrous Canaanite ; but they spared 
vast numbers of them, who enticed them 
to wickedness, and were sometimes 
God's rod to punish them. For many 
ages they had enjoyed little prosperity, 
and often relapsed into awful idolatry, 
worshipping Baalim, Ashtaroth, Micah 
and the Danites introduced it not long af- 
ter Joshua's death. About this time the 
lewdness of the men of Gibeah occasion- 
ed a war of the eleven tribes against their 
brethren of Benjamin ; they were twice 
routed by the Benjamites, and forty thou- 
sand of them were slain. In the third, 
however, all the Benjamites were slain, 
except six hundred. Vexed for the loss 
of a tribe, the other Hebrews provided 
wives for these six hundred, at the ex- 
pense of slaying most of the inhabitants 
of Jabesh Gilead. Their relapses into 
idolatry also brought on them repeated 
turns of slavery from the heathen among 
or around them. See books of Judges 
and Samuel. Having been governed by 
judges for about three hundred and forty 
years, after the death of Joshua they took 
a fancy to have a king. Saul was their 
first sovereign, under whose reign they 
had perpetual struggles with the Ammon- 
ites, Moabites, and Philistines. After 
about seven years' struggling between 
the eleven tribes that clave to Ishbosheth, 



JEWS. 



687 



the son of Saul, and the tribe of Judah, 
which erected themselves into a kingdom 
under David, David became sole mon- 
arch. Under him they subdued their 
neighbors, the Philistines, Edomites, and 
others ; and took pessession of the whole 
dominion which had been promised them, 
from the border of Egypt to the banks 
of the Euphrates. Under Solomon they 
had little war : when he died, ten of the 
Hebrew tribes formed a kingdom of Isra- 
el, or Ephraim, for themselves, under 
Jeroboam, the Son of Nebat, in opposi- 
tion to the kingdom of Judah and Benja- 
min, ruled by the family of David. The 
kingdom of Israel, Ephraim, or the ten 
tribes, had never so much as one pious 
king : idolatry was always their estab- 
lished religion. The kingdom of Judah 
had pious and wicked sovereigns by 
turns, though they often relapsed into 
idolatry, which brought great distress 
upon them. See books of Samuel, Kings, 
and Chronicles. Not only the kingdom 
of Israel, but that of Judah, was brought 
to the very brink of ruin after the death 
of Jehoshaphat. After various changes, 
sometimes for the better, and sometimes 
for the worse, the kingdom of Israel was 
rumed, two hundred and fifty-four years 
after its erection, by So, king of Egypt, 
and Halmanaster, king of Assyria, who 
invaded it, and destroyed most of the 
people. Judah was invaded by Senna- 
cherib; butHezekiah's piety, and Isaiah's 
prayer, were the means of their preserva- 
tion ; but under Manasseh, the Jews 
abandoned themselves to horrid impiety ; 
for which they were punished by Esar- 
haddon, king of Assyria, who invaded 
and reduced the kingdom, and carried 
Manasseh prisoner to Babylon. Manas- 
seh repented, and the Lord brought him 
back to his kingdom, where he promoted 
the reformation ; but his son Amon de- 
faced all. Josiah, however, again promoted 
it, and carried it to a higher pitch than in 
the reigns of David and Solomon. After 
Josiah was slain by Pharaoh Necho, king 
of Egypt, the people returned to idolatry, 
and God gave them up to servitude to the 
Egyptians and the Chaldeans. The fate 
of their kings Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Je- 
hoiachin, and Zedekiah, was unhappy. 
Provoked by Zedekiah's treachery, Ne- 1 



buchadnezzar invaded the kingdom, mur 
dered vast numbers, and reduced them to 
captivity. Thus the kingdom of Judah 
was ruined, A. M. 3416, about three hun- 
dred and eighty-eight years after its divi- 
sion from that of the ten tribes. In the 
seventieth year from the begun captivity, 
the Jews, according to the edict of Cy- 
rus, king of Persia, who had overturned 
the empire of Chaldea, returned to their 
own country. See Nehemiah, Ezra. 
Vast numbers of them, who had agreea- 
ble settlements, remained in Babylon. 
After their return they rebuilt the temple 
and city of Jerusalem, put away their 
strange wives, aud renewed their cove- 
nants with God. 

About 3490, or 3546, they escaped the 
ruin designed them by Haman. About 
3653, Darius Ochus, king of Persia, ra- 
vaged part of Judea, and carried off a 
great many prisoners. When Alexan- 
der was in Canaan, about 3670, he con- 
firmed to them all their privileges ; and, 
having built Alexandria, he settled vast 
numbers of them there. About fourteen 
years after, Ptolemy Lagus, the Greek 
king of Egypt, ravaged Judea, and car- 
ried one hundred thousand prisoners to 
Egypt, but used them kindly, and assign- 
ed them many places of trust. About 
eight years after, he transported another 
multitude of Jews to Egypt and gave them 
considerable privileges. About the same 
time, Seleucus Nicanor, having built 
about thirty new cities in Asia, settled in 
them as many Jews as he could; and 
Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt, about 
3720, bought the freedom of all the Jew 
slaves in Egypt. Antiochus Epiphanes, 
sbout 3834, enraged with them for re- 
joicing at the report of his death, and for 
the peculiar form of their worship, in his 
return from Egypt, forced his way into 
Jerusalem, and murdered forty thousand 
of them ; and about two years after he 
ordered his troops to pillage the cities of 
Judea, and murder the men, and sell the 
women and children for slaves. Multi- 
tudes were killed, and ten thousand 
prisoners carried off; the temple was 
dedicated to Olympius, an idol of Greece, 
and the Jews exposed to the basest treat- 
ment. Mattathias, the priest, with his 
sons, chiefly Judas, Jonathan, and Simon, 



688 



JEWS. 



who were called Maccabees, bravely- 
fought for their religion and liberties. 
Judas, who succeeded his father about 
3840, gave Nicanor and the king's troops 
a terrible defeat, regained the temple, and 
dedicated it anew, restored the daily wor- 
ship, and repaired Jerusalem, which was 
almost in a ruinous heap. After his death, 
Jonathan and Simon, his brethren, suc- 
cessively succeeded him ; and both wise- 
ly and bravely promoted the welfare of 
the church and state. Simon was suc- 
ceeded by his son Hircanus, who sub- 
dued Idumea, and reduced the Samari- 
tans. In 3899 he was succeeded by his 
son Janneus, who reduced the Philis- 
tines, the country of Moab, Ammon, Gi- 
lead, and part of Arabia. Under these 
three reigns alone the Jewish nation was 
independent after the captivity. After 
the death of the widow of Janneus, who 
governed nine years, the nation was al- 
most ruined with civil broils. In 3939, 
Aristobulus invited the Romans to assist 
him against Hircanus, his elder brother. 
The country was quickly reduced, and 
Jerusalem took by force ; and Pompey, 
and a number of his officers, pushed their 
way into the sanctuary, if not into the 
Holy of Holies, to view the furniture 
thereof. Nine years after, Crassus the 
Roman general, pillaged the temple of its 
valuables. After Judea had for more 
than thirty years been a scene of ravage 
and blood, and twenty-four of which had 
been oppressed by Herod the Great, He- 
rod got himself installed in the kingdom. 
About twenty years before our Saviour's 
birth, he, with the Jews' consent, began 
to build the temple. About this time the 
Jews had hopes of the Messiah; and 
about A. M. 4000, Christ actually came, 
whom Herod (instigated by the fear of 
losing his throne) sought to murder. The 
Jews, however, a few excepted, rejected 
the Messiah, and put him to death. The 
sceptre was now wholly departed from 
Judah ; and Judea, about twenty-seven 
years before, reduced to a province. The 
Jews since that time, have been scattered, 
contemned, persecuted, and enslaved 
among all nations, not mixed with any in 
the common manner, but have remained 
as a body distinct by themselves. 

2. Jews, sentimeiits of. The Jews com- 



monly reckon but thirteen articles of 
their faith. Maimonides, a famous Jew- 
ish rabbi, reduced them to this number 
when he drew up their confession about 
the end of the eleventh century, and it 
was generally received. All the Jews 
are obliged to live and die in the profes- 
sion of these thirteen articles, which are 
as follows : — 1. That God is the creator 
of all things ; that he guides and supports 
all creatures ; that he has done every 
thing ; and that he still acts, and shall 
act during the whole eternity. 2. That 
God is one ; there is no unity like his. 
He alone hath been, is, and shall be 
eternally our God. 3. That God is in- 
corporeal, and cannot have any material 
properties ; and no corporeal essence 
can be compared with him. 4. That 
God is the beginning and end of all things, 
and shall eternally subsist. 5. That God 
alone ought to be worshipped, and none 
beside him is to be adored. 6. That 
whatever has been taught by the prophets 
is true. 7. That Moses is the head and 
father of all contemporary doctors, of 
those who lived before or shall live after 
him. 8. That the law was given by 
Moses. 9. That the law shall never be 
altered, and that God will give no other. 
10. That God knows all the thoughts and 
actions of men. 1 1 . That God will re- 
gard the works of all those who have 
performed what he commands, and pun- 
ish those who have transgressed his 
laws. 12. That the Messiah is to come, 
though he tarry a long time. 13. That 
there shall be a resurrection of the dead 
when God shall think fit. 

The modern Jews adhere still as close- 
ly to the Mosaic dispensation, as their 
dispersed and despised condition will per- 
mit them. Their service consists chiefly 
in reading the law in their synagogues, 
together with a variety of prayers. They 
use no sacrifices since the destruction of 
the temple. They repeat blessings and 
particular praises to God, not only in 
their prayers, but on all accidental occa- 
sions, and in almost all their actions. 
They go to prayers three times a day in 
their synagogues. Their sermons are not 
made in Hebrew, which few of them now 
perfectly understand, but in the language 
of the country where they reside. They 



JEWS. 



are forbidden all vain swearing, and pro- 
nouncing any of the names of God with- 
out necessity. They abstain from meats 
prohibited by the Levitical law ; for which 
reason, whatever they eat must be dress- 
ed by Jews, and after a manner peculiar 
to themselves. As soon as a child can 
speak, they teach him to read and trans- 
late the Bible into the language of the 
country where they live. In general they 
observe the same ceremonies which were 
practised by their ancestors in the cele- 
bration of the passover. They acknow- 
ledge a two-fold law of God, a written 
and an unwritten one ; the former is con- 
tained in the Pentateuch, or five books of 
Moses ; the latter, they pretend, was de- 
livered by God to Moses, and handed 
down from him by oral tradition, and now 
to be received as of equal authority with 
the former. They assert the perpetuity 
of their law, together with its perfection. 
They deny the accomplishment of the 
prophecies in the person of Christ ; al- 
leging that the Messiah is not yet come, 
and that he will make his appearance 
with the greatest worldly pomp and gran- 
deur, subduing all nations before him, and 
subjecting them to the house of Judah. 
Since the prophets have predicted his 
mean condition and sufferings, they con- 
fidently talk of two Messiahs ; one Ben- 
Ephraim, whom they grant to be a per- 
son of mean and afflicted condition in 
this world ; and the other Ben-David, 
who shall be a victorious and powerful 
prince. 

iThe Jews pray for the souls of the 
dlad, because they suppose there is a 
paradise for the souls of good men where 
they enjoy glory in the presence of God. 
They believe that the souls of the wick- 
ed are tormented in hell with fire and 
other punishments ;'that some are con- 
demned to be punished in this manner 
for ever, while others continue only for 
a limited time, and this they call purgato- 
ry, which is not different from hell in 



respect of the place, but of the duration, f humanity to read the account without be 



sees, and are as much attached to tradi- 
tion as their ancestors were ; and assert 
that whoever rejects the oral law de- 
serves death. Hence they entertain an 
implacable hatred to the Caraites, who 
adhere to the text of Moses, rejecting the 
rabbinistical interpretation.-.See Caraites. 
There are still some of the Sadducees in 
Africa, and in several other places ; but 
they are few in number ; at least there 
are but very few who declare openly for 
these opinions. 

There are to this day some remains of 
the ancient sect of the Samaritans, who 
are zealous for the law of Moses, but are 
despised by the Jews, because they re- 
ceive only the Pentateuch, and observe 
different ceremonies from theirs. They 
declare they are no Sadducees, but ac- 
knowledge the spirituality and immortali- 
ty of the soul. There are numbers of 
this sect at Gaza, Damascus, Grand Cai- 
ro, and in some other places of the east ; 
but especially at Sichem, now called Na- 
plouse, which is risen out of the ruins of 
the ancient Samaria, where they sacri- 
ficed not many years ago, having a place 
for this purpose on Mount Genzim. 

David Levi, a learned Jew, who in 
1796, published " Dissertations on the 
Prophecies of the Old Testament," ob- 
serves in that work, that deism and infi- 
delity have made such large strides in the 
world, that they have at length reached 
even to the Jewish nation ; many of 
whom are at this time so greatly infected 
with scepticism, by reading Bolingbroke, 
Hume, Voltaire, &c, that they scarcely 
believe in a revelation ; much less have 
they hope in their future restoration. 

3. Jews, calamities of. — All history 
cannot furnish us with a parallel to the 
calamities and miseries of the Jews ; ra- 
pine and murder, famine and pestilence 
within ; fire and sword, and all the ter- 
rors of war without. Our Saviour wept 
at the foresight of these calamities ; and 
it almost impossible for persons of any 



They suppose no Jew, unless guilty of 
heresy, or certain crimes specified by 
the rabbins, shall continue in purgatory 
above a twelvemonth , and that there are 
but few who suffer eternal punishment. 
Almost all the modern Jews are Phari- 
87 



ing affected. The predictions concern- 
ing them were remarkable, and the ca- 
lamities that came upon them were the 
greatest the world ever saw. Deut. xxviii, 
xxix. Matt. xxiv. Now, what heinous 
sin was it that could be the cause of such 



690 



JEWS. 



heavy judgments ? Can any other be as- 1 Soon after the forts of Herodian and 
signed than what the Scripture assigns ? - - •• 
1 Thess. ii. 15, 16. " They both killed 
the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, 
and persecuted the apostles : and so fdl- 
ed up their sins, and wrath came upon 
them to the uttermost." It is hardly pos- 
sible to consider the nature and extent 
of their sufferings, and not conclude the 
Jews' own imprecation to be singularly 
fulfilled upon them, Matt, xxvii. 25. " His 
blood be on us and our children." At 
Cesarea 20,000 of the Jews were killed 
by the Syrians in their mutual broils. 
At Damascus 10,000 unarmed Jews were 
killed : and at Bethshan the Heathen in- 
habitants caused their Jewish neighbors 
to assist them against their brethren, and 
then murdered 13,000 of these inhabit- 
ants. At Alexandria the Jews murdered 
multitudes of the Heathens, and were 
murdered in their turn to about 50,000. 

The Romans under Vespasian invaded 
the country, and took the cities of Gali- 
lee, Chorazen, Bethsaida, Capernaum, 
&c, where Christ had been especially 
rejected, and murdored numbers of the 
inhabitants. At Jerusalem the scene 
was most wretched of all. At the pass- 
over, when there might be two or three 
millions of people in the city, the Romans 
surrounded it v/ith troops, trenches, and 
walls, that none might escape. The 
three different factions witliin murdered 
one another. Titus, one of the most mer- 
ciful generals that ever breathed, did all 
in his power to persuade them to an ad- 
vantageous surrender, but they scorned 
every proposal. The multitudes of un- 
buried carcasses corrupted the air, and 
produced a pestilence. The people fed 
on one another ; and even ladies, it is 
said, broiled their sucking infants, and 
ate them. After a siege of six months, 
the city was taken. They murdered al- 
most every Jew they met with. Titus 
was bent to save the temple, but could 
not : there were six thousand Jews who 
had taken shelter in it, all burnt or mur-i 
dered ! The outcries of the Jews, when 
they saw it, were most dreadful ; the 
whole city, except three towers and a 
small part of the wall, was raised to the 
ground, and the foundations of the tem- 
ple and other places were ploughed up. 



Macheron were taken, the garrison of 
Massada murdered themselves rather 
than surrender. At Jerusalem alone, it 
is said, one million one hundred thousand 
perished by sword, famine, and pestilence. 
In other places we hear of two hundred 
and fifty thousand that were cut off, be- 
sides vast numbers sent into Egypt to 
labor as slaves. About fifty years after, 
the Jews murdered about five hundred 
thousand of the Roman subjects, for which 
they were severely punished by Trajan. 
About 130, one Barocaba pretended that 
he was the Messiah, and raised a Jewish 
army of two hundred thousand, who mur- 
dered all the Heathens and Christians 
who came in their way ; but he was de- 
feated by Adrian's forces. In this war, 
it is said, about sixty thousand Jews were 
slain, and perished. Adrian built a city 
on Mount Calvary, and erected a marble 
statue of swine over the gate that led to 
Bethlehem. No Jew was allowed to 
enter the city, or to look to it at a dis- 
tance, under pain of death. 

In 360 they began to rebuild their city 
and temple ; but a terrible earthquake 
and flames of fire issuing from the earth, 
killed the workmen, and scattered their 
materials. Not till the seventh century 
durst they so much as creep over the 
rubbish to bewail it, without bribing the 
guards. In the third, fourth, and fifth 
centuries, there were many of them fu- 
riously harassed and murdered. In the 
sixth century twenty thousand of them 
were slain, and as many taken and sold 
for slaves. In 602 they were severely 
punished for their horrible massacre of 
the Christians at Antioch. In Spain, in 
700, they were ordered to be enslaved. 
In the eighth and ninth centuries they 
were greatly derided and abused ; in some 
places they Avere made to wear leathern 
girdles, and ride without stirrups on asses 
and mules. In France and Spain they 
were much insulted. In the tenth, elev- 
enth, and twelfth centuries, their miseries 
increased ; they were greatly persecuted 
in Egypt. Besides what they suffered 
in the East by the Turkish and sacred 
war, it is shocking to think what multi- 
tudes of them the eight crusades mur- 
dered in Germany, Hungary, Lesser 



JEWS. 



691 



Asia, and elsewhere. In France multi- 
tudes were burnt. In England, in 1020, 
they were banished, and at the corona- 
tion of Richard I, the mob fell upon them, 
and murdered a great many of them. 
About one thousand five hundred of them 
were burnt in the palace in the city of 
York, which they set fire to themselves, 
after killing their wives and children. 
In the thirteenth and fourteenth centu- 
ries their condition was no better. In 
Egypt, Canaan, and Syria, the crusaders 
still harassed them. Provoked with 
their mad running after pretended Mes- 
siahs, Calif Nasser scarce left any of 
them alive in his dominions of Mesopo- 
tamia. In Persia, the Tartars murdered 
them in multitudes. In Spain, Ferdinand 
persecuted them furiously. About ] 349, 
the terrible massacre of them at Toledo 
forced many of them to murder them- 
selves, or change their religion. About 
1253, many were murdered, and others 
banished from France, but in 1275 re- 
called. In 1320 and 1330, the crusades 
of the fanatic shepherds, vvho wasted the 
south of France, massacred them ; be- 
sides fifteen hundred that were murdered 
on another occasion. In 1358 they were 
totally banished from France, since which 
few of them have entered that country. 
In ] 291 king Edward expelled them from 
England, to the number of one hundred 
and sixty thousand. In the fifteenth, 
sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, their 
misery continued. In Persia they have 
been terribly used ; from 1663 to 1666, 
the murder of them was so universal that 
but a i'ew escaped to Turkey. In Por- 
tugal and Spain they have been misera- 
bly handled. About 1392, six or eight 
hundred thousand were banished from 
Spain. Some were drowned in their 
passage to Africa ; some died by hard 
usage ; and many of their carcasses lay 
in the fields till the wild beasts devoured 
them. In Germany they have endured 
many hardships. They have been ban- 
ished from Bohemia, Bavaria, Cologne, 
Nuremberg, Augsburg, and Vienna ; they 
have been terribly massacred in Moravia, 
and plundered in Boun and Bamberg. 
Except in Portugal and Spain, their pre- 
sent condition is generally tolerable. In 
Holland, Poland, and at Frankfort and 



Hamburgh they have their liberty. They 
have repeatedly, but in vain, attempted to 
obtain a naturalization in England and 
other nations among whom they are 
scattered. 

4. Jews, preservation of. — " The pre- 
servation of the Jews," says Basnage, 
" in the midst of the miseries which 
they have undergone during 1700 years, 
is the greatest prodigy that can be ima- 
gined. Religions depend on temporal 
prosperity ; they triumph under the pro- 
tection of a conqueror ; they languish and 
sink with sinking monarchies. Pagan- 
ism, which once covered the earth, is 
extinct. The Christian church, glorious 
in its martyrs, yet was considerably di- 
minished by the persecutions to which 
it was exposed ; nor was it easy to repair 
the breaches in it made by those acts of 
violence. But here we behold a church 
hated and persecuted for 1700 years, and 
yet sustaining itself, and widely extended. 
Kings have often employed the severity 
of edicts and the hand of executioners 
to ruin it. The seditious multitudes, by 
murders and massacres, have commit- 
ted outrages against it still more violent 
and tragical. Princes and people. Pa- 
gans, Mahometans, Christians, disagree- 
ing, in so many things, have united in 
the design of exterminating it, and have 
not been able to succeed. The bush of 
Moses, surrounded with flames, ever 
burns, and is never consumed. The 
Jews have been expelled, in diff'erent 
times, from every part of the world, 
which hath only served to spread them 
in all regions. From age to age they 
have been exposed to misery and perse- 
cution ; yet still they subsist, in spite of 
the ignominy and the hatred which hath 
pursued them in all places, whilst the 
greatest monarchies are fallen, and noth- 
ing remains of them besides the name. 

" The judgments which God has ex- 
ercised upon this people are terrible ; ex- 
tending to the men, the religion, and the 
very land in which they dwelt. The 
ceremonies essential to their religion can 
no more be observed : the ritual law, 
which cast a splendor on the national 
worship, and struck the Pagans so much 
that they sent their presents and their 
victims to Jerusalem, is absolutely fallen, 



692 



LOMBARDS 



for they have no temple, no altar, no sa- 
crifices. Their land itself seems to lie 
under a never-ceasing curse. Pagans, 
Christians, Mohammedans, in a vpord, 
almost all nations have by turns seized 
and held Jerusalem. To the Jew only 
hath God refused the possession of this 
small tract of ground, so supremely ne- 
cessary for him, since he ought to wor- 
ship on this mountain. A Jewish writer 
hath affirmed, that it is long since any 
Jew has been settled near Jerusalem : 
scarcely can they purchase there six feet 
of land for a burying-place. 

" In all this there is no exaggeration : 
I am only pointing out known facts : and 
far from having the least design to raise 
an odium against the nation from its 
miseries, I conclude that it ought to be 
looked upon as one of those prodigies 
which we admire without comprehend- 
ing : since, in spite of evils so durable, 
and a patience so long exercised, it is 
preserved by a particular providence. 
The Jew ought to be weary of expecting 
a Messiah, who so unkindly disappoints 
his vain hopes ; and the Christian ought 
to have his attention and his regard ex- 
cited towards men whom God preserves, 
for so great a length of time, under ca- 
lamities which would have been the total 
ruin of any other people." 

5. Jews, number and dispersion of.-^ 
They are looked upon to be as numerous 
at present as they were formerly in the 
land of Canaan. Some have rated them 
at three millions, and others more than 
double that number. Their dispersion is 
a remarkable particular in this people. 



They swarm all over the east, and are 
settled, it is said, in the remotest parts of 
China. The Turkish empire abounds 
with them. There are more of them at 
Constantinople and Salonichi than in any 
other place : they are spread through 
most of the nations of Europe and Africa, 
and many families of them are establish- 
ed in the West Indies ; not to mention 
whole nations bordering on Prester John's 
country, and some discovered in the in- 
ner parts of America, if we may give any 
credit to their own writers. Their being 
always in rebellions (as Addison observes) 
while they had the Holy Temple in view, 
has excited most nations to banish them. 
Besides, the whole people are now a 
race of such merchants as are wanderers 
by profession ; and at the same time are 
in most, if not in all places, incapable of 
either lands or offices, that might engage 
them to make any part of the world their 
home. In addition to this, we may con- 
sider what providential reasons may be 
assigned for their numbers and disper- 
sion. Their firm adherence to their re- 
ligion, and being dispersed all over the 
earth, has furnished every age and every 
nation with the strongest arguments for 
the Christian faith ; not only as these 
very particulars are foretold of them, but 
as they themselves are the depositories 
of these and all other prophecies which 
tend to their own confusion and the 
establishment of Christianity. Their num- 
ber furnishes us with a sufficient cloud 
of witnesses that attest the truth of the 
Bible, and their dispersion spreads these 
witnesses through all parts of the world. 



LOMBARDS. 



The first credible account of this na- 
tion was given in 379, by Prosper Aqui- 
tanus, bishop of Rhegium. That pre- 
late, in a chronicle of his own composi- 
tion, asserts that the Lombards, leaving 
their original country, Scandinavia, in 
quest of new settlements, attacked and 
vanquished the Vandals in Scoringa. 
They afterward migrated into Mauringa, 
and thence into Gothland, where they 



first elected a king, and conferred a regal 
title on Agilmund, the son of their de- 
ceased chieftain Aion. 

Lamissio, the successor of Agilmund, 
is said to have gained a signal victory 
over the Amazons and Bulgarians. Of 
his successors, Leta and Ildehoc, noth- 
ing satisfactory has been recorded, ex- 
cept that in the reign of the latter the 
Lombards took possession of Rugiland, 



LOMBARDS. 



693 



which had been recently depopulated by 
the sword of Odoacer. 

During- the reign of Adoinus, a war 
was kindled between the Lombards and 
Gepidse, and a general engagement took 
place, in which the latter were defeated 
with great slaughter. As the victory 
gained on this occasion was chiefly ow- 
ing to Alboinus, the king's son, the prin- 
cipal men among the Lombards earnestly 
requested that he might be indulged, as 
a reward of his extraordinary gallantry, 
in dining at the royal table. Adoinus 
replied, he would readily grant this re- 
quest, but that the ancient laws of his 
nation forbade even the princes of the 
blood to receive such a mark of dis- 
tinction, till they had publicly appeared 
in the armor of some foreign prince 
whom they had overthrown in battle. 
Hereupon the warlike prince, attended 
only by forty resolute men, repaired to 
the court of Turistind, king of the Gepi- 
dae, to demand the armor of his son, who 
had been killed by Alboinus in the above- 
mentioned battle. Turisund, instead of 
off'ering any violence to the intrepid 
claimant, entertained him with the utmost 
hospitality, and granted his request, with 
which he returned in triumph, and was 
permitted to sit at table with his royal 
parent. The Lombards under this reign 
were masters of the champaign country 
bordering on the Danube, and many of 
them, by permission of Justinian, fixed 
their abode in Pannonia. 

On the demise of Adoinus, the valiant 
Alboinus succeeded to the sovereignty, 
and gained some important advantages 
over the Gepidae, whose king he slew 
with his own hand, and, according to the 
custom of savage warriors, caused his 
skull to be converted into a drinking cup. 
By this victory Alboinus gained such 
reputation, that his subjects were perfect- 
ly enraptured with his martial disposition ; 
his valor and prowess became the favorite 
theme of Gothic bards ; and even Nar- 
ses solicited his assistance against the 
Ostrogoths in Italy. For their services 
on that occasion the Lombards received 
d profusion of rich presents ; and con- 
tinued faithful allies to the Romans so 
long as they remained in Pannonia. 

About the year 568 the Lombards, with 



a numerous army of auxiliaries, took their 
route towards Italy, which they entered 
without opposition, and made themselves 
masters of several important cities ; the 
inhabitants having retired precipitately 
to the neighboring islands in the Adriatic. 
Alboinus having cantoned his troops in 
the adjacent villages, took up his winter 
quarters in Friuli, and erected that city 
and its territory into a duchy, conferring^the 
titleof dukeon hisownnephew Gisulphus. 

Early in the ensuing spring Alboinus 
took the field ; and successively reduced 
the cities of Monte Selce, Vicenza, Ve- 
rona, and Trent, in each of which he 
placed a strong garrison, under the com- 
mand of an officer whom he honored 
with the ducal title ; but these dukes 
were only governors of their respective 
cities, and bore that appellation no longer 
than the king thought proper to continue 
them in their command. 

In their third campaign the Lombards 
became masters of Bresica, Bergamo, 
Lodi, Como, and the other towns of Li- 
guria, quite to the Alps ; the inhabitants 
either fleeing at their approach or sur- 
rendering without resistance. The citi- 
zens of Milan, indeed, made some efl^orts 
for the preservation of their liberty, but, 
after a short struggle, they submitted : and 
Alboinus was proclaimed king of Italy 
amidst the acclamations of his followers 

From Milan the conqueror marched to 
Paira, which, being well garrisoned, and 
furnished with an abundance of provis- 
ions, sustained a siege for upwards of 
three years ; but at the expiration of 
that time it surrendered upon honor- 
able conditions, and was, shortly after, 
chosen by Alboinus for the metropolis of 
his new kingdom. 

Alboinus being now master of all that 
part of Italy which comprehended Vene- 
tia, Liguria, Umbria, iEmilia, and Etru- 
ria, resolved to establish the government 
and security of these provinces before 
he attempted to extend his conquests ; 
but whilst he was making the necessary 
arrangements for this purpose, he was 
assassinated by command of his queen 
Rosamund,* whom he had incensed 

* This princess was the daughter of Cuni- 
mund, king of the Gepidse, whom Alboinus had 
killed with his own hand in battle. 



694 



LOMBARDS 



beyond forgiveness by commanding her 
to drink out of her father's skull, Avhich 
was used as a drinking cup in a royal 
banquet at Verona. 

To reward the execution of her re- 
venge, Rosamund bestowed her hand on 
the assassin Helmichild ; and promised 
to invest him with the sovereignty ; but 
the Lombards were so violently exasper- 
ated at the loss of their beloved prince, 
that both herself and her new consort 
were compelled to flee to Ravenna, where 
they implored the protection of the ex- 
arch Longinus. Here Rosamund formed 
the design of attaching Longinns to her 
interest by the same means which had 
formerly prevailed with Helmichild, and 
accordingly presented the latter with a 
deleterious potion as he returned from 
bathing ; but Helmichild, experiencing 
an extraordinary sensation on taking the 
first draught, compelled the treacherous 
queen to swallow the remainder, by which 
means she participated in his untimely 
fate. 

Meanwhile the Lombards, having per- 
formed the funeral obsequies of their de- 
ceased sovereign, proceeded to the elec- 
tion of a new king, and, after some con- 
sultation, fixed their choice on Clephis, 
a man of known valor and abilities. 
This prince undertook the re-building of 
Imola, which had been destroyed byNar- 
ses ; reduced Rimini ; and extended his 
conquests to the very gates of Rome ; 
but the cruelty of his disposition tarnish- 
ed the lustre of all his military achiev- 
ments, and eventually induced his own 
subjects to take him off by assassination. 

Upon the demise of Clephis, the Lom- 
bards resolved to abolish the monarchi- 
cal form of government, and accordingly 
lived under their dukes or commanders 
of cities for the space of ten years, dur- 
ing which time they committed many 
depredations in Gaul, and reduced sev- 
eral cities of importance in Italy. But 
the powerful confederacy which was 
formed against them in the time of the 
emperor Mauritius, induced them to re- 
store the ancient regimen, and to unite 
their forces under the authority of an in- 
dividual who might undertake the man- 
agement of so dangerous a war. 

Pursuant to this resolution a general 



assembly was called in 585, and the re- 
gal title conferred on Autharis, the son 
of Clephis. This prince had no sooner 
ascended the throne than he assumed the 
name of Flavius, and ordered it to be 
used, in imitation of the Roman empe- 
rors, by all his successors. He then 
obliged the dukes, who for ten years, had 
ruled with absolute authority over their 
respective territories, to contribute a 
moiety of their revenues towards the 
maintenance of his royal dignity ; and 
enacted various salutary laws against 
murder, adultery, theft, and other crimes, 
which, at that time, were frequently com- 
mitted by his subjects. 

Nor was Autharis only attentive to the 
government and welfare of his people ; 
but, on the first intimation that Childeric, 
king of the Franks, was marching into 
his dominions, in violation of a recent 
treaty, he assembled his troops with in- 
credible despatch, and animated them so 
effectually by his exhortations and exam- 
ple, that the invaders were utterly over- 
thrown, and pursued to the mountains 
with incredible slaughter. A second ex- 
pedition was undertaken by the Franks 
to retrieve this signal loss, but victory 
again declared for Autharis, and their at- 
tempts were only productive of confu- 
sion and shame. Some time after the 
retreat of this enemy, Autharis reduced 
the province of Samnium and the city of 
Benevento. He is also said to have 
projected the reduction of Rome, and the 
exarchate of Ravenna ; but previously to 
the accomplishment of this design, he 
was taken off by poison, after having 
worn the crown about six years. Au- 
tharis was the first Lombard king who 
embraced the Christian religion, and his 
example was followed by most of his 
subjects ; but, as they were unfortunately 
instructed by Arian bishops, they contin- 
ued long infested with that heresy, which 
occasioned many warm disputations be- 
tween them and the orthodox bishops of 
the cities subject to their dominion. 

Agilulf, duke of Turin, a person of ex- 
traordinary merit, was next elevated to 
the regal dignity, in 590. At the request 
of his queen Theudelinda, he embraced 
the Catholic faith, and induced many of 
his subjects to abjure their former errors. 



LOMBARDS. 



695 



However, the commencement of his 
reign was disturbed by rebellion ; and 
he found himself obliged to take up 
arms against his own countrymen ; for 
the dukes of Bergamo, and the island of 
St. Julian, revolted from their allegiance, 
and claimed an absolute authority in 
their respective districts ; but these dis- 
turbances were at length quelled without 
much bloodshed ; and a peace was con- 
cluded with the exarch of Ravenna, who 
had vainly attempted to recover Italy 
during the intestine commotions. 

Notwithstanding the conclusion of this 
treaty, Callincius, the treacherous exarch, 
taking advantage of some fresh disturb- 
ances that were raised by the dukes of Ve- 
rona and Bergamo, fell unexpectedly upon 
the city of Parma, in which he found a 
considerable treasure, and took the king's 
daughter and her husband prisoners. — 
Hereupon Agilulf resolved to pursue the 
war against the Romans with unremitting 
vigor, and engaged Chagan, king of the 
Avares, to make a powerful diversion in 
Thrace, while he carried on his military 
preparations in Italy. This design was im- 
mediately followed by the reduction of 
many Roman cities, and a vast effusion of 
blood both in Thrace and Italy ; but 
Chagan was at length compelled to re- 
tire by a pestilence which raged in the 
army ; and Agilulf hearing that the em- 
peror had issued out orders for the resto- 
ration of his daughter, son-in-law, and 
treasures that had been taken at Pavia, 
agreed to grant the Romans a truce for 
six months, which was afterward pro- 
longed to three years. 

The swords of the Lombards had no 
sooner returned to their scabbards, and the 
inhabitants of Italy congratulated them- 
selves on the return of peace, than Cacan- 
us, king of the Hunns, made a sudden ir- 
ruption into the dukedom of Friuli ; made 
himself master of Forum Julii, the me- 
tropolis ; ravaged the country with fire 
and sword ; and carried all the inhabit- 
ants, who escaped death, into captivity. 
About the same time Joannes Lemigius, 
exarch of Ravenna, was murdered by 
the populace of that city on account of 
his tyrannical conduct ; and Joannes 
Composinus, duke of Naples, resolved 
to shake off his allegiance to the empe- 



ror ; but, on the arrival of Eleutherius 
from Constantinople, these disturbances 
were effectually quelled. 

On the demise of Agilulf, which hap- 
pened in 615, the Lombards bestowed 
the regal title on Adaluald ; but, as that 
prince was a minor, he suffered the state 
to be governed by his mother Theude- 
linda, under whom the church began to 
flourish, and the Lombards to taste the 
sweets of uninterrupted peace. In the 
eighth year of his reign, however, Euse- 
bius, who was sent from Constantinople 
to conclude a permanent peace with the 
Lombards, gained the confidence of the 
young king, and wrought so artfully upon 
his passions, by pretending to unravel a 
secret conspiracy, that twelve of the 
Lombard nobles were put to death by the 
royal command ; an outrage which occa- 
sioned the immediate deposition of Ada- 
luald and Theudelinda, the former of 
whom is supposed to have been taken off 
by poison, and the latter soon fell a victim 
to unconquerable grief. 

Ariovald, duke of Turin, who had es- 
poused the daughter of the deposed king, 
was next placed on the throne ; and, ex- 
clusive of some disturbances which hap- 
pened previously to the death of Adaluald, 
his reign was marked by public tranquil- 
lity both at home and abroad. He is said 
to have confined his queen to the castle 
of Amellum on the false accusation of 
one of his nobles, who had vainly endea- 
vored to obtain the gratification of an un- 
lawful passion ; but, after some time, the 
cause being tried by single combat, ac- 
cording to the custom of the northern na- 
tions, the accuser was convicted of false- 
hood, and the virtuous princess was re- 
stored to her former dignity. 

Shortly after this incident, Ariovald 
died ; and, as he left no successor, Ro- 
tharis, duke of Brescia, was elected to 
the sovereignty in 636. This person, 
exclusive of his theological tenets, was, 
in every respect, worthy of that dignity, 
and has been equally commended, by the 
writers of his own age, for his valor, equi- 
ty, and moderation. He undertook, in 
imitation of the Romans, the promulgation 
of written laws ; augmented his domin- 
ions by the reduction of all the cities in 
Venetia, which had been hitherto held 



696 



LOMBARDS. 



by the Romans ; and, after a glorious 
reign of sixteen years, sunk to the tomb 
in full possession of his people's love. 

Rodoald, the son and successor of Ro- 
tharis, appears to have been a prince of 
a pacifie disposition, for none of his trans- 
actions have been recorded in history. 
He is said to have been infected with the 
heresy of Arius, and to have indulged 
himself in illicit amours, for one of which 
he was assassinated. 

Aripert was next proclaimed king of 
the Lombards in a general assembly ; but 
none of his actions have been transmitted 
to posterity, except his rebuilding the 
oratory of St. Saviour in Pavia. He is 
said to have reigned nine years, and to 
have divided the kingdom between his 
two sons, Partharit and Gundebert. 

This division of the regal authority 
soon produced the most fatal consequen- 
ces; for Partharit, having roused his 
brother's indignation respecting the seat 
of royal residence, Gundebert resolved 
to seize on the whole kingdom, and ac- 
cordingly sent Garibald, duke of Turin, 
as his ambassador to Grimoald, duke of 
Benevento, inviting him to his assistance, 
and promising to give him his sister in 
marriage if he succeeded in the undertak- 
ing ; but Garibald, instead of executing 
his commission with fidelity, exhorted 
the duke of Benevento to expel both the 
brothers, and seize on the kingdom for 
himself. Hereupon Grimoald assembled 
a numerous army, and marched towards 
Pavia, where he was persuaded, by the 
treacherous Garibald, to murder Gunde- 
bert in his own palace; to seize on the 
royal treasures ; and to cause himself to 
be proclaimed king of the Lombards. 

Upon the first intelligence of this dis- 
aster, Partharit abandoned his capital, 
and fled to the court of Chagan, king of 
the Avares, while his queen Rodolind, 
and his infant son Cunipert, were left at 
the mercy of Grimoald, by whom they 
were sent prisoners to the city of Bene- 
vento, about 662. 

Notwithstanding the readiness with 
Avhich the LoRibards submitted to their 
invaders, Grimoald could not suppose 
himself secure, while his competitor re- 
sided at the court of Chagan. He, there- 
fore, sent an embassy to that prince, 



complaining of the protection he had af- 
forded Partharit, and threatening imme- 
diate war unless the cause of discontent 
was immediately removed. The king 
of the Avares was extremely reluctant to 
abandon his unhappy guest to the malice 
of an enemy ; but, after some considera- 
tion, motives of policy triumphed over 
humanity, and an order was issued out 
for Partharit to retire to some other coun- 
try. In this distressing exigence, the 
royal exile resolved to throw himself up- 
on the generosity of his rival, and accor- 
dingly despatched one of Ids trusty friends 
to obtain leave for him to reside, as a pri- 
vate citizen, at Pavia. Grimoald readily 
acceded to this proposal, and ordered a 
residence to be prepared altogether suit- 
able for the quality of his petitioner ; but 
the demonstrations of joy which marked 
Partharit's entry, and the avidity with 
which the nobles flocked to visit him, soon 
rekindled the flame of jealousy in Gri- 
moald's bosom, and finally compelled him 
to issue out private orders for the unfor- 
tunate prince's assassination. This act 
of barbarity, however, was prevented by 
the vigilance of one of the Lombards, and 
Partharit was enabled to escape, first to 
Hasta, and aftervvards into Gaul. 

Clotair ni,kingof the Franks, listened 
with compassion to the sorrowful tale of 
Partharit, and readily undertook to re- 
place him on the throne ; but, though this 
project was immediately put in execution, 
the expedition was rendered abortive, 
and Grimoald still triumphed in his new 
possessions. Some time after the defeat 
of the Franks, a more redoubtable enemy 
appeared in the person of Constans, who, 
at the head of a formidable army, landed 
at Tarentum, and thence proceeded to 
Benevento, marking his progress with 
slaughter and desolation ; however, after 
some obstinate conflicts, Constans was 
obliged to retire with considerable loss ; 
and the Lombards improved their recent 
victory by the reduction of several places 
of importance. Grimoald, after these 
successes, devoted his time chiefly to the 
emendation of the laws ; the regulations 
of government ; and the fulfilment of 
other royal duties ; but his reign was at 
length suddenly terminated, after he had 
governed the Lombards for the space of 



LOMBARDS. 



697 



nine years.* He appears to have been 
a prince of extraordinary parts, and the 
general equity of his conduct endeared 
his administration to the subjects of his 
conquest. He had been educated in the 
principles of Arius, but he renounced the 
doctrines of that heresiarch, after his ele- 
vation to the throne of the Lombards ; 
and his example operated so pow^erfuUy, 
that Arianism was gradually abjured by 
the generality of the nation. 

Garibald, thou2:h considerably younger 
than his brother Romuald, w^as appointed 
by the late prince to succeed to the crown ; 
but his dig-nity was of short duration ; for 
Partharit was, almost immediately, re- 
called and reinstated in his lawful pos- 
sessions ; while Garibald retired to his 
brother in Benevento. Partharit, having 
governed in perfect tranquillity for eight 
years, took his son, Cunipert, for his col- 
league in the kingdom, and reigned with 
him ten years more ; at the expiration 
of which time he died, universally la- 
mented by his faithful Lombards. 

Upon the demise of this prince, Ala- 
chis, duke of Trent, threw off his alle- 
giance, and chased Cunipert, the son of 
Partharit, from the throne ; however, he 
did not long enjoy the fruits of his treach- 
ery, for the principal men among the Lom- 
bards undertook to recall their lawful 
sovereign, and an engagement ensued, 
which, after an obstinate resistance, ter- 
minated in the death of Alachis, and the 
total defeat of his partisans. After this 
victory, Cunipert built a magnificent mon- 
astery in honor of St. George, and sway- 
ed the sceptre in undisturbed tranquillity 
till the year 703, when his death occa- 
sioned an universal lamentation among a 
nation who had ever admired his quahfi- 
cations, and reverenced his extraordinary 
piety. 

The government next devolved upon 
Luitbert, son of the deceased monarch, 
A. D. 703 ; but, as he was a minor under 
the tutelage of Asprand, a person of great 
distinction, Ragumbert, duke of Turin, 
resolved to embrace so favorable an op- 
portunity of gratifying his ambition ; and 



* He had been let blood in one of his arms ; 
and as he was, nine days after, bending a bow, 
the vein burst, and all means for closing it prov- 
ing ineffectual, he bled to death. 



accordingly caused himself to be pro- 
claimed king of the Lombards, after hav- 
ing defeated Asprand in a pitched battle ; 
however, his career was soon terminated 
by death, and the crown descended to 
his son Aripert, who caused the lawful 
heir to be stifled in a bath, and exercised 
the most shocking cruelties on the family 
of Asprand, who had himself escaped 
destruction by a precipitate flight. At 
the expiration of nine years, however, 
Asprand returned into Italy, and a bloody 
engagement en.sued, which terminated 
in the usurper's destruction ; for, his for- 
ces being totally routed, he abandoned 
Pavia in the utmost confusion, and was 
drowned in attempting to ford the river 
Tesino. The conqueror was then placed 
on the throne by the unanimous consent 
of the people, but he died about three 
months after his accession. 

Luitprand, the son and successor of 
Asprand, had scarcely assumed the in- 
signia of royalty, A. D. 711, before two 
conspiracies were formed against his life ; 
but these were rendered abortive by the 
courage and foresight of the king, and 
the very men who had engaged to im- 
brue their hands in his blood were after- 
wards converted into sincere friends and 
faithful servants. Having taken suitable 
precautions for his own safety, Luitprand 
strengthened his interest by marrying the 
daughter of the duke of Boioarii, and ap- 
plied himself so zealously to the promul- 
gation of a new code of laws, that he has 
been accounted the chief legislator of the 
Lombards, next to Rotharis. However, 
ambition appears to have been his darling 
passion ; for, while the tranquillity of Italy 
was disturbed by an edict of liCO Isauri- 
cus, relative to the destruction of images 
in the church, Luitprand suddenly led 
his forces against Ravenna ; and, having 
carried it by storm, gave it up to be plun- 
dered by his soldiers. The reduction of 
this important place, together with the 
surrender of several other cities in the 
exarchate, greatly alarmed Gregory 11, 
bishop of Rome, who immediately wrote 
to Ursus, duke of Venice, and used such 
pressing arguments on behalf of the dis- 
tressed exarch, that the Venetians readily 
consented to oppose the Lombards with 
all the forces of their repubhc ; and Ra- 



698 



LOMBARDS, 



venna was soon after recovered, while 
Luitprand was triumphing in the success 
of his projects at Pavia. 

Gregory, having contributed so essen- 
tially toward the recovery of Ravenna, 
persuaded himself that the emperor would 
now, from motives of gratitude, attend to 
his remonstrances, and consent to revoke 
the unpopular edict against the worship 
of images ; but Leo, knowing that the 
pope had been rather influenced by mo- 
tives of interest, than any regard for the 
empire, expressed the utmost resentment 
at the delay of his commands, and, after 
some time, commanded the exarch to 
seize on the pontiff, and send him in 
chains to Constantinople ; but this design 
was frustrated by the interposition of 
Luitprand, who justly supposed that, by 
assisting sometimes one and sometimes 
the other, he might effectually weaken 
both parties. Leo, however, still persist- 
ed in his resolution, and gave the exarch 
such instructions for putting his edict in 
execution, that all Italy was convulsed 
by feuds and rebellions ; the populace of 
Ravenna committed the most daring out- 
rages ; and the exarch himself was event- 
\ially murdered ; while all the cities of 
Pentapolis and of Romagna rcA^olted from 
the imperial authority, and tendered their 
allegiance to the king of the Lombards, 
who took especial care to improve the 
discontent of the people to his own ad- 
A'antage. 

Eutychius, the new exarch, knowing 
it would be impossible to reduce the re- 
bellious Romans, while they were sup- 
ported by the king of the Lombards, em- 
ployed all his arts to bring over that prince 
to the imperial party ; and, at length, per- 
suaded him to attempt, in concert with 
Leo's forces, the reduction of Rome. 
However, Gregory found means to soften 
the royal Lombard so effectually, that he 
publicly implored pardon for entering into 
an alliance against him; divested himself 
of his girdle, mantle, gauntlet, sword, and 
crown, in the church of St. Peter, to ex- 
press his humiliation ; and, finally, effect- 
ed a reconciliation between the pontiff 
and the exarch. 

On the demise of Leo, his son, Con- 
stantino Copronymus, renewed the edict 
against images, and even forbade the in- 



vocation of saints ; by which means Italy 
was again involved in confusion, and the 
Romans were confirmed in their resolu- 
tion of separating entirely from the empire. 

Zachary, who had now succeeded to 
the papal chair, despatched a solemn em- 
bassy to Luitprand, entreating him to re- 
store some cities which Gregory had sur- 
rendered upon his raising the siege of 
Rome. This request was readily granted, 
and Luitprand, on a future occasion, gave 
a more convincing proof of his respect to 
the pontiff, by abandoning a project which 
he had formed for the augmentation of his 
dominions. Shortly after these transac- 
tions, Luitprand died, in the thirty-second 
year of his reign, leaving behind him 
the character of an equitable and nmnifi- 
cent prince, who always treated his sub- 
jects as his own children, and whose only 
faults resulted from an insatiate desire of 
conquest. 

Luitprand was succeeded by his grand- 
son Hildebrand, in 743 ; but the Lombards, 
finding his abilities inadequate to the cares 
of government, deposed him, after an in- 
glorious reign of seven months, and be- 
stowed the sovereignty on Rachis, duke 
of Friuli, who was universally esteemed 
for the suavity of his disposition and the 
sanctity of his manners. This prince 
commenced his reign with confirming 
the treaty that had been recently conclu- 
ded with the Romans, and publishing a 
new code of laws. After some time, he 
began to thirst after an aggrandizement 
of power, and accordingly led a numerous 
army against the Roman dukedom ; but, 
Mdiile he was employed in forming the 
siege of Perugia, Zachary paid him a visit, 
and wrought so effectually upon his pas- 
sions, that he not only abandoned all his 
warlike projects, but, in the course of the 
next year, renounced his kingdom, and, 
assuming the habit of St. Benedict, retired 
to the monastery of Monte Cassino, where 
he ended his days, and where, after his 
decease, he was canonized as a saint. 

Upon the resignation of Rachis, A. D. 
751, the Lombards assembled, and be- 
stowed the crown on his brother, Astul- 
phus,aman equally admired for his cour- 
age in action and his prudence in council. 
He concluded a peace with Stephen II, 
bishop of Rome, in order to divert that 



LOMBARDS. 



699 



pontifl' from opposing the design lie had 
upon the exarchate, which he reduced, 
after an obstinate resistance, and event- 
ually changed into a dukedom. He then 
required the Romans to acknowledge him 
for their sovereign, alleging, in justifica- 
tion of his demand, that the exarchate, 
which he held by right of conquest, gave 
him the same power which the emperor 
had formerly possessed over that part of 
Italy and the Roman dukedom. At the 
same time he advanced, with his victo- 
rious troops, to the vicinage of Rome, 
and proclaimed his intention of plundering 
that august city, unless the inhabitants 
consented to acknowledge him, by pay- 
ing an annual tribute. 

The Pope, alarmed at these proceed- 
ings, endeavored to divert the enemy from 
his purpose by arguments, entreaties, and 
sumptuous presents ; but these were all 
rejected with contempt, and an applica- 
tion to the emperor proved equally un- 
successful. At length, however, Stephen 
repaired in person to the court of France, 
and prevailed on Pepin to espouse his 
cause by making war upon the Lombards. 
Hereupon Pepin entered Italy at the head 
of a numerous army, and invested it so 
closely on every side, that Astulphus was 
overwhelmed with consternation, and will- 
ingly consented to restore the exarcharte, 
together with Pentapolis, and all the 
places he had seized in the Roman duke- 
dom, to the Pope ; and delivered forty 
hostages to Pepin for the performance of 
these articles. But an immediate viola- 
tion of this treaty roused the resentment 
of Stephen, and induced him once more 
to recur to his powerful protector, who 
immediately re-crossed the Alps, and be- 
sieged Astulphus so closely in his metro- 
polis, that he was compelled to surrender 
the exarcharte and the other countries, 
according to his former promise, in order 
to obtain a cessation of hostilities. His 
warlike disposition, however, prompted 
him to make some further efforts for the 
reduction of Ravenna ; but his ambitious 
projects were suddenly terminated by ac- 
cidental death. 

Upon the demise of this prince, Desi- 
derius, duke of Tuscany, assumed the 
regal title, in 756, and contrived to fix 
the Pope in his interest. He also en- 



deavored to strengthen himself by marry- 
ing his two daughters to Charles and 
Carloman, who had succeeded Pepin on. 
the throne of France ; but this alliance 
proved of short continuance ; and a dis- 
pute with Adrian, who had now succeed- 
ed to the pontificate, involved the king in 
a serious embarrassment ; for, whilst his 
troops were busied in ravaging Pentapo- 
lis, and Rome itself was threatened with 
destruction, Charlemagne crossed over 
into Italy, and attacked the Lombards with 
such irresistible fury, that they fled be- 
fore him in the utmost consternation, and 
Desiderus himself thought proper to take 
refuge in Pavia. 

Charlemagne, hearing that the king 
had retired to his metropolis, ordered his 
uncle, Bernard, to besiege that city with 
the utmost vigor, whilst himself, with a 
select body of troops, should invest Ve- 
rona, and pay a visit to Rome, in order to 
celebrate the feast of Easter. Verona 
was reduced, after an obstinate resis- 
tance, and the conqueror was received at 
Rome with every demonstration of honor, 
gratitude, and esteem. A procession of 
judges and magistrates met him at a con- 
siderable distance from their city; a 
choir of beautiful children , bearing branch- 
es of palm and olive in their hands, 
chaunted his great achievements ; the 
Pope received him with a paternal em- 
brace, and the air re-echoed with shouts 
of " Blessed is he that cometh in the 
name of the Lord." 

In 774, after a residence of eight days 
in Rome, during which time he had gra- 
tified his own curiosity, and confirmed 
an ancient donation to the Pope, Charle- 
magne returned to the camp before Pavia, 
and finding it impossible to effect his de- 
j sign by force, turned the siege into a 
! blockade. This measure was crowned 
with success ; for, a dreadful pestilence 
! beginning to rage within the walls, and 
the inhabitants being reduced to the most 
I pitiable extremities, Desiderus was com- 
pelled after a long and intrepid resistance, 
to surrender the city to the royal be- 
j sieger, who sent him and his unfortunate 
; family, prisoners to France, and abolish- 
I ed the kingdom of the Lombards in Italy, 
j after they had possessed that country for 
I the space of two hundred and six years. 



700 



MAURITANIANS, 



MAURITANIANS. 



Mauritania, so called from the Mauri, 
an ancient people frequently mentioned 
by the old historians and geographers, 
was bounded by the Mediterranean on 
the north ; by the Molucha on the east ; 
by Gaetula on the south ; and by the At- 
lantic Ocean on the west. It contained 
several cities of note ; and was famed for 
a luxuriant produce of grapes, apples, 
and other hortulan productions. The 
islands on the Mauritanian coast were 
also so highly esteemed, on account of 
their happy climate, fertile soil, and sa- 
lubrious air, that the ancients honored 
them with the appellation of " Fortune," 
and here fixed their Elysian fields. 

With respect to the origin of the Mau- 
ritanians, it appears that they were de- 
scended from Phut, the son of Ham. 
The Phcenicians, however, planted colo- 
nies among them in very early ages ; and 
it may be inferred, from the testimony 
of several respectable writers, that the 
Arabs had a place among the most an- 
cient inhabitants of their country. 

Their government seems to have been 
monarchical from the earliest ages ; for 
Justin says, that Hanno, a Carthaginian 
nobleman, in order to accomplish some 
ambitious design, had recourse to the 
king of the Mauri ; and the great figure 
which the Mauri made in Africa, before 
the Romans became formidable in that 
country, serves to indicate that most of 
them were united under one sovereign ; 
though mention is occasionally made of 
several reguli, or heads of the Kabyles, 
who were engaged in sanguinary wars 
with each other. 

Their religion cannot now be satisfac- 
torily described, its peculiarities having 
been, for many ages, buried in oblivion. 
It appears, however, that Neptune was 
one of their principal objects of adora- 
tion; that the sun and moon were worship- 
ped after the manner of the other Libyan 
nations ; and that human victims were 
occasionally sacrificed to their gods. 

Their characters appear to have been 
the same with the Numidian, and their 
language seems to have differed from 



that of Numidia in the same manner only 
as a dialect of one tongue does from an- 
other. 

Of their arts and sciences, historians 
have said but little. It is evident, how- 
ever, that they had some knowledge of 
nautical affairs, not only from their inter- 
course with the Phoenicians and Cartha- 
ginians, but also from the testimony of 
Onomacritus, who affirms, that they form- 
ed a settlement near Colchis, whither 
they came by sea. They applied them- 
selves, in the earliest ages, to the study 
of magic, sorcery, and divination ; and Ci- 
cero informs us, that Atlas first introduc- 
ed astrology and the doctrine ofthesphere 
into Mauritania — a circumstance which 
probably gave rise to the fable of Atlas 
bearing the heavens upon his shoulders. 
Neptune, who reigned in this country, is 
also said to have first fitted out a fleet, 
and invented tall ships with sails ; so that 
the Mauritanians must have possessed 
some ideas of astronomy, astrology, geo- 
graphy, and navigation, at a very early 
period. 

All persons of distinction in Mauri- 
tania were richly apparelled ; and took 
great pains in cleansing their teeth, 
combing their beards, and curling their 
hair. The poor class, however, usually 
wore a thick garment, and a coarse rough 
tunic, which resembled that of their 
neighbors the Numidians. They were 
strangers to the art of husbandry, and 
roved about the country like the ancient 
Scythians or Arabes Scenitae. Their 
tents or mapalia were so extremely small, 
that they could scarcely breathe in them ; 
and their principal food consisted of 
corn and herbage, which they ate green, 
without any preparation. They are said 
to have possessed considerable skill in 
the preparation of poison ; and perpetual 
exercise rendered them very skilful in 
hurling the dart. Their soldiers bore a 
remarkable savage appearance, being 
clad in the skins of lions, bears, or leo- 
pards, and carrying targets or bucklers 
made of elephants' hides. Their horses 
wore small but exceedingly swift, and so 



MAURITANIANS. 



701 



perfectly under command, that they would 
follow their riders like dogs. 

The two first princes of Mauritania, 
except Neptune, mentioned by historians, 
were Atlas and Antseus. Several corro- 
borative testimonies, however, seem to 
justify the opinion that these were but 
different names of the same person ; for 
they were both the sons of Neptune, who 
reigned over Mauritania, Numidia, and a 
considerable part of Libya; they both 
ruled with despotic authority over a great 
part of Africa ; both are said to have 
been overcome by Hercules; and both 
are celebrated for their superior know- 
ledge in the celestial sciences. 

Antseus is said to have evinced the 
most undaunted bravery and resolution 
in his war with Hercules, and to have 
achieved some important advantages ; but 
that famous warrior, having intercepted 
a numerous body of Libyan forces, de- 
feated him with great slaughter ; and 
thus made himself master of the king- 
dom and royal treasures ; hence arose 
the fable that Hercules took Atlas' globe 
upon his shoulders, vanquished the 
dragon that guarded the orchards of the 
Hesperides, and took possession of all 
the golden fruit. 

Nothing worthy of notice is related 
of the Mauritanians from the defeat of 
Antasus till the time of Bogud, who, in 
conjunction with Publius Sittius, con- 
tributed very considerably to Caesar's 
success in Africa, and rendered him some 
important services, when the memorable 
victory of Munda annihilated the Roman 
republic. After the death of that illus- 
trious general, he joined Marc Antony 
against Octavius, and endeavored to make 
a diversion in favor of the former in 
Spain : but, whilst he was engaged in 
this expedition, the Tingitanians revolted 
from their allegiance, and bestowed the 
sovereignty upon Bocchus, who was con- 
firmed in his new dignity by the emperor. 
After making some unsuccessful efforts 
for the recovery of this part of his do- 
minions, Bogud was slain by Agrippa, at 



Methona; and Tingitania was soon af- 
terwards, provinciated. 

The younger Juba received the two 
Mauritanias from the munificence of Au- 
gustus, who also gave him the princess 
Cleopatra (daughter of Antony and the 
famous queen of Egypt) in marriage. 
This prince, having received a liberal 
education at Rome, imbibed such a vari- 
ety of knowledge, as afterwards enabled 
him to vie with the most learned natives 
of Greece. He was remarkably well 
acquainted with the Assyrian, Arabic, 
Greek, Punic, African, and Latin histo- 
ries; and wrote some excellent treatises 
on grammar, painting, natural history, 
&c. ; a few fragments of which are still 
extant. His mild and equitable conduct 
in the government of Maurtania is honora- 
bly mentioned by ancient writers, and con- 
ciliated the esteem of his subjects so ef- 
fectually, that they ever retained a grate- 
ful recollection of his administration, 
and erected a statue to his memory. 

He was succeeded by his son Ptolemy, 
in whose reign Tacfarinas, a native of 
Numidia, who had served among the 
Roman auxiliaries just before the third 
consulate of Tiberius, assembled an army 
of barbarians, and committed many de- 
predations in Africa : but, after some 
time, he was defeated by Dolabella, and 
most of his followers put to the sword. 
Ptolemy was, soon afterwards, cut off 
by Caius, either from a principle of ava- 
rice or jealousy, as appears from the 
united testimonies of Dio and Suetonius 

To revenge the death of his beloved 
master, ^demon assembled a body of 
his countrymen, and took up arms ; but, 
a Roman army being sent against them 
by the emperor Claudius, they were com- 
pelled to desist from their daring enter- 
prise ; and, the following year, a treaty was 
concluded between the adverse generals, 
by which Mauritania seems to have been 
delivered up to the Romans ; for it was, 
soon afterwards, divided into two provin- 
ces, the one called Mauritania Tangitana, 
and the other Mauritania Caesariensis. 



702 



OSTROGOTHS. 



OSTROGOTHS. 



As the origin, customs, and manners 
of the Goths, from whom this people dif- 
fered only iu their * name and situation, 
have been already noticed, we shall, in 
order to avoid repetition, commence their 
history with the reign of their famous 
king Hermanaric, and relate the most 
interesting concerns of their nation, from 
that period till their iinal expulsion from 
Italy. 

Hermanaric, king of the Ostrogoths, 
was descended from the illustrious family 
of Amali, and signalized himself in so 
many engagements, that he has been 
compared, by the ancients, to Alexander 
the Great. The Heruli, the Venedi, the 
iEstii, and many other nations, were suc- 
cessively reduced by his extraordinary 
valor ; and Ablavius has asserted, that he 
was obeyed by most of the tribes in Scy- 
thia and Germany. This account, how- 
ever, is probably exaggerated, as Her- 
manaric was so well apprised of his ina- 
bility to withstand the Hunns, who inva- 
ded his country in 376, that he chose 
rather to kill himself than to behold the 
calamities that threatened his subjects. 

Upon the demise of this prince, his 
son Vithimer assumed the regal title ; 
and boldly led his troops against the ene- 
my ; but he was soon defeated and slain. 
His son Vitheric retired, with many of 
his countrymen, into the present Podolia, 
but nothing farther is recorded of his 
transactions. 

About the year 453 the Ostrogoths ob- 
tained permission to settle in Pannonia, 
and received an annual pension, on con- 
dition of their guarding the imperial fron- 
tiers, and serving, when required, in the 
Roman armies. They were scarcely 
established in their new territory before 
the Hunns fell upon them in the neigh- 
borhood of Sirmium ; but Valemir, prince 
of the Ostrogoths, defeated the invaders 

* The Goths, previously to their leaving Scan- 
dinavia, were called Visigoths and Ostrogoths, or 
Western and Eastern Goths, from their situation 
to the west and east ; the former inhabiting that 
part of Scandinavia which borders on Denmark, and 
the latter the more eastern parts near the Baltic. 



with great slaughter, and compelled them 
to take refuge in that part of Scythia 
which bordered on the Danube. 

In the year 455 the Ostrogoths, being 
provoked by Leo, made an irruption into 
lUyricum, and committed many depreda- 
tions ; but they were repulsed with con- 
siderable loss, and a peace was soon after 
concluded between the nations. 

During the short reign of Glycerius, 
the Ostrogoths resolved to make war on 
the empire, and accordingly divided their 
forces into two bodies, one of which was 
to invade Italy under the commaed of 
Videmir, while the other marched under 
Theodomir against the emperor of the 
East. This plan was reduced to execu- 
tion ; but Videmir died shortly after his 
arrival in Italy, and Theodomir was pre- 
vailed on, by a profusion of rich presents, 
to abandon his daring enterprise. 

Theodoric, the son and successor of 
Theodomir, appears to have espoused the 
cause of Zeno against Basiliscus with 
extraordinary zeal ; but the ungrateful 
behavior of that emperor soon obliged 
him to renounce his alliance, and to take 
up arms in his own defence. However, 
on Zeno's yielding him part of Moesia 
and Dacia, giving him the command of 
the troops of the household, and naming 
him consul for the ensuing year, Theo- 
doric put a stop to the depredations of 
his soldiers, and performed some prodi- 
gies of valor against the usurper Leontius, 
who was eventually defeated, and driven 
to the fortress of Papyra, in Cilicia. A 
second disagreement with the emperor 
induced Theodoric to retire from Con- 
stantinople, to renew his ravages in 
Thrace, and even to form the design of 
besieging Constantinople ; but whilst the 
inhabitants of that city were overwhelmed 
with consternation at his approach, he 
marched back to Moesia, and, at the em- 
peror's request, consented to turn his 
arms against Odoacer, who, having put 
Orestes to death, and deprived Augustu- 
lus of the imperial ensigns, had assumed 
I the title of king of Italy. 
[ Next year Theodoric, having assem- 



OSTROGOTHS. 



703 



bled a numerous army, and received some 
auxiliaries from Constantinople, began 
his march towards Italy; and, after de- 
feating some troops of Gepidse and Sar- 
matians who opposed his passage' came 
to an engagement with Odoacer, who 
was soon overpowered, and obliged to 
shut himself up in Ravenna. Theodoric, 
having now no enemy to oppose his pro- 
gress, made himself master of Milan, Pa- 
via, and some other places of importance ; 
but Odoacer, having ventured from his 
retreat with a select body of forces, soon 
changed the aspect of aflairs, and redu- 
ced the Ostrogoth to shut himself up, with 
all his followers, in the city of Pasia. 
However, Theodoric was relieved by a 
re-enforcement from the Visigoths ; Italy 
was gradually subjugated ; and Odoacer 
was driven to such extremities, that, after 
a long siege in Ravenna, he submitted to 
the victor, who, notwithstanding a solemn 
promise to the contrary, caused him to 
be put to death. 

Theodoric, having thus delivered Italy 
from the insupportable yoke of the bar- 
barians, assumed the diadem, amidst the 
acclamations of the people ; while the 
emperor of the East congratulated him 
on his brilliant success, and cheerfully 
acknowledged his sovereignty. 

To the toils of war succeeded the cares 
of domestic government, in which the 
conqueror acquitted himself with such 
equity and moderation, that the generality 
of the Italians were equally fascinated 
with his character and government. The 
same laws, magistrates, and policy, were 
prudently retained. Such of the natives 
as had been most zealous in defence of 
Odoacer were generously pardoned ; the 
Ligurians, who had long groaned beneath 
the oppressive yoke of the Burgundians, 
were ransomed ; liberty of conscience 
was allowed in all matters of religion ; 
and the sweets of peace were happily 
mingled with those of security. 

Theodoric, having visited Rome, and 
contributed largely towards the repairs of 
that august city, resolved to chase the 
Burgundians and Franks out of Gaul, and 
re-unite that country to Italy ; but, as the 
Burgundians were then a very powerful 
nation, and masters of all the passes in 
the Alps, he deemed it expedient to con- 



ceal part of his intention. Accordingly, 
he formed an alliance with Clovis king 
of the Franks, and prevailed on him to 
invade the Burgundians on one side, 
while himself should attack them on the 
other — a project which soon put him in 
possession of Marseilles, with all the 
countries lying between the Alps, the 
Durance, the Lower Rhone, and the 
Mediterranean. Some years after this 
event, Clovis having killed Alaric in bat- 
tle, and defeated his army, the king of 
the Ostrogoths resolved to check his 
progress ; and accordingly compelled 
him to raise the siege of Carcassone, 
which he had recently invested. Next 
year the Franks attempted the reduction 
of Aries, then inhabited by the Visigoths ; 
but Theodoric sent such powerful suc- 
cors to his countrymen, that this project, 
like the preceding one, was rendered 
abortive. 

Some time after these transactions 
Theodoric turned his arms against the 
Alemans ; but nothing satisfactory has 
been recorded of this war, except that 
he obliged them to pay an annual tribute ; 
and subdued the inhabitants of Suevia. 

Hitherto Theodoric had swayed the 
sceptre in Italy with such prudence, 
justice, and moderation, that (independent 
of his religious principles, which were 
strongly tinctured with the vile heresy 
of Arius) he deserved to be proposed as 
an example to all crowned heads ; but 
the lustre of all his virtues suffered a 
sensible diminution, about this time, by 
an act of tyrannic and unwarrantable cru- 
elty. Boetius, a man of extraordinary 
learning and abilities, who had been twice 
honored with the consulate, and was de- 
scended from one of the most illustrious 
families in Rome ; who had devoted 
near eighteen years to the study of phi- 
losophy at Athens ; who had translated 
the works of Aristotle, Pythagoras, Nico- 
machus, Euclid, Archimedes, and Plato, 
into the Latin language, for the service 
of his countrymen ; and who was equal- 
ly venerated by every good man on ac- 
count of his erudition and morality. This 
man, being accused of treasonable prac- 
tices, was unjustly banished to Pavia, 
together with his father-in-law Symma- 
chus, who, like himself, was universally 



704 



OSTROGOTHS. 



famed for his extraordinary abilities and 
unblemished character. The illustrious 
exiles submitted with resignation to their 
hard fate, and Bcetius calmly undertook 
the excellent composition which he enti- 
tled De Consolatione. But whilst he was 
employed in benefiting mankind by his 
labors, fresh accusations were laid against 
him at Ravenna, and the emperor, to the 
utter astonishment of all Italy, was per- 
suaded to pass sentence of death both 
upon him and Symmachus. The exe- 
cutioner, however, had scarcely perform- 
ed his bloody task before Theodoric was 
convinced of his own injustice, and 
abandoned himself to such inordinate 
grief as soon occasioned his death, in 
the seventy-second year of his age, and 
the thirty-fourth of his reign. 

Theodoric had, at the time of his 
death, two grandsons, Amalaric, king of 
the Visigoths, and Athalaric, son of 
Amalasuntha. To the former he deliv- 
ered up all the countries in Gaul and 
Spain belonging to the Visigoths ; and 
declared the latter his successor in Italy, 
and in all his other dominions. 

As Athalaric was, at that time, too young 
to assume the government, his mother, 
Amalasuntha, took charge of the public 
aftairs, and acted with such prudence 
and equity, both towards the inhabitants 
of Italy and their allies, that Theodo- 
ric was scarcely missed by the public. 
Some of the Gothic lords, however, were 
highly incensed at her mode of educa- 
ting the young prince ; and insisted so 
warmly on the dismissal of his Italian 
tutors, that she was obliged to submit to 
their desires ; and Athalaric, being now 
freed from restraint, abandoned himself 
to such debaucheries as put a period to 
his life in the eighth year of his reign. 

Amalasuntha had suffered so severely, 
even during her son's life time, from the 
factions and discontent of the Ostrogoths, 
that she now deemed it indispensably 
necessary to take a colleague in the go- 
vernment, and accordingly made choice 
of her cousin Theodotus, a man of great 
erudition, and descended from the illus- 
trious house of Amali. In this choice, 
however, the queen was peculiarly un- 
fortunate ; for Theodotus, notwithstand- 
ing his birth and accomplishments, was, 



in realitj^ destitute of gratitude, honor, or 
probity, and scrupled not to commit the 
vilest actions when stimulated by his own 
unbridled passions. On his first acces- 
sion to the throne he solemnly engaged, 
upon oath, that his cousin should exer- 
cise her former authority without con- 
trol, and, in his letter to the Roman 
senate, acknowledged himself entirely 
indebted to the queen for his new dig- 
nity. But the mask of dissimulation 
was soon laid aside, and the ill fated 
Amalasuntha was banished to a solitary 
island in the lake Bolsena, and there 
cruelly put to death. 

To revenge the death of this princess, 
who had on every occasion testified her 
friendship to ihe Constantinopolitan go- 
vernment, Justinian resolved to make 
war upon the Ostrogoths; and according- 
ly ordered Mundas, one of his principal 
officers, to march into Dalmatia, and at- 
tempt the reduction of Salonaj, in order 
to open a passage into Italy, while Beli 
sarins, who was invested with the su- 
preme command, should make a descent 
upon Sicily, with four thousand legion- 
aries, and eight thousand auxiliaries. 

In 535, the emperor's orders were im- 
mediately executed, and crowned with 
great success ; for Mundus, after a faint 
resistance, made himself master of Sa- 
lonse ; and Belisarius effected the reduc- 
tion of Sicily with more expedition than 
he could possibly have expected. At 
Palermo, indeed, he was engaged with 
extraordinary fury by the Gothic garri- 
son ; but, after some time, he compelled 
them to surrender, and, by that exploit, 
struck such terror into the neighboring 
provinces, that Abrutium, Lucania, Pug- 
lia, Samnium, and Calabria, made volun- 
tary submissions ; and the city of Naples, 
though obstinately defended, was soon 
given up to the plunder of the victorious 
Romans. 

Theodotus, alarmed at this formidable 
invasion, which he had neither courage 
nor inclination to repress, entered into a 
private conference with the Constantino- 
politan ambassador, and shamefully con- 
sented to resignthe kingdom to Justinian, 
on condition of receiving an annual pen- 
sion suitable to his dignity. The empe- 
ror readily embraced this proposal ; lands 



OSTROGOTHS. 



705 



were assigned to Theodotus out of the 
imperial domain ; and Belisarius was or- 
dered to take possession of Italy. 

This agi'eement, however, was soon 
violated; for Theodotus, hearing that the 
Roman army in Dalmatia had been sud- 
denly attacked and defeated, refused with 
great haughtiness, to fulfil the articles of 
the treaty, and even threatened Justinian's 
ambassador with death for presuming to 
expostulate on the impropriety of his 
conduct. 

Exasperated at this behavior, Justin- 
ian despatched Constantianus to levy new 
forces in lUyricum, and ordered Belisa- 
rius to pursue the war with vigor, and 
use his utmost efforts for re-annexing 
Italy to the empire. Hereupon Constan- 
tianus entered Dalmatia at the head of a 
formidable army, and defeated the Ostro- 
goths with great slaughter ; while Beli- 
sarius, having vanquished all the pro- 
vinces which compose the present king- 
dom of Naples, maixhed his victorious 
troops to the neighborhood of Rome. 

In this situation of aflliirs, the Ostro- 
goths, having vainly attempted to con- 
clude a peace with Belisarius, deposed 
their cowardly king Theodotus ; and in- 
vested with the regal title one Vitiges, 
who, though of mean extraction, had ac- 
quired a considerable degree of celebri- 
ty by his prudence and valor in some pre- 
ceding wars. Theodotus, overwhelmed 
with consternation at this occurrence, 
quitted Rome with the utmost precipita- 
tion, and retired to Ravenna, but he was 
soon overtaken and put to death, after an 
inglorious reign of about three years. 

Theudegisclus shared the fate of his 
pusillanimous father, so that the new 
king was now firmly established on the 
throne without any competitor. 

Vitiges, after exhorting his countrymen, 
by a circular letter, to exert their ancient 
valor in defence of a kingdom which be- 
longed to them by right of conquest ; 
and obliging the principal inhabitants of 
Rome to take an oath of fidelity, remov- 
ed to Revenna, where he assembled the 
Ostrogoths from all quarters, and formed 
an encampment under the city walls. 

Meanwhile Belisarius, having taken 
suitable precautions for the defence of 
his new conouests in Campania, ap- 
89 



proached the city of Rome, which he 
entered without resistance, and reunited 
to the empire sixty years after it had been 
reduced by Odoacer, and thirty-four after 
it had submitted to Theodoric. The 
walls and other fortifications of this au- 
gust city were now carefully repaired ; 
the granaries filled with corn ; and every 
precaution taken against a siege which 
Vitiges, in the urgency of his affairs, 
might probably resolve to form. 

Whilst Belisarius was thus employed 
at Rome, and the greatest part of Sam- 
nium, with many cities of Tuscany, vol- 
untarily received Roman garrisons, Viti- 
ges formed a confederacy with the Franks, 
and marched, at the head of a hundred 
and fifty thousand men, to the vicinage 
of Rome, where a bloody conflict ensued 
between him and Belisarius : but the 
latter eventually chased the Ostrogoths 
to their camp, and entered the city amidst 
univei'sal acclamations. 

Vitiges, being now resolved to invest 
the city without delay, used every effort 
to distress the garrison and inhabitants 
for want of water, and showed himself 
an able commander both in contriving his 
military engines and disposing the at- 
tacks. But his adversary made so vigo- 
rous a defence, and was attended with 
such brilliant success in his occasional 
sallies, that, in the space of seven months, 
the besiegers lost above forty thousand 
men. 

The Romans who had long murmured 
against Belisarius for involving them in 
the calamities of a siege, were so elated 
with the success that attended an exer- 
tion of some auxiliaries from Constanti- 
nople, that they insisted on putting the 
whole to the issue of a general engage- 
ment — in consequence of which their 
forces were defeated with great loss, and 
narrowly escaped utter destruction. At 
length, however, while the citizens trem- 
bled with apprehension at each attack of 
the enemy, and their numbers were sadly 
reduced by the united scourges of pesti- 
lence and famine, a body of auxiliaries, 
consisting of three thousand Isaurians, 
eight hundred Thracians, and thirteen 
hundred horse of other nations, arrived 
at Ostia, and entered Rome, by the Osti- 
an gate, while the forces of Vitiges were 



706 



OSTROGOTHS. 



fully employed against Belisarius in an- 
other quarter. 

The Ostrogoths were no sooner in- 
formed of the arrival of these troops 
than they began to despair of effecting 
their purpose, and, after a truce of three 
months, which was granted by Belisarius, 
they broke up the siege and marched to 
Rimini, which had been taken by the 
Romans. 

Whilst Vitiges was employed before 
this city, and Uraia, his sister's son, was 
despatched to recover Milan, Narses ar- 
rived in Picenum with five thousand Ro- 
mans and two thousand Heruli; and, 
Belisarius having advanced to meet him, 
the two armies joined at Firmum, now 
Fermo, where a council of war was held 
to consider whether it would be most ex- 
pedient to relieve Rimini or to besiege 
Auximum, a strong town then in posses- 
sion of the enemy. Belisarius, was ap- 
prehensive that if they marched to Ri- 
mini, the Ostrogoths would sally out of 
Auximum, and harass the neighboring 
country, which had recently submitted 
to the Romans ; but a pathetic letter from 
Rimini overbalanced this consideration, 
and induced the brave general to succor 
his countrymen. Accordingly, having 
left a sufficient number of troops to over- 
awe the garrison of Auximum, he divided 
his army into three bodies, one of which 
embarked in a great number of vessels, 
another marched along the coast, under 
the conduct of Martinus ; and the third 
followed Narses and Belisarius across the 
mountains. This prudent division of the 
forces was crowned with complete suc- 
cess ; for Vitiges, alarmed at the appear- 
ance of a fleet, and the approach of two dis- 
tinct armies, raised the siege, and retreat- 
ed with such precipitation, that the great' 
est part of his baggage was left behind. 

At this important juncture an unfortu- 
nate misunderstanding arose between the 
Roman generals, and their jealousies 
were carried to such a height, that 
Narses actually refused to serve under 
Belisarius, and a division of the forces 
ensued, which consequently retarded the 
reduction of the country, and gave the 
enemy leisure to provide for their defence. 
The cities of Urbinum, Imola, and Urbi- 
ventum wexe indeed taken by the im- 



perial troops ; but Vitiges, in the mean 
time, made himself master of Milan, 
massacred the inhabitants, and ravaged 
the whole province of Liguria. 

Narses being now recalled to Constan- 
tinople, and Vitiges employed in negoti- 
ation with Chosroes, it was deemed ad- 
visable to pursue the war with all possi- 
ble vigor. Accordingly Belisarius march- 
ed with eleven thousand men to Auxi- 
mum, and at the same time sent a strong 
detachment, under one of his lieutenants, 
to attempt the reduction of Feesulse. 

Meanwhile the Franks, supposing 
that both nations were materially weak- 
ened by hostilities, resolved to attack 
them without delay, and seize on the 
country, for which so many struggles had 
been made. Accordingly Theodebert, 
regardless of the solemn oaths he had 
taken both to the Romans and Ostrogoths, 
passed the Alps, at the head of a hun- 
dred and fifty thousand men, and pene- 
trated into Liguria. As they had care- 
fully abstained from pillaging the country 
on their march, the Ostrogoths were elated 
at their arrival, and suffered them to en- 
ter their camp, near the Po, without op- 
position ; but they were soon undeceived, 
for the treacherous invaders, falling upon 
them by surprise, chased them into the 
open country with great slaughter, and 
seized on all their baggage. A body of 
Romans, who lay at a small distance, 
perceiving the sudden flight of the Ostro- 
goths, concluded that they had been de- 
feated by Belisarius, and, in that opinion, 
hastened to the assistance of the victor ; 
but the Franks turning suddenly upon 
them, they were utterly overthrown, and 
compelled to retreat into Tuscany, whence 
they sent an account of their disaster to 
Belisarius. 

The Franks, being now in possession 
of both camps, found a considerable 
quantity of provisions ; but these being 
soon consumed by their numerous army, 
and the circumjacent country entirely 
exhausted, they were compelled to resign 
all thoughts of advancing farther in quest 
of new conquests ; and, an expostulatory 
letter from Belisarius having demonstra- 
ted the absurdity of the enterprise, Theo- 
debert gave orders to march, and return- 
ed home with an immense booty. 



OSTROGOTHS. 



707 



Some time after the retreat of this re- 
doubtable enemy the garrison in Faesulae 
surrendered to Cyprian ; and the citizens 
of Auximum, after performing the most 
astonishing prodigies of valor, followed 
their example. 

Belisarius, after remunerating the toils 
and suffering of his army with half the 
spoils of Auximum, marched thence to 
Ravenna, which he invested both by sea 
and land, in order to prevent the impor- 
tation of provisions. The place was 
well fortified, and defended by a very nu- 
merous garrison, who fought immediately 
under the eye of their sovereign ; but 
Belisarius commenced the attack, and 
carried on his military operations with 
such vigor and success, that the inhabi- 
tants were overwhelmed with consterna- 
tion, and Vitiges despatched ambassadors 
to conclude a peace with the emperor 
upon the best terms they could obtain. 
Justinian readily consented to withdraw 
his troops upon condition that the whole 
of Italy, except that beyond the Po, 
should be re-annexed to the empire, and 
that the royal treasures of the Ostrogoths 
should be equally divided between him 
and themselves. These conditions were 
accepted with every demonstration of joy 
by Vitiges and his nobles, who were now 
reduced to a most pitiable condition ; but 
Belisarius, provoked that he should be 
thus deprived of the glory of terminating 
the war, and leading Vitiges, as a cap- 
tive, to Constantinople, positively refused 
to sign the treaty, and renewed the siege 
with unabated vigor and intrepidity. 

The leading men among the Ostro- 
goths concluding, from his behavior, 
that Belisarius intended to revolt from 
the emperor, and being equally weary of 
Vitiges and fearful of Justinian, agreed 
privately to declare the Roman general 
emperor of the west, and accordingly des- 
patched a messenger to tender their alle- 
giance. Belisarius abhorred the very 
name of a traitor ; but in order to facili- 
tate the grand object of his wishes, he 
pretended to accept of this offer, and, 
after acquainting his chief officers with 
all that had passed, he was admitted into 
the city as king of Italy. He behaved 
with great moderation toward the inhabi- 
tants, not permitting his troops to offer 



them the least violence ; but he seized on 
the royal treasures, and secured the per- 
son of Vitiges, according to his first re- 
solution. It is proper to remark, that the 
Roman army appeared so inconsiderable 
upon this occasion, that the Gothic women 
could not forbear spitting in their hus- 
band's faces, and branding them with the 
disgraceful epithet of cowards. 

Upon the departure of Belisarius,* who 
was recalled by Justinian to assume the 
management of the war against Chosroes, 
the Ostrogoths who resided beyond the 
Po, resolved, in a great assembly, to in- 
vest one of their own nation with the 
regal title. They accordingly chose 
Ildebald, at that time governor of Verona, 
a man of great experience in military af- 
fairs, and nephew to Theudis, king of the 
Visigoths. This prince immediately un- 
dertook the re-establishment of the Goth- 
ic affairs in Italy, and acted with such ex- 
traordinary prudence, that his army was 
soon augmented, and he was enabled to 
take the field against Vitalis, governor of 
Venetia, whom he defeated with great 
slaughter. After this battle, Ildebald 
subdued the whole province of Venetia ; 
but, on his causing Uraia (to whom he 
was beholden for his crown) to be put to 
death, he incurred the hatred of all his 
subjects, and was soon taken off by as- 
sassination. 

Eraric, a Rugian, was next elevated to 
the throne ; but the Ostrogoths were so 
universally dissatisfied with his govern- 
ment, that he was soon deposed and 
murdered ; and Totila, nephew to Ilde- 
bald, was chosen in his room. 

Upon the accession of this prince, the 
Roman officers who commanded in Italy, 
resolved to make an attempt upon Verona, 
the chief city of the Ostrogoths, and, 
upon the reduction of that place, march 
with their whole army against Totila, 
who was at the head of a small body in 
Picenum. This design, however, was 



* On Belisarius' return to Constantinople, with 
the king and royal treasures of the Ostrogoths, 
Justinia^n treated him with great respect, and con- 
ferred on him the dignity of patrician ; but, as 
he neither granted him a triumph, nor suffered 
the treasures he had taken to be exposed to pub- 
lic view, it seems highly probable that the empe- 
ror had entertained some jealousy respecting the 
late transactions in Italy. 



708 



OSTROGOTHS. 



totally frustrated ; for the Romans, after 
being gallantly repulsed at Verona, Avere 
defeated both by sea and land ; several 
important fortresses in Tuscany and the 
adjacent provinces were successively re- 
duced ; even the city of Naples vi^as 
taken and dismantled ; and the victorious 
Ostrogoths advanced, by rapid marches, 
to the neighborhood of Rome itself, which 
was now cut off from any communica- 
tion with the neighboring country. 

The emperor, alarmed at the news of 
these proceedings, recalled Belisarius 
from Persia, and commanded him to 
march without delay to the assistance of 
the army in Italy. Belisarius according- 
ly departed for the west, and, having 
raised above four thousand men at his 
own expense, hastened to Ravenna, 
whence he sent several detachments 
against the cities of Emilia. This at- 
tempt proving unsuccessful, the Romans 
threw themselves into Auximum, then 
besieged by the Goths ; but, finding the 
provisisons inadequate to the support of 
so numerous a garrison, they marched to 
Pisaurus, now Pesaro, which stood at a 
small distance, and was still possessed 
by their countrymen. 

Belisarius, being chiefly concerned 
for the safety of Rome, entrusted the 
government of the city to Bessas, and 
appointed Barbation and Artasiris, per- 
sons of approved valor and experience, 
to command under him, strictly enjoining 
them to hazard no sallies in case the 
town should be besieged. He then 
wrote to Constantinople, representing his 
inability either to check the progress of 
the Ostrogoths or to relieve the besieged 
cities ; and earnestly pressing for a re-en- 
forcement. 

Meanwhile Totila, having reduced the 
cities of Firmum, Asculum, Auximum, 
and Spoletum, marched his victorious 
troops to Rome, which he invested on all 
sides, after defeating a body of Romans 
whom Barbation and Artasiris had im- 
prudently persuaded to make a sally. 
The Ostrogoths had not long carried on 
their operations when a re-enforcement 
arrived from Constantinople, and Belisa- 
rius hastened to the relief of Rome ; but, 
he being disappointed of a farther supply, 
and the besieged having struggled for a 



long time with every calamity attendant 
upon famine, Totila was privately admit- 
ted into the city by some mutinous Isau- 
rians. Upon the first alarm, Bessas and 
most of the other commanders took to 
flight, and those who remained, took 
sanctuary in the churches. The Gothic 
soldiers were then permitted to remune- 
rate themselves with plunder, but the citi- 
zens, excepting sixty who were killed 
at the entrance of Totila, were all spared. 
The Ostrogoths were extremely desirous 
of putting Rusticiana, the widow of Boe- 
tius, to death, because she had excited 
the Romans to throw down the statues of 
Theodoric, but Totila generously took 
both her and all the Roman matrons un- 
der his own protection, thereby to secure 
them from the insolence of the soldiery. 

Totila, having thus recovered the cap- 
ital of Italy, in the year of the Christian 
era 547, sent an embassy to Justinian, 
offering to respect him as a father, and 
to assist him upon any future occasion 
provided he chose to accept of his alli- 
ance ; but threatening, at the same time, 
to revenge the rejection of this proposal, 
with all imaginable severity on the city 
and senate of Rome. Justinian replied, 
that Belisarius was fully empowered to 
manage all affairs of that nature at dis- 
cretion — an answer which incensed To- 
tila so highly, that he determined to put 
his threats in execution, and actually be- 
gan to demolish the walls of Rome, but 
on the receipt of an expostulatory letter 
from Belisarius he laid aside his designs, 
and marched his army into Lucania, 
whither he sent the Roman senate, and 
all the other inhabitants, under a strong 
guard, not leaving an individual in the 
city, which he had spared on account of 
its magnificence and antiquity. 

Totila had no sooner marched towards 
Ravenna than the Roman troops made 
themselves masters of Tarentum and 
Spoletum ; and Belisarius, having under- 
taken to repair the fortifications of Rome, 
enjoyed the exquisite pleasure of rein- 
stating the ancient inhabitants, who had 
been dispersed in various parts of Italy, 
in their houses and possessions. 

Upon the first intelligence of this pro- 
ceeding Totila returned to Rome, sup- 
posing that Belisarius would immediately 



OSTROGOTHS. 



709 



retire to a place of superior strength ; but 
finding himself deceived in this expecta- 
tion, he formed an encampment at a small 
distance, and commenced an attack with 
incredible fury. However, after suffering 
three successive defeats from the resist- 
less bravery of Belisarius and his troops, 
he abandoned the enterprise, and retired 
to the city of Tibur, whence he led his 
army to form the siege of Perugia. 

Upon his departure from Tibur, John, 
who had hitherto kept possession of 
Otranto, marched into Campania, and, af- 
ter defeating a numerous body of Ostro- 
goths, set at liberty the Roman senators 
and their families. To revenge this ac- 
tion, Totila quitted Perugia, and marched ! 
by a bye-road into Apulia, where John ! 
then was; but, falling upon him unadvi- I 
sedly in the night, the Romans escaped i 
with the loss of no more than one hundred 
men, and retreated safely to Taretito. 

About this time Antonia, the wife of 
Belisarius, prevailed on the emperor to 
recall her husband and employ him once 
more against the Persians, who had now 
gained some important advantages in the 
East. Belisarius, accordingly, quitted 
Italy with much less reputation than he 
had gained in his former expedition. 
And Totila, having made himself master 
of Rusciana, returned before Perugia, 
which, after an obstinate struggle, was 
added to his other conquests. Meanwhile 
the Franks, notwithstanding their solemn 
promise to remain neuter, and the many 
favors they had occasionally received 
both from the Ostrogoths and Romans, 
made an irruption into ihe province of 
Venetia, and seized it for themselves. 

Totila, having received a powerful re- 
enforcement from the Lombards, deter- 
mined to march to Rome, and attempt 
once more the reduction of that famous 
city. Accordingly he invested it on all 
sides, and by reducing Pontus, cut off all 
communication both by sea and land; but 
Diogenes, an officer of great bravery and 
experience, who had been entrusted with 
the command of the garrison, prudently 
provided against this evil, by ordering 
corn to be sown within the walls ; so 
that he might, in all probability, have 
held out till the arrival of succors from 
Constantinople, had not the place been, 



I a second time, betrayed by the Isaurians. 
j A body of that nation, who had long been 
discontented on account of some arrears, 
entered into a private conference with 
the beseigers, and at a certain hour open- 
ed one of the gates, while the garrison, 
j on a false alarm, hastened to the defence 
of another. 

When the inhabitants perceived that 
the enemy was within their walls, they 
issued, with the utmost precipitation, 
out of the opposite gate towards Cen- 
tumcellae, the only strong place held by 
the Romans in that neighborhood ; but 
great numbers of them, and of the sol- 
diers who took the same route, were cut 
off in their retreat by an ambuscade of 
the enemy. Diogenes, escaped with a 
slight wound ; but Paul, a Cilician, whom 
Belisarius had nominated to command 
under him, retreated, with a body of ca- 
valry, to Adrian's tomb, and possessed 
himself of the bridge leading to St. 
Peter's church. Here they defended them- 
selves with incredible bravery against 
the enemy's whole army, till all their 
provisions were exhausted ; and then re- 
solved either to cut their way through the 
Ostrogoths or perish in the attempt. But, 
on Totila's generously offering them per- 
mission either to serve in his army or to 
return to Constantinople, they threw down 
their arms, and voluntarily enlisted be- 
neath the banners of the conqueror. 

Totila, having restored the senate to 
their rank and estates, repaired and em- 
bellished the city, and amused the public 
mind by an exhibition of Circensian 
games, despatched ambassadors to Con- 
stantinople with proposals for peace ; of- 
fering, upon the emperor's acknowledg- 
ing him sovereign of Italy, to assist him 
as a faithful ally against any other nation. 
Justinian, however, refused to grant the 
envoys an audience ; and Totila was, 
consequently, obliged to pursue the war 
with redoubled vigor. 

Whilst the warlike Ostrogoth was ex- 
tending his conquests with surprising ra- 
pidity, and those who presumed to op- 
pose his progress were punished in the 
most exemplary manner, Justinian ap- 
pointed his nephew, Germanus, general , 
over the army in Italy, and raised a nu- 
merous body of troops for the express 



710 



OSTROGOTHS, 



purpose of effecting the expulsion of 
Totila ; but the progress of Germanus 
was suddently arrested by death ; and 
the advanced state of the season retard- 
ed the operations of his successors. 

Early in the ensuing spring, John and 
Justin, who were now entrusted with the 
command of the Roman troops, set out 
on their march to Ravenna ; but the 
Sclavi, having made an irruption into the 
Roman provinces, obliged them to weaken 
their army by sending out several de- 
tachments. However, they were soon 
informed that Narses would march with 
all possible expedition to their assistance 
at the head of a numerous body of forces. 

While John and Justin were waiting 
the arrival of Narses in Dalmatia, Totila 
blocked up the city of Ancona by sea and 
land, and soon reduced it to extremity ; 
but John, having put the flower of his 
army on board forty vessels, and being 
joined by Valerian, with a squadron of 
twelve ships, hastened to the relief of 
the place, and defeated the besiegers 
with great slaughter. At the same time 
Artabanes landed in Sicily, and recover- 
ed all the fortresses which had been re- 
cently garrisoned by the Ostrogoths in 
that island. 

Discouraged by these losses, Totila 
again applied to the emperor, offering to 
renounce his pretensions to Sicily and 
Dalmatia, to pay an annual tribute for 
Italy, and to assist the Romans upon 
every emergency. But Justinian remain- 
ed inflexible, and Totila renewed his 
warlike preparations with greater ardor 
than ever. The islands of Corsica and 
Sardinia were soon reduced, and the 
neighboring cities began to dread a simi- 
lar fate ; but the approach of Narses, with 
absolute authority, and a formidable army, 
soon altered the aspect of aflfairs, and 
revived the drooping courage of the Ro- 
mans. 

Narses having devoted nine days to 
repose and refreshment in the city of Ra- 
venna, marched toward Rome, and on his 
arrival at the village of Tagiria, despatch- 
ed a messenger to Totila, desiring him 
either to relinquish his pretensions to Ita- 
ly, or to appoint a day for a general en- 
gagement. Totila replied, without hesi- 
tation, that his nretensions must be de- 



cided by the sword, and that, eight days 
after, he would engage the Roman forces. 
Narses suspecting that some secret design 
was to be executed within that space of 
time, made the necessary preparations 
for an immediate battle, and by that 
means eluded an overthrow, for Totila 
advanced the very next day in battle ar- 
ray against him. Both armies fought 
for some time with incredible fury and 
resolution ; but the Gothic cavalry being 
after an obstinate resistance, thrown into 
confusion, and recoiling upon the foot, 
the enemy was put to flight with the loss 
of 6,000 men. Totila, perceiving it im- 
possible to retrieve this misfortune, re- 
treated precipitately with a few horse- 
men ; but he was overtaken and slain by 
a commander of the Gepidae named As- 
bades. This prince has been highly com- 
mended, by all the writers of his age, for 
his valor, temperance, and equity ; and 
even his enemies have been compelled 
to speak with veneration of his humane 
behavior to the vanquished. Whenever 
he reduced a city, he took especial care 
that no insult should be offered to the 
softer sex, and is said to have punished 
one of his most valiant soldiers with 
death for abusing the daughter of a Ro- 
man in Calabria. 

Such of the Ostrogoths as escaped the 
avenging sword of Narses crossed the 
Po, and, assembling at Ticinum, now 
Pavia, conferred the regal title on Teia, 
a man of approved prudence and bravery. 
This prince immediately exerted himself 
to recall his dismayed countrymen, who 
had taken refuge in the several forts be- 
yond the Po ; and to secure the royal 
treasures which his predecessor had left 
in Pavia. He also attempted to draw 
over the Franks to his assistance by 
some liberal promises ; but this design 
was rendered abortive, and he had the 
mortification to hear of the reduction of 
Narnia, Spoletum, Perugia, and even 
Rome itself, by the Romans. 

Incensed at the enemy, and despairing 
of maintaining their own footing in Italy, 
the Ostrogoths now resolved to take ven- 
geance on the Romans wherever they 
could find them. Accordingly, the sena- 
tors who had been confined by Totila, to 
Campania were all inhumanly murdered ; 



VANDALS. 



711 



and three hundred children of the Ro- 
man citizens, who had been sent as 
hostages beyond the Po, were also 
doomed to death ; and fifty Roman sol- 
diers were literally cut to pieces in Cala- 
bria. 

These barbarities did not, however, 
go unpunished ; for, after some time had 
been spent in marches and military evo- 
lutions, the hostile armies came to a gen- 
eral engagement, which, after a most in- 
trepid resistance, terminated in the death 
of Tela, and the defeat of his troops, who 
consented to lay down their arms on con- 
dition of being permitted either to retire 
peaceably with all their eft'ects, or to re- 



tain their Italian possessions as subjects 
of the empire. 

Thus ended the dominion of the Os- 
trogoths in Italy, in the twenty-sixth 
year of Justinian's reign, and of the 
Chiistian era, 553, after they had reign- 
ed sixty-four years in that country, from 
Theodoric to Teia. 

It is proper to remark that some com- 
motions were afterward raised in Italy by 
the Ostrogoths, and the Franks, who un- 
der pretence of assisting their neighbors, 
designed to seize on the country for 
themselves ; but these were speedily 
crushed by the valor of Narses, and Italy 
was again re-united to the eastern empire. 



VANDALS. 



The Vandals, according to the most 
credible historians, were originally a 
Gothic nation, who came out of Scandi- 
navia, with the other Goths, under the 
command of king Eric, and settled in 
the countries now distinguished by the 
names of Mecklenburg, and Branden- 
burg. Several ages after this migration 
another colony settled in Pomerania, un- 
der the conduct of a chieftain called 
Berig ; and, in process of time, they ex- 
tended themselves into Dalmatia, Illyri- 
cum, and Dacia. 

The government of the Vandals was, 
in all probability, monarchical, long be- 
fore their nation was known to the Ro- 
mans ; but Godegesilus, who led them 
into Gaul, about the year 406, is the first 
of their kings noticed in ancient history. 
This prince, having sustained a bloody 
conflict with the Franks, and marched at 
the head of a numerous army into Gaul, 
committed many depredations on that 
country ; and, with the assistance of 
some other barbarous nations, overran 
all the neighboring provinces. However, 
his progress was suddenly arrested by 
the emperor Constantine, Avho defeated 
him in several pitched battles, and com- 
pelled him to sue for peace. 

To remunerate themselves for the 
losses they had sustained in the Gaulish 
expedition, the Vandals crossed the Py- 



renese, and entered Spain, where they 
soon reduced several important cities and 
fortresses ; defeated the Roman troops 
who had been sent to quell the rebellion 
of Geronicus ; and eventually divided 
all the Spanish provinces between them- 
selves and their auxiliaries. 

About the year 422, Honorius resolved 
to attempt the recovery of Spain from 
these Barbarians, Avho had recently sus- 
tained some lieaA'y losses from Vallia, 
king of the Goths ; but, Castinus having 
imprudently risked a general engagement, 
twenty thousand of the Roman troops 
were cut to pieces, and the survivors 
compelled to take refuge in the city of 
Tarraco. The Vandals having by this 
victory firmly established themselves in 
Andalusia, committed many depredations 
in the adjacent provinces, extended their 
conquests even to the Balearic islands, 
and returned into Spain with an immense 
booty, and an incredible number of cap- 
tives. 

Shortly after this expedition the Sue- 
vians and Vandals quarrelling, Gonderic, 
king of the Vandals, gained some signal 
advantages over the king of the Suevi- 
ans, Avhom he compelled to retire to the 
mountains of Biscay, and there blocked 
him up, together with all his forces ; but 
Gonderic, being suddenly attacked by 
Asterius and Mourocelus, was soon 



712 



VANDALS. 



obliged to return to Andalusia, where he 
sickened and died. 

Genseric, brother of the deceased 
prince, renounced the Catholic faith 
shortly after his accession, and embraced 
the heretical tenets of Arius. He was 
however, remarkably courageous, and 
well skilled in the art of war. He gain- 
ed some signal victories over the Suevi- 
ans and Romans, and struck such terror 
into the latter by the reduction of Car- 
thage and a considerable part of Sicily, 
that Valentinian was obliged to conclude 
a peace on the dishonorable condition of 
surrendering all the countries which the 
Barbarians had seized in Africa. 

Some years after this event, Endoxia, 
the relict of Valentinian HI, despatched 
a messenger to Genseric, entreating him 
to revenge the death of his late ally, and 
rescue her from a tyrant who had forced 
her to his detested couch, after imbruing 
his hands in the blood of her husband. 
Genseric readily embraced the opportu- 
nity of invading so wealthy a country as 
Italy, and accordingly steered his course 
immediately to Rome, which he took, and 
plundered. 

In the beginning of the reign of Ma- 
jorianus, the Vandals made a descent on 
the coast of Campania; but the Romans 
attacked them with such extraordinary 
fury, while they were ravaging the coun- 
try, that great numbers of them were cut 
to pieces, and the rest compelled to take 
refuge on board their fleet. Majorianus, 
anxious to improve this advantage, imme- 
diately assembled a fleet of three hun- 
dred vessels ; engaged a great number of 
barbarians to serve in his army, and flat- 
tered himself with driving the Vandals 
entirely out of Africa ; but, after four 
years had been spent in preparations, and 
a prodigious sum lavished on this expe- 
dition, a squadron of Genseric's best 
ships surprised the Roman vessels as they 
lay at anchor in the bay of Alicant, and 
made such havoc among them, that all the 
emperor's measures -were disconcerted, 
and Genseric obtained an honorable 
peace. 

On the demise of Majorianus, the 
Vandals renewed their depredations on 
the coasts of Italy and Sicily, and ex- 
tended their ravages to Peloponnesus 



and the Greek islands. Hereupon Leo, 
emperor of the East, made such great 
preparations for chastising the invaders, 
by carrying the war into Africa, that Con- 
stantine Manasses observes, " nothing 
seemed capable of resisting so powerful 
an armament ; and Genseric himself is 
said to have entertained some thoughts 
of eluding the impending danger by evac- 
uating Africa ; but Basiliscus, who had 
been entrusted with the command of all 
the Roman troops, imprudently consented 
to a truce at the very moment in which 
he might have made himself master of 
Carthage, and effected the entire subju- 
gation of the country. Hereupon the 
Vandals treacherously set fire to some 
empty vessels, which being driven for- 
ward, threw the enemy's fleet into the 
utmost confusion, and enabled Genseric 
to obtain a decisive victory. Basiliscus 
returned, with the few ships that escaped 
first to Sicily, and afterwards to Constan- 
tinople, where he took refuge in the 
church of St. Sophia ; but, though his 
ill success was universally attributed to 
treachery, his life was spared, and he 
was permitted to retire to Heraclea, in 
Thrace. Such was the unhappy issue 
of an expedition which drained both the 
eastern and western empires of their 
wealth, and was attended with the loss 
of fifty thousand valiant men. 

Elated by his recent success, and 
thirsting after fresh acquisitions, Genseric 
put to sea, without loss of time, and re- 
duced Sardinia, Sicily, and all the islands 
between Italy and Africa, while the Ro- 
mans gazed in silent agony on his pro- 
ceedings, and actually trembled at his 
name. However, in the year of the 
Christian era, 475, Genseric concluded 
a peace with the emperor Zeno, on con- 
dition of his renouncing all claim to the 
provinces of Africa. Next year the 
royal Vandal ceded the island of Sicily 
to Odoacer, and died shortly after the 
conclusion of peace with that barbarian. 

Nothing farther occurs in history con- 
cerning this nation till the time of Justi- 
nian ; who, espousing the cause of Hil- 
deric against the usurper Gilimer, gained 
a complete victory over the Vandals, and 
re-united the provinces of Africa to the 
empire. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



4004 The Creation of the World, according to 

the Hebrew text of the Scriptures 
According to the version of the Septuagint, 

5872 
According to the Samaritan version, 4700 
2348 The universal Deluge 
2247 The building of Babel. -The dispersion of 

mankind, and the confusion of languages 
2227 Ninus king of Assyria began to reign 
2217 Nimrod supposed to have built Babylon 
2188 Menes (in Scripture Misraim) founds the 

monarchy of Egypt 
2084 The shepherd kings conquer Egypt 
2075 Semiramis queen of Assyria 
1996 The birth of Abram 
1897 Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed 
1895 Isaac born 
1836 Jacob and Esau born 
1825 The shepherd kings abandon Egypt 
1823 Death of Abraham 
1796 The deluge of Oxyges in Attica 
1722 Sesostris or Rameses king of Egypt 
1635 Joseph dies in Egypt 
1582 The chronology of the Arundelian Marbles 

begins with this year 
1571 Moses born in Egypt 
1556 Cecrops founds the kingdom of Athens 
1546 Scamander founds the kingdom of Troy 
1520 Corinth built 

1519 Cadmus builds Thebes, and introduces let- 
ters into Greece 
1513 The supposed era of the history of Job 
1491 Moses brings the Israelites out of Egypt 
1453 The first Olympic Games celebrated in 

Greece 
1452 The Pentateuch, or five books of Moses, 

written 
1451 The Israelites led into the land of Canaan 

by Joshua 
1415 The book of Joshua supposed to be written 

by Phinehas the high priest 
1406 Minos reigns in Crete 
1263 The Argonautic Expedition.— (According 

to the Newtonian chronology 937.) 
1257 Theseus unites the cities of Attica 
1255 The Israelites delivered by Deborah and 

Barak 
1252 Tyre, the capital of Phoenicia, built by the 

Sidonians 
1239 Latinus begins to reign in Italy 
1207 Gideon Judge of Israel for forty years 
1193 The Trojan war begins 
90 



1184 Troy taken and burnt by the Greeks.— 
(According to the Arundelian Marbles 
1209.) 
1182 ^neas lands in Italy 
1155 Samson born 
1099 Samuel delivers Israel 
1079 Saul king of Israel 
1070 Medon first Archon of Athens 
1069 Codrus king of Athens devotes himself for 

his country 
1055 David king of Israel 
1004 Dedication of Solomon's Temple 
980 Rehoboam king of Israel 
971 Sesac or Sesostris king of Egypt 
923 Ahab and Jezebel reign over Israel 
886 Homer's poems brought from Asia into 

Greece 
884 Lycurgus reforms the republic of Lacedae- 

mon 
869 The city of Carthage built by Dido 
825 Jeroboam restores the glory of Israel in a 

reign of forty-one years 
820 Nineveh taken by Arbaces and Belesis, 

which finishes that kingdom 
806 Jonah preaches repentance to Nineveh 
776 The First Olympiad begins in this year 
769 Syracuse built by Archius of Corinth 
767 Sardanapalus king of Assyria 
752 The foundation of Rome by Romulus 
748 Rape of the Sabines 
747 Xth Olympiad 
724 Hezekiah tenth king of Judah 
721 Salmanazar takes Samaria, and carries the 
ten tribes into captivity, which puts an 
end to the Israelitish kingdom 
715 Numa Pompilius, second king of Rome 
711 Sennacherib, king of Assyria, invades Ju- 

dea 
708 Habakkuk prophesied 
700 XXth Olympiad 
696 Manasseh sixteenth king of Judah 
688 Judith kills Holofernes the Assyrian gene- 
ral 
684 Annual Archons elected at Athens 
681 Esarhaddon unites the kingdoms of Baby- 
lon and Assyria 
667 The combat between the Horatii and Cu- 

ratii 
660 XXXth Olympiad 
658 Byzantium founded 
627 The forty years of Ezekiel began 
624 Draco, Archon and Legislator of Athens 



714 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



620 XLth Olympiad 

606 Nebuchadnezzar takes Jerusalem 

601 Battle between the Medes and Lydians, 

who are separated by a great eclipse of 

the sun, predicted by Thales. (Newton 

Chron. 585.) 
End of the Assyrian empire. Nineveh 

taken by Nebuchadnezzar 
600 Jeremiah prophesied 
599 Birth of Cyrus the Great 
694 Solon, Archon and Legislator of Atnens 
580 Lth Olympiad 
572 Nebuchadnezzar subdues Egypt 
562 Comedies first exhibited at Athens by 

Thespis 
Croesus reigns in Lydia 
551 Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, born 
548 The ancient temple of Delphos burnt 
540 LXth Olympiad 
538 Babylon taken by Cyrus. End of the 

Babylonian empire. 
536 Cyrus ascends the throne of Persia. He puts 

an end to the Jewish captivity, which had 

lasted seventy years 
Daniel prophesied 
529 Death of Cyrus the Great. Cambysses 

king of Persia 
522 Darius, son of Hystaspes, king of Persia 
520 The Jews begin to build the second temple, 

which is finished in four years 
510 Democracy restored in Athens 
509 The Tarquins expelled from Rome, and the 

regal government abolished 
508 The first alliance between the Romans and 

Carthaginians 
500 LXXth Olympiad 
498 The first Dictator created at Rome, (Lar- 

tius,) 
490 The battle of Marathon 

The first tribunes of the people created at 

Rome 
486 Miltiades dies in prison 

Xerxes succeeds his father Darius in the 

kingdom of Persia 
485 Coriolanus banished from Rome 
483 Quffistors instituted at Rome 

Aristides banished from Athens 
480 The Spartans, under Leonidas, cut to 

pieces at Thermopylae 
Xerxes leaves Greece 
476 Themistocles rebuilds Athens 

The Roman citizens numbered at 103,000 
A great eruption oi JEtna, 
Hiero king of Syracuse 
471 Volero, the Roman tribune, obtains a law 

for the election of Magistrates in the co- 

mitia held by tribes 
470 Cimon, son of Miltiades, defeats the Persians 
464 Artaxerxes (Longimanus) king of Persia 
463 Egypt revolts from the Persians 
460 LXXXth Olympiad 
456 Cincinnatus Dictator at Rome 
455 Commencement of the seventy prophetical 

weeks of Daniel 
433 The number of the tribunes of the people 

at Rome increased from five to ten 



452 The two books of Chronicles supposed to 

have been written at this time by Ezra 
451 Creation of the Decemviri at Rome, and 

compilation of the laws of the Twelve 

Tables 
449 Peace between the Greeks and Persians 

concluded by Cimon 
445 The law of Canulcius for the intermarriage 

of the patricians and plebians at Rome. 
Military tribunes created 
437 The censorship first instituted at Rome 
436 Pericles in high power at Athens 
431 The Peloponnesian war begins, which last- 
ed twenty-seven years 
430 The history of the Old Testament ends 

about this time 
Great plague at Athens eloquently described 

by Thucydides 
Malachi the last of the prophets 
428 Death of Pericles 
420 XCth Olympiad 

414 The Athenians defeated before Syracuse 
413 Alcibiades, accused at Athens, flies to the 

Lacedajmonians 
412 A council of 400 governs Athens 
405 Lysander defeats the Athenians at ^gos 

Potamos 
404 End of the Peloponnesian war 
403 Lysander takes Athens. Government of 

the thirty tyrants 
401 Retreat of the ten thousand Greeks 
Persecution and death of Socrates 
Thrasybulus drives out the thirty tyrants, 

and delivers Athens 
396 Syracuse unsuccessfully besieged by the 

Carthaginians 
385 Rome taken by the Gauls under Brennus 
380 Pelopidas and Epaminondas deliver Thebes 

from the Lacedaemonians 
Cth Olympiad 
371 Battle of Leuctra, the Lacedaemonians 

defeated 
363 Battle of Mantinea, Epaminondas is killed 
362 Curtius leaps into a gulf in the forum at 

Rome 
358 War of the allies against Athens 

Philip of Macedon takes Amphipolis, Pyd- 

na, and Potidea 
356 Alexander the Great born at Pella in Ma- 
cedonia 
The temple of Diana at Ephesus burnt by 

Eurostratus 
The Phocian or Sacred War begins in 

Greece 
Philip conquers the Thracians, Paeonians, 

and Illyrians 
348 Plato died 

End of the Sacred War 
347 Dionysius restored at Syracuse, after an 

exile of ten years 
343 Syracuse taken by Timoleon 

The war between the Romans and Sam- 

nites, which led to the conquest of all 

Italy 
340 CXth Olympiad 

P. Decius devotes himself to his country 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



715 



338 Battle of Cheronaea gained by Philip over 

the Athenians and Thebans 
337 Philip chosen generalissimo of the Greeks 
336 Philip murdered by Pausanias 

Alexander the Great king of Macedon 

Alexander the Great destroys Thebes 

335 Alexander chosen generalissimo by the 

states of Greece 
334 Alexander defeats the Persians on the banks 

of the Granicus 
333 The Persians defeated by Alexander at 

Issus 
332 Alexander conquers Egypt and takes Tyre 
331 Darius defeated by Alexander at Arbela 
330 Darius Codomanus killed. End of the 

Persian empire 
Alexander takes possession of Susa, and 

sets fire to the palace of Persepolis 
328 Alexander passes into India, defeats Porus, 

founds several cities, penetrates to the 

Ganges 
324 Alexander the Great dies at Babylon, 
321 The Samnites make the Roman army pass 

under the yoke at Caudium 
320 Ptolemy carries 100,000 Jews captives into 

Egypt 
303 Demetrius restores the Greek cities to then: 

liberty 
300 Seleucus founds Antioch, Edessa, and Lao- 

dicea 
CXXth Olympiad 
286 Law of Horlensius, by which the decrees 

of the people were allowed the same force 

as those of the senate 
285 The astronomical era of Dionysius of Alex- 
andria 
284 Ptolemy Philadelphus king of Egypt 
283 The library of Alexandria founded 
281 Commencement of the Achean league 
280 Pyrrhus invades Italy 
277 The translation of the Septuagint made 

by the order of Ptolemy Philadelphus. 

(Playfair, 285.) 
274 Pyrrhus totally defeated by the Romans 
272 The Samnites finally subdued by the Ro- 
mans 
266 Silver money is coined at Rome for the 

first time 
265 The citizens of Rome numbered at 292,224 
264 The first Punic war begins. The chronicle 

of Paros composed 
260 Provincial Quaestors instituted at Rome 
CXXXth Olympiad 
First naval victory obtained by the Romans 

under the Consul Duilius 
255 Regulus defeated and taken prisoner by 

the Carthaginians 
253 Manasseh chosen high priest of the Jews 
241 End of the first Punic war 
240 Comedies are first acted at Rome 
235 The temple of Janus shut for the first time 

since the reign of Numa 
228 Hamilcar killed in Spain 
225 Great victory of the Romans over the Gauls 
220 CXLth Olympiad 
219 Hannibal takes Saguntum 



B. C. 

218 The second Punic war begins 

216 Battle of Canaj, in which the Romans are 

totally defeated by Hannibal 
212 Philip II. of Macedon defeats the .^Etolians 
Marcellus takes Syracuse, after a siege of 
two years 
211 Antiochus the Great conquers Judaea 
210 Asdrubal vanquished in Spain by the 
Scipios 
Publius Scipio sent into Spain, takes New 
Carthage 
203 The Carthaginians recall Hannibal to Africa 
201 Syphax led in triumph to Rome by P. 

Scipio 
196 The battle of Zama, and end of the second 

Punic war 
190 The Romans enter Asia, and defeat Anti- 

gonus at Magnesia 
183 The elder Cato Censor at Rome 
180 CLth Olympiad 
173 War between the Romans and Perseus 

king of Macedon 
170 Antiochus Epiphanes takes and plunders 

Jerusalem 
169 Terence's comedies performed at Rome 
167 Perseus defeated by Paulus ^milius, and 
brought prisoner to Rome. End of the 
kingdom of Macedon 
166 Judas Maccabeus drives the Syrians out of 

Judea 
164 The Roman citizens numbered at 327,032 
149 The third Punic war begins 
146 Corinth taken by the Consul Mummius 
Carthage taken and destroyed by the Ro- 
mans 
140 CLXth Olympiad 
137 The Romans shamefully defeated by the 

Numantines 
135 The history of the Apocrypha ends 

Antiochus besieges Jerusalem 
113 Carbo the Consul drives the Cimbri and 

Teutones out of Italy 
111 The Jugurthine war begins 
108 Marius defeats Jugurtha 
103 Jugurtha starved to death at Rome 
100 CLXXth Olympiad 
9 1 The war of the allies against the Romans 
90 Sylla defeats the Marsi, Peligni, Sam- 
nites, &c. 
89 The Mithridatic war begins 
88 Civil war between Marius and Sylla— 

Sylla takes possession of Rome 
86 Mithridates king of Pontus defeated by 

Sylla 
83 Sylla defeats Norbanus. The capitol burned 
82 Sylla perpetual Dictator. His horrible pro- 
scription 
80 Julius Caesar makes his first campaign 
72 Lucullus repeatedly defeats Mithridates, 
and reduces Pontus to a Roman province 
70 Crassus and Pompey chosen Consuls at 

Rome 
63 Victories of Pompey -he takes Jerusalem 
62 Cataline's conspiracy quelled at Rome by 

Cicero 
61 Pompey enters Rome in trmmph 



716 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



eo" CLXXXth Olympiad 

59 The first triumvirate — Pompey, Crassus, 

and Caesar 
55 Caesar lands in Britain for a short campaign 
54 Cajsar invades Britain a second time, and 

conquers a part of the country 

49 Caesar passes the Rubicon, and marches to 

Rome 
48 Battle of Pharsalia in which Pompey is de- 
feated 

The Alexandrian library, of 400,000 vols, 
burnt 
46 Cato, besieged in Utica, kills himself 
45 The Kalendar reformed by Julius Caesar, 
by introducing the Solar year instead of 
the Lunar. The first Julian Year began 
1st January 45 A. C. 
44 Julius Cassar killed in the senate-house 
43 Second Triumvirate — Octavius, Mark An- 
tony, and Lepidus 

42 Battle of Philippi, in which Brutus and 

Cassius are defeated 

40 Herod marries Mariamne, daughter of Hyr- 

canus, and obtains from the Romans the 

government of Judea 
33 Mauritania reduced into a Roman province 
31 Battle of Actium, and end of the Roman 

Commonwealth 
Oclavius emperor of Rome 
30 Death of Mark Antony and Cleopatra 
27 Octavius receives the title of Augustus 
20 CXCth Olympiad 
17 Augustus revives the secular games 
10 The temple of Janus shut by Augustus for 

a short time 
5 Augustus ordains a census of all the people 

in the Roman empire 

4 JESUS CHRIST is born four years before 
the commencement of the vulgar era 

A. D. 
14 Tiberius emperor of Rome 

25 Here the Olympiads end 
Strabo, the geographer, died 

26 John the Baptist preaches in Judea 

27 Pilate made governor of Judea 
29 JESUS CHRIST is crucified 
35 The conversion of St. Paul 
37 Caligula emperor of Rome 

39 St. Matthew writes his gospel 

41 Herod persecutes the Christians 

43 Expedition of Claudius into Britain 

44 St. Mark writes his gospel 

50 St. Paul preaches in the Areopagus at 

Athens 

51 Caractacus, the British king, is carried 

prisoner to Rome 
54 Nero emperor of Rome 

64 The first persecution of the Christians 

raised by Nero 

65 Seneca, a celebrated philosopher, put to 

death by Nero 
67 St. Peter and St. Paul put to death 

Joscphus, the Jewish historian, governor of 
Galilee 



A. D. 
70 Vespasian, emperor of Rome 

Jerusalem taken and destroyed by Titus, 
son of Vespasian 
78 A great pestilence at Rome, 10,000 dying 
in one day 
Herculaneum and Pompeii destroyed by an 
eruption of Vesuvius 

80 Conquests of Agricola in Britain 

81 Domitian emperor of Rome 

95 Dreadful persecutions of the Christians 
St. John writes his Apocalypse and Gospel 

99 St. John died at Ephesus 

Cornelius Tacitus, the historian, died 
103 Trajan subdued the Dacians, 
Pliny the Younger flourishes 

118 Adrian emperor of Rome, who renewed, 

but afterwards suspended, the persecution 
of the Christians 

119 Plutarch, the historian, died 

120 Adrian's wall built in Britain 

138 Antoninus Pius, emperor of Rome 

140 Ptolemy, a great geographer, mathematician, 

and astronomer flourished 
Justin Martyr publishes an apology for the 

Christians 
161 Marcus Aurelius Antonius, emperor of 

Rome 
167 Polycarp suflfers martyrdom 

Galen, the Greek physician, flourished 

about this time 
189 Saracens defeat the Romans ; this people 

for the first time mentioned in history 
195 Byzantium besieged, surrenders to Severus, 

emperor of Rome. 
203 General persecution of the Christians 
The Scots converted to Christianity 

211 Caracalla and Geta, emperors of Rome 

212 Caracalla murders Geta 

222 Alexander Severus emperor of Rome 

Romans pay tribute to the Goths 
226 Persians totally defeated by Severus 

236 The sixth persecution of the Christians 

237 Maximinus defeats the Dacians and Sar- 

matians 

238 Gordian emperor of Rome 

248 The secular games celebrated at Rome 
St. Cyprian elected bishop of Carthage 

249 Decius emperor of Rome 

250 The seventh persecution of the Christians, 

under Decius, during whose reign the 
foundation of monkery was laid in Egypt 

251 Gallus emperor of Rome 

Great pestilence in Africa, which nearly 
depopulated whole towns 
254 Origen, an illustrious father of the Chris- 
tian church, died 
257 The eighth persecution of the Christians 
260 Temple of Diana of Ephesus burnt 

268 Claudius 2d. emperor of Rome 

269 Claudius slays, in several battles, 300,000 

Scythians, Goths, &c. 

272 Ninth persecution of the Christians 

284 Diocletian emperor of Rome 

292 Partition of the empire between two em- 
perors, and two Ca;sars 

302 The tenth persecution of the Christians 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



717 



806 Constantine the Great, emperor of Rome 

312 Constantine converted to Christianity 

Ossian, the poet, died 

313 Arius, founder of the Arian sect, flourished 
325 Constantine assembles the first general 

council at Nice 
329 Constantine enlarges Byzantium, names it 
Constantinople, and makes it the seat of 
the eastern empire 

337 Constantine died 

338 Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, died 

361 Julian, emperor of Rome, abjures Chris- 
tianity. 
375 Valens emperor of Rome 
379 Theodosius the Great, emperor of the east 
383 The Huns defeated by the Goths 
397 St. Chiysostom chosen patriarch of Con- 
stantinople 

400 Alaric, the Goth, ravages Italy 

401 Bells invented 

405 The Vandals, Alans, &c., invade France 

and Spain 
408 Theodosius 2d, emperor of the east 

410 Rome sacked and burned by Alaric 

411 The Vandals settled in Spain 

416 The secular games celebrated at Rome 

421 Republic of Venice founded 

426 The Romans withdraw from Britain 

432 Christian religion introduced into Ireland 

by St. Patrick 
439 Genseric, the Vandal, invades Italy 

Carthage taken by the Vandals 
445 The Britons in vain solicit the Romans to 

assist them against the Picts and Scots 
448 The Romans engage to pay a tribute of 

gold to Attila the Hun 

450 Attila ravages Germany and France 

451 The Saxojis arrive in Britain 

452 Foundation of the city of Venice 
460 Rome taken by Genseric 

468 Romans driven out of Spain by Euric,king 
of the Visigoths 

476 Rome taken by Odoacer 

Extinction of the western empire of the 
Romans, 507 years from the battle of Ac- 
tium, and 1224 from the building of Rome 

488 Theodric, the Ostrogoth, defeats Odoacer 

493 Odoacer put to death by Theodric 

497 Clovis, king of France, baptized 

499 Alliance between Clovis and Theodric 

507 Clovis defeats Alaric 

510 Clovis makes Paris the capital of the king- 
dom of the Franks 

516 Computation of time, by the Christian era, 
introduced by Dionysius the monk 

525 The Arian bishops deposed by Justin, em- 
peror of the east, 

529 Belisarius, general of Justinian, defeats the 
Persians 
The books of the civil law published by 
Justinian 

534 Belisarius defeats the Vandals in Africa 

537 Justinian builds the church of St. Sophia, 
at Constantinople 
Belisarius subdues the Ostrogoths, in Italy, 

543 Totila, the Goth, recovers Italy 



A. D. 
547 Totila plunders Rome 

549 Rome retaken by Belisarius. 

550 Commencement of the kingdom of Poland 
Rome recovered by Totila 

551 Manufacture of silk introduced into Europe 
557 Plague all over Europe, Asia, and Africa ; 

continues fifty years 
565 The Picts converted to Christianity 

568 Italy conquered by the Lombards 

569 Birth of Mahomet 

580 The Latin tongue ceases to he spoken in 

Italy 
596 Augustine comes into England and con- 
verts the Saxons to Christianity 
606 Title of Universal Bishop conferred on Pope 
Boniface III. 

611 Westminster Abbey founded 

612 Mahomet begins to publish the Koran 
616 Jerusalem taken by the Persians 

622 Mahomet flies from Mecca to Medina, in 

Arabia. His followers compute their 

time from this era, called Hegira, i. e., 

the flight 

636 Jerusalem taken by the Saracens, who keep 

possession of it 463 years 
640 Library of Alexandria burned 
664 Glass invented in England by Benalt 
669 Sicily ravaged by the Saracens 
672 The Saracens besiege Constantinople 
685 The Britons subdued by the Saxons 
690 Pepin acquires the chief power in France 
Willibrod, an English Monk, preaches the 
gospel in the Netherlands 
707 Justinian 2d, defeated by the Bulgarians 
713 Spain conquered by the Saracens 
732 Charles Martel, king of France, defeats 
the Saracens 

743 Constantine emperor of the east ; enemy 

to images and saint worship 

744 The Huns seize Transylvania 

745 Constantine destroys the Saracen fleet 
751 Pepin king of France 

754 Pope Stephen requests Pepin's assistance 
against the Lombards 
General council at Constantinople ; wor- 
ship of images forbidden 

756 Abdalrhaman 1st, founds the dominion of 
the Moors, in Spain 

762 Almanzor builds Bagdad 

770 Constantine dissolves the monasteries 

772 Charlemagne, king of France, makes war 
against the Saxons 

774 He puts an end to the kingdom of the Lom- 
bards, which had subsisted 206 years 

781 Irene, empress of the east, re-establishes 
image worship 

785 Charlemagne subdues the Saxons 

787 Council of Nice restores image worship 
and condemns the council of Constanti- 
nople 
The Danes land in England 

794 Charlemagne extirpates the Huns 

797 Saracens ravage Cappadocia, Cyprus, 
Rhodes, &c. 

800 New empire of the west; Charlemagne 
crowned emperor at Rome 



718 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



A. D 

813 Almamon, caliph of the Saracens, great 

encourager of learning 
816 The eastern empire ravaged by earthquakes, 

famine, conflagrations, &c. 
827 Egbert unites the Saxon heptarchy ; be- 
ginning of the kingdom of England 
829 Missionaries sent to Sweden 
843 Kennith M'Alpin, king of Scots, subdues 

the Picts 
845 The Normans penetrate into Germany 
848 The Venetian fleet destroyed by the Sara- 
cens 
'67 The Danes ravage England 

Photius, patriarch of Constantinople, ex- 
communicates Pope Adrian 
875 Harold unites the provinces of Norway 
880 Ravages of the Normans in France 
886 Leo the philosopher, emperor of the east 
890 Alfred the Great, king of England 
896 Alfred founds the University of Oxford 
912 The Normans established in Normandy 
915 The university of Cambridge founded 
931 City of Geneva overrun by the Saracens 

940 Howel Dha, king of Wales, an eminent 

lawgiver 

941 Christianity established in Denmark 

963 Pope John deposed by a council of bishops 

964 Otho, the Great, conquers Italy 

965 The Poles are converted to Christianity 

967 Antioch recovered from the Saracens 

968 Controversies between the Greek and Latin 

churches 
975 Pope Boniface VIL deposed and banished 
986 Hugh Capet, king of France, and founder 

of the third race of French Kings 
991 The figures in Arithmetic brought into Eu- 
rope, by the Saracens, from Arabia 
1002 Massacre of the Danes by the English 
1005 Churches first built in Gothic style 
1013 The Danes get possession of England 

Children forbidden, by law, to be sold by 
their parents, in England 
1025 Musical characters invented 

1039 Macbeth usurps the throne of Scotland 
Edward HI, (the Confessor,) king of Eng- 
land, restores the Saxon line 

1040 The Danes driven from Scotland 
1043 The Turks subdue Persia 

1049 Pope Leo 9th, the first pope that main- 
tained a regular army 

1054 Leo 9th taken prisoner by the Normans 

1055 The Turks take Bagdad 

1058 The Saracens driven out of Sicily 

1059 Council at Rome 

1061 Rise of the Guelphs and Ghibellines 

1065 Jerusalem taken from the Saracens, by the 

Turks 

1066 Harold 2d, king of England 

The battle of Hastings fought between 
Harold and William duke of Normandy, 
in Prance ; Harold slain, William becomes 
king of England 
1070 Feudal law introduced into England 
1074 Council at Rome forbade marriage 
1076 Justices of peace first appointed in England 
1080 Doomsday book began 



A. D. 

1080 Tower of London built 

Henry 4th besieges Rome 
1086 Kingdom of Bohemia began 
1095 lilcie first crxisade to the Holy Land 

1098 The crusaders take Antioch 

1099 Jerusalem taken by Godfrey 
Knights of St. John instituted 

1104 Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, takes Ptole- 

mais 
1110 The order of Knight Templars instituted 

1138 The Scots, under David 1st, defeated by 

the English 

1139 Alphonso 1st, king of Portugal, rescues that 

kingdom from the Saracens 
1150 The study of the civil law revived at Bo- 
logna 
1154 The parties of the Guelphs and Ghibellines 

disturb Italy 
1157 Bank of Venice instituted 
1 164 Institution of the order of Teutonic knights, 
1171 Becket murdered at Canterbury 
1 180 Glass windows began to be used in private 
houses, in England 

1186 The great conjunction of the sun and moon, 

and all the planets in Libra, happened in 
September 

1187 Jerusalem taken by Saladin 

1189 Third crusade under Richard 1st, (Coeur 
de Lion,) king of England, and Philip Au- 
gustus, king of France 

1192 Richard 1st, defeats Saladin, in the battle 
of Ascalon, in Judea 

1200 Surnames now began to be used ; first 
among the nobility 

1202 Crusade sets out from Venice 

1204 The Inquisition established by Innocent III. 

1208 London incorporated, obtains a charter for 
electing its mayor and magistrates 

1210 Crusade against the Albigenses 

1215 General Lateran Council 

Magna Ckarta, the foundation and bul- 
wark of English liberty, signed 

1227 Gengiskan and the Tartars overrun the 
Saracen empire 

1233 The houses of London thatched with straw 
Expulsion of the Jews from Spain 

1237 Russia brought under subjection bv the 
Tartars 

1258 Bagdad taken by the Tartars 
End of the Saracen empire 

1261 The Greek emperors recover Constantinople 
from the French 

1263 Norwegians invade Scotland 

1264 The deputies of boroughs are first sum- 

moned to parliament in England 
1282 The Sicilian Vespers, when eight thousand 
French were massacred in one night 
Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, defeated and 
killed by Edward I., who unites that 
principality to England 

1291 Ptolemais taken by the Turks 

End of the crusades 

1292 John Baliol, king of Scotland 

1293 Jubilee first celebrated at Rome 

1296 Interregnum in Scotland for eight years 

Wm. Wallace defeats the English at Sterling 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



719 



A. D. 

1298 Wallace chosen Regent of Scotland; de- 

feated at Falkirk 

1299 Ottoman, Sultan and founder of the Turk- 

ish empire 
1302 Mariner^s compass said to be discovered at 

Naples 
1304 Wallace betrayed and put to death 

1307 Establishment of the Swiss republics 

1308 The seat of the popes transferred to Avig- 

non, for 70 years 

1312 Knights Templars suppressed 

1314 The Scots defeat the English at Bannock- 
burn 

1320 Gold first coined in Christendom 

1331 Teutonic Knights settle in Prussia 

1332 Edward Baliol is crowned king of Scots 

1333 The Scots defeated at Halidoun Hill 
1340 Gunpowder invented by Swartz, a monk 

of Cologne 
Oil painting said to be invented 
1346 Battle of Cressy, won over the French, by 

Edward «f England, who, at this battle, 

had four pieces of cannon 
1344 Gold first coined in England 
1350 Order of the Garter instituted 
1352 The Turks first enter Europe 

1356 The battle of Poictiers 

1357 Coals first brought to London 

1362 The law pleadings in England changed 

from French to English 
1377 The pope's return from Avignon to Rome 
John Wickliffc was brought before the 
bishop in St. Paul's, and opposes the pope 

1380 Tamerlane subdues Chorassan 

1381 Wat Tyler's and Jack Straw's insurrection 

in England 
Bills of exchange first used in England 
1386 Tamerlane subdues Georgia 
Cards invented in France 

1399 Westminster Abbey and Hall, rebuilt 
Order of the Bath instituted 

1400 Geoff. Chaucer, poet, died 

1402 Bajazct, emperor of the Turks, taken 

prisoner by Tamerlane 
141 1 University of St. Andrews, Scotland, founded 
1415 Henry V. defeats the French at Agincourt 

John Huss and Jerome, of Prague, burnt 
1417 Paper first made from linen rags 
1422 Amurath besieges Constantinople 
1428 Joan of Arc, the maid of Orleans, defeats 

the English 
1430 The art of printing invented about this time 
1446 The Vatican Library founded at Rome 

The sea breaks in at Dort, in Holland, and 

drowns 100,000 people 

1453 Constantinople taken by the Turks 
Extinction of the eastern Roman empire 
End of the English government in France 

1454 University in Glasgow, Scotland, founded 
1460 Engraving in copper invented 

1474 The Cape de Verde islands discovered by 

the Portuguese 
1477 University of Aberdeen founded 
1483 Richard HI, king of England, killed at the 
battle of Bosworth. End of the civil wars 
between the houses of York and Lancaster 



A. D. 

1491 End of the kingdom of the Moors in Spain 

1492 America discovered by Christopher Colum- 

bus 
1494 Algebra first known in Europe 
1497 The Portuguese first sail to the East Indies 

by the Cape of Good Hope 

1499 Sebastian Cabot lands in North America 
S. America discovered by Americus Ves- 

pucius 

1500 Brazil discovered by the Portuguese 
1517 Martin Luther begins the Reformation 
1511 Cuba conquered by the Spaniards 
1513 Battle of Flodden fatal to the Scots 
1516 Barbarossa seizes Algiers 

1519 Charles 5th, emperor of Germany ' 

1521 Cortez completes the conquest of Mexico 
Gustavus Vasa,.king of Denmark 

1522 First voyage round the world, performed 

by a ship of Magellan's squadron 
1524 Sweden and Denmark embrace the Pro- 
testant faith 
1527 Pizarro and Almagro invade Peru 

1534 The Reformation takes place in England 

1535 Society of Jesuits instituted 
1539 Cannon began to be used in ships 

1545 Council of Trent begins, which continued 

eighteen years 
1553 Lady Jane Grey beheaded 
1555 Many bishops burnt in England by Queen 

Mary 
1558 Calais taken by the French 
1560 The Reformation completed in Scotland, 

by John Kno.^ 
1564 John Calvin and Michael Angelo died 
1572 Massacre of St. Bartholomew, August 24 
1574 Socinius propagates his opinions 

1579 Commencement of the republic of Holland 

English East India Company incorporated 

1580 The world circumnavigated by Sir Francis 

Drake 
1582 The new style introduced into Italy, by 

Pope Gregory 13th, the 5th of October 

being counted the 15th 
1585 First attempt to settle Virginia 

1587 Mary, Queen of Scots, beheaded 

1588 Destruction of the Spanish Armada 
1591 The university of Dublin created 
1594 The Bank of England incorporated 

1598 Edict of Nantes, tolerating the Protestants 

in France 
1603 Queen Elizabeth dies 

Union of England and Scotland 
1605 Gunpowder-plot discovered 
1607 Virginia settled 

Canada settled 
1614 New- York settled 

1619 Circulation of the blood discovered by Dr. 

Harvey 

1620 African slaves first brought to Virginia 
Plymouth settled 

1625 Barbadoes planted by the English 
1636 Rhode Island settled 

1638 Harvard College founded 

1639 First printing in North America 

1641 Massacre in Ireland of 40,000 protestants 

1642 Beginning of the civil war in England 



720 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



1643 Archbishop Laud tried and beheaded 
1645 Charles I. defeated at Naseby 
1649 Charles L beheaded 

The Commonwealth of England begins 

1652 Tea first brought into Europe 

1653 Dutch fleet defeated, Van Tromp killed 

1654 End of the Commonwealth of England 
Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector 

1660 Restoration of monarchy in Great Britain 

1665 Plague in London, carries off 68,000 persons 

1666 Fire in London, destroyed 13,000 houses 
1668 Peace of Aix la Chapelle 

1675 King Philip's Indian war in New England 
1678 Habeas Corpus act passed in England 

1682 Settlement of Pennsylvania by Wm. Penn 

1683 Lord Russel and Algernon Sydney executed 

1685 Revocation of the edict of Nantes 

1686 Newtonian philosophy first published 
1688 Revolution in Great Britain ; King James 

abdicates the throne, Dec. 23d 
1690 Battle of the Boyne 
1697 Peter the Great defeats the Turks 
1700 Yale College at New Haven founded 
1704 Peter the Great founds St. Petersburgh 
First newspaper published in America, 
Boston News Letter, April 24 
1717 Great snow in New England, Feb. 20 
1721 First inoculation for the small pox in Ame- 
rica performed, in Boston with success 
1725 Death of Peter the Great 
1741 Carthagena taken by Admiral Vernon 
1746 Dreadful earthquake at Lima 
1752 Lightning rods invented by Dr. Franklin 
New Style introduced in Britain and 
America, Sept. 2d reckoned 14th 
1755 Braddock defeated near Fort Du Quesne 
Lisbon destroyed by an earthquake 

1758 The British troops take Louisburgh 

1759 Jesuits expelled from Portugal 

1760 Canada taken by the British 
1762 Havanna taken by the English 
1765 Stamp Act of Great Britain 

1769 Cook's first discoveries in the South Seas 

1772 Poland dismembered 

1773 Society of the Jesuits suppressed 
Tea destroyed in Boston harbour 

1774 First American Congress at Philadelphia 

1775 Battle of Lexington, April 19 
Battle of Bunker Hill 

1776 The Americans declare their Independence 

1777 Philadelphia taken by the British, Oct. 3d 
Surrender of Gen. Burgoyne, Oct. 17 

1778 Treaty of alliance between the United 

States and France 

1779 Siege of Gibraltar by the Spaniards 
Capt. Cook killed at Owyhee 

1781 Surrender of the British troops, to the 

Americans and French at Yorktown, Oct. 

1782 First English Bible printed in America 

1783 Peace between England, France, and Spain 
1787 Constitution of the United States formed 
1789 First Congress under the federal constitu- 
tion met at New- York 

Gen. Washington inaugurated president 
1793 Louis VL beheaded 
1795 Cape of Good Hope taken by the British 



1799 Bonaparte First Consul of France 

Kine pock inoculation discovered by Dr 

Jenner 
Washington died December 14, aged 68 

1801 Battle of Copenhagen ; Danish fleet de- 

stroyed by Lord Nelson 

1802 Bonaparte declared Chief Consul 

1803 War between United States and Tripoli 

1804 Bonaparte crowned Emperor of France by 

the pope 
British and Foreign Bible Society formed 

1805 Battle of Austerlitz 

Battle of Trafalgar ; Nelson killed 

1806 Death of William Pitt 

The slave trade abolished by parliament 
Bonaparte defeats the Prussians at Jena 

1807 Copenhagen bombarded ; the Danish fleet 

surrendered to the British 
Embargo laid on all shipping in the United 

States 
First steam boat put in successful operation 

by Robert Fulton 

1808 Joseph Bonaparte proclaimed king of Spain 
1810 Bonaparte divorces Josephine 

J 8 12 Destructive earthquake at Caraccas 

War declared against Great Britain by the 

United States, June 18 
The French enter Moscow 
Bonaparte retreats from Russia ; arrives at 

Paris, Dec. 18 
Battle of Lutzen 

1813 British squadron on Lake Erie captured by 

Commodore Perry 

1814 Bonaparte abdicates the throne of France 

and Italy, April 5 
The pope restores the order of Jesuits 
Washington city taken by the British 

1815 British defeated at New Orleans by Gen. 

Jackson, Jan. 8 
News of peace between Great Britain and 

U. States arrived at New- York, Feb. 11 
Bonaparte sailed from Elba; arrived at 

Paris March 21 
Memorable battle of Waterloo, June 17, 18 
Louis XVIII. entered Paris July 8 
Bonaparte arrived at St. Helena, Oct. 13 
1817 The Indian or spasmodic cholera appeared 

at Jessore, in India 
1819 The Erie canal opened, Oct. 22 
1821 Bonaparte died at St. Helena 

Beginning of the Greek revolution 
1824 Lafayette arrived at New- York, Aug. 16 

1826 Jefferson and Adams, two ex-presidents, 

died, July 4 

1827 Battle of Navarino; Turkish fleet destroyed 

1830 Algiers taken by the French, July 5 
Revolution in Paris, July 26 to 29. Louis 

Philip king of France 
Revolution in Belgium in September in 
Poland, Dec. 1. 

1831 Warsaw taken by the Russians 
Cholera appeared in England in Oct. 

1832 Cholera in Quebec, June 8 ; in New-York, 

June 28 
1836 Texans declare their independence, March 2 
1838 Victoria crowned Queen of Great Britain 






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A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVA 

HI Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



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